A sample RASA chatbot template using MACHAAO and Heroku

The intent of the document is to provide with a quick and fast development setup guide for python developers looking to develop deeply personalized chat bots on Android & Web

This RASA based Sample NLU chatbot also intends to showcase various RCS-esque messaging options available on the Machaao Platform

Requirements

• MessengerX.io API Token
• Rasa 3.0.4
• Python 3.7, 3.8 Only
• Docker (Optional for Remote Deployment)
• Heroku Account (Optional for Remote Deployment)

Get your FREE API Key

• You can acquire a FREE API Key via https://messengerx.io or by emailing us and replace it in the config/credentials.yml

connectors.MachaaoConnector.MachaaoInputChannel:
    api_token: <YOUR API-TOKEN>
    base_url: "https://ganglia-dev.machaao.com"

Run on Local Machine (from source)

• Download or clone this repository

git clone git@github.com:machaao/rasa-sample-nlu-bot.git

cd rasa-sample-nlu-bot

• Setup a dev virtual environment on your local machine

python3 -m venv ./dev
source ./dev/bin/activate

• Setup a dev virtual environment on your local machine (Windows)

python3 -m venv ./dev
.\dev\Scripts\activate

• Install requirements

pip install -r requirements.txt

For M1 Macbook (Conda maybe required - Instructions Pending)

Refer to https://forum.rasa.com/t/an-unofficial-guide-to-installing-rasa-on-an-m1-macbook/51342

Tensorflow setup instructions: https://developer.apple.com/metal/tensorflow-plugin/

Start the RASA Action Core Service

Start the rasa action service(background) and core service in the terminal.

chmod +x local_start.sh
./local_start.sh

Start RASA Action and Core Service (Windows)

Start the rasa action and core services in separate terminals.

call local_start.bat

Using Machaao tunnel to expose PORT (Required)

• Run tunnel on port 5005 with the following command, and note the generated https url

machaao tunnel -p 5005 -t <Chatbot-Api-Token>

Update your webhook

Update your bot Webhook URL on MessengerX.io Portal with the url provided as shown below to continue development

Webhook Url: <TUNNEL-URL>/webhooks/machaao/incoming

Test your bot:

Visit: https://dev.messengerx.io/<bot-name>

Re-Train the Sample Model after changes

In order to re-train your RASA model based on the sample files provided in the "data" folder

rm -rf models/*
rasa train --domain domain.yml

Web SDK Demo

A RASA sample web demo has been made available for testing purposes

Run on Heroku (Optional - Not Production Setup)

We are assuming you have access to a heroku account and have installed heroku command line client for your OS.

Login to Heroku

heroku login

Create a new app on Heroku and note down your heroku app name

Push and deploy the docker image to Heroku

heroku create

Build the docker image

docker build -t rasa .

Login to Heroku Container Service

heroku container:login

Push to Container Registry

heroku container:push web

Release the image to your heroku app

heroku container:release web

Open the heroku app or open the logs to confirm

heroku open
heroku logs --tail

Update your webhook

Update your bot Webhook URL on MessengerX.io Portal with the heroku app url

Webhook Url: <YOUR-RASA-SERVER-URL>/webhooks/machaao/incoming

• You can run the code as it is, and it will use the provided Sample Token.

Note

• Please note that this document isn't mean to be use as a guide for production environment setup and nor it's intended for that purpose.
• Running the RASA chat app on Heroku requires a 2X Instance.
• Please contact us for your Android APK