Building your Bot on iAdvize

Let your bot interact with online visitors directly within iAdvize’s chatbox. The Bot plugin enables iAdvize's Admins and Managers to create users with the role “bot” from iAdvize’s administration. The scenario and availability of the bot are managed by your app.

In a nutshell, the Bot plugin:

Allows bots providers to create their connector thanks to the Developer Platform
Allows customers to connect their iAdvize account to a bot provider and connect bots seamlessly. These bots interact with iAdvize like a human agent

Bot plugin

What is a bot at iAdvize ?

A bot is a regular agent. It has all the properties of an agent and can interact with visitors.

Bots can

Among other things, bot are able to:

Be available to chat.
Handle a conversation in one language.
Reply to a user:
- ask questions and act on replies;
- send rich content such as links, carousels, and much more;
- schedule messages to be sent later on;
Proactively send a message to the user (after the conversation has started)
Escalate a conversation to another operator.
Prequalify some visitor data (identification number, email address…).
And much more !

Bots cannot

This is what bots are not able to do:

Be part of a conversation at the same time than another agent
Proactively engage a conversation

Create and configure a bot in iAdvize

To be able to create a bot on the iAdvize platform, you will need to:

1 - Create a bot application, in the dev platform
2 - Browse, find and install this newly created bot application, in the marketplace tab of your iAdvize administration
3 - Create a bot agent selecting the freshly installed bot application
4 - Configure some rules to route incoming conversations to your bot

⚠️ In order to be be able to complete this process you will have to implement the Bot creation flow first (or you will be stuck at the “Create bot agent” step) ⚠️

In the dev platform

Creating a bot application in the developer platform is quite straightforward.

Create a bot connector

First, you hav to be logged in. Then go to “My apps” section, and click on “Build”. In our case we will call it “My bot”. To build a bot, you need to go to “Plugins” then select “Bot”. You have just one URL to set: the base URL of your connector. All the requests will go to this URL. Note that it has to be secured with HTTPS.

Click on save and… congratulations! You created your bot application. Of course this is just a stub. If you want this to be fully functional you have to implement the flows listed in the “Implement a bot” section (link). Create bot connector

In the admin

Install the bot connector

In the admin, go to “Apps” and mind to select the project you want to install your connector on. In the list, find your connector, in our case the “My bot” section. Click on the card. You should land on an installation page such as:

Install a bot connector

You just have to click on “Install” and go through the installation process. Finalise the installation by clicking on “Install” and you are done. You just enabled some bot capabilities on the project you selected. It means that from now on, you can create an operator of type Bot 🎉.

Create a bot agent

In the Automation menu, then Bots, click on "Create a bot".

Select "External" then "Create a bot".

Create a bot agent

Note: If you do not have any bot application installed on your iAdvize project, you will not see the “External” option in this window.

Fill in the different information of your bot:

Bot agent details

Note: A bot operator is associated to ONE and only ONE language. So, if you want your bot to answer several languages, you have to create multiple bot operators.

Note2: Make sure you specify the right language because you can't change the language of a bot.

Chat with your bot

To be able to chat on iAdvize you need to take several steps:

1. Install the iAdvize tag on your website
1. Create a campaign
1. Create a targeting rule
1. Create a routing group
1. Create a routing rule

Create a campaign

In the admin, go to “Engagement”. Create a new campaign such as: Create a bot campaign

Create a targeting rule

Now we need to define “engagement rules” i.e. how to target the visitor. Click on the “➕” and create a rule “Bot”. In our case, we will define that the button is being displayed when the current url contains the name “bot”. Which means you can add ?bot to any url and it will display the notification. Create a targeting rule Add the rule, and publish your campaign.

Create a routing group

It is no longer necessary to manually create a routing group since it is automatically created for each bot you create via the "Automation" section.

Create a routing rule

To finish, we need to create a routing rule. Go to “Routing”, in the upper left select picker, select “Routing rules” and create a rule “Bot targeting”, for the “Bot” notification, that will handover the conversations to the agents of group “[NAME OF YOUR BOT] chatbot routing group”. Such as:

Create a bot distribution rule

Check that everything is correctly setup

Go to “Campaigns” and click on the “edit” button. If you did everything correctly you should see that your campaign is routed this way:

Check targeting rule

To sum up, you created a campaign that you associated some engagement rules (when the visitor will see the notification) with, some targeting rules (to which agents the conversations should be handed to).

Last but not least let's trigger the chat. Go to the website you installed the iAdvize tag on. Just append ?bot to the current url and reload the page. You should see the chat. You are ready to chat ! 🎉

Implement a bot

To have a fully functional bot, you will be required to implement two distinct sets of endpoints:

several endpoints to create and configure your bot from iAdvize UI
- GET /external-bots to list available scenarios
- PUT /bots/:idOperator to create a bot
- GET /bots/:idOperator to retrieve a bot details
- GET /availability-strategies to define when the bot is available
three endpoints to handle a conversation flow
- GET /bots/:idOperator/conversation-first-messages to return the messages to be displayed before the conversation starts
- POST /conversations/ to create a new conversation
- POST /conversations/:idConversation/messages to reply to a user

⚠️ Please note that all endpoints are subject to a 10 second timeout except for GET /bots/:idOperator/conversation-first-messages which has a 2 second timeout.

Implement the bot creation flow

A bot gets created when an admin creates a new agent of type “Bot” under the “People” section. Several information are required to be able to create a bot:

which scenario it can be associated to
what is the availability strategy associated to the bot

Bot creation flow

List available scenarios

First, you need to implement the GET /external-bots endpoint to list all the scenarios a new bot can be associated to. This route is called by iAdvize during the bot creation process and the result will appear directly in the scenario select picker.

⚠️ A scenario can only be associated to only one bot agent, which means if you have two bot operators, you need to provide at least two scenarios. ⚠️

Request - GET /external-bots

Query parameter	In	Description	Type	Example
idConnectorVersion	Query	Connector version identifier	Uuid	c008849d-7cb1-40ca-9503-d6df2c5cddd8
idWebsite	Query	Project identifier on which your connector is installed on	String	ha-123

Expected Response format

Field	In	Description	Type	Required	Example
idBot	Body	Scenario identifier in integrator environment.	String	✓	my_scenario_id_1
name	Body	Name of the scenario	String	✓	Scenario 1
description	Body	Short description of the scenario	String		This scenario will ask your customers to provide some data about their orders
editorUrl	Body	Url of integrator bot editor interface, useful if you have a UI for editing scenarios	String	✓	http://your-saas/editor/my_scenario_id_1

Expected response example

[
    {
        "idBot": "my_scenario_id_1", 
        "name": "Scenario 1",
        "description": "In this scenario, the bot will ask your customers to provide some data about their orders",
        "editorUrl": "http://your-saas/editor/my_scenario_id_1"
    },
    {
        "idBot": "my_scenario_id_2",
        "name": "In this scenario, the bot will ask your customers to provide some data about their orders",
        "editorUrl": "http://your-saas/editor/my_scenario_id_2"
    }
]

Note: you can validate your response data format with the associated json schema.

It will look like this in the UI.

Scenario select picker

Create and modify a bot

This endpoint is being called when a user finalises the bot creation or when bot information are being updated (such as name, scenario association…).

Request - PUT /bots/:idOperator

Parameters	In	Description	Type	Example
idOperator	Path	iAdvize bot operator identifier that we associate to your bot scenario	String	ha-456678
idConnectorVersion	Query	Connector version identifier	Uuid	c008849d-7cb1-40ca-9503-d6df2c5cddd8
idWebsite	Query	Project identifier on which your connector is installed on	String	ha-123

Field	In	Description	Type	Example
name	Body	Bot name on your platform	String	My bot
pseudo	Body	Bot pseudo used during the conversation	String	Botty
language	Body	Language spoken by the bot	String - ISO 3166-1 alpha-2	fr
distributionRules	Body	Distribution rule that can be used inside transfer replies	Array
distributionRules.id	Body	Distribution rule identifier	Uuid	ef4670c3-d715-4a21-8226-ed17f354fc44
distributionRules.label	Body	Distribution rule label	String	Distribution rule label
external.idBot	Body	Existing bot unique identifier for this connector	String	ha-456678

Request example

{
    "name": "My first bot !",
    "pseudo": "Botty",
    "language": "fr",
    "distributionRules": [
        {
            "id": "ef4670c3-d715-4a21-8226-ed17f354fc44",
            "label": "Distribution rule label"
        }
    ],
    "external": {
        "idBot": "ha-456678"
    }
}

Response format

Field	In	Description	Type	Required	Example
idOperator	Body	iAdvize bot operator identifier	String	✓	ha-456678
external	Body	Associated scenario	External	✓
external.idBot	Body	Bot identifier on your platform	String	✓	my_scenario_id_1
external.name	Body	Bot name on your platform	String		Scenario 1
external.description	Body	Bot description on your platform	String		In this scenario, the bot will ask your customers to provide some data about their orders
external.editorUrl	Body	Bot edition url on your platform	String - URL	✓	http://your-saas/editor/my_scenario_id_1
createdAt	Body	Creation date of you bot	String - ISO 8601	✓	2017-11-22T12:04:00Z
updatedAt	Body	Last modification date of your bot	String - ISO 8601	✓	2017-11-22T12:04:00Z

Response example

{
    "idOperator": "ha-456678",
    "external": {
        "idBot": "my_scenario_id_1", 
        "name": "Scenario 1",
        "description": "In this scenario, the bot will ask your customers to provide some data about their orders",
        "editorUrl": "http://your-saas/editor/my_scenario_id_1"
    },
    "createdAt": "2017-11-22T12:04:00Z",
    "updatedAt": "2017-11-22T12:04:00Z"
}

Note: You can validate your response data format with the associated json schema.

Get bot

When an admin wants to edit a bot user, we have to first load the existing information related to this bot. The GET endpoints allow you do give back those information.

Request - GET /bots/:idOperator

Parameters	In	Description	Type	Example
idOperator	Path	iAdvize bot operator identifier that we associate to your bot scenario	String	ha-456678
idConnectorVersion	Query	Connector version identifier	Uuid	c008849d-7cb1-40ca-9503-d6df2c5cddd8
idWebsite	Query	Project identifier on which your connector is installed on	String	ha-123

Response format

Field	In	Description	Type	Required	Example
idOperator	Body	iAdvize bot operator identifier	String	✓	ha-456678
external	Body	Associated scenario	External	✓
external.idBot	Body	Bot identifier on your platform	String	✓	my_scenario_id_1
external.name	Body	Bot name on your platform	String		Scenario 1
external.description	Body	Bot description on your platform	String		In this scenario, the bot will ask your customers to provide some data about their orders
external.editorUrl	Body	Bot edition url on your platform	String - URL	✓	http://your-saas/editor/my_scenario_id_1
createdAt	Body	Creation date of you bot	String - ISO 8601	✓	2017-11-22T12:04:00Z
updatedAt	Body	Last modification date of your bot	String - ISO 8601	✓	2017-11-22T12:04:00Z

Response example

{
    "idOperator": "ha-456678",
    "external": {
        "idBot": "my_scenario_id_1", 
        "name": "Scenario 1",
        "description": "In this scenario, the bot will ask your customers to provide some data about their orders",
        "editorUrl": "http://your-saas/editor/my_scenario_id_1"
    },
    "createdAt": "2017-11-22T12:04:00Z",
    "updatedAt": "2017-11-22T12:04:00Z"
}

Get availability

This endpoint will be called on a frequent basis (as of now, every second) and will indicate whether a bot agent is online or not, hence being its availability.

Request - GET /availability-strategies

Parameters	In	Description	Type	Example
idOperator	Query	iAdvize bot operator identifier that we associate to your bot scenario	String	ha-456678
idConnectorVersion	Query	Connector version identifier	Uuid	c008849d-7cb1-40ca-9503-d6df2c5cddd8
idWebsite	Query	Project identifier on which your connector is installed on	String	ha-123

Response format

Field	In	Description	Type	Required	Example 1	Example 2
strategy	Body	How we should aggregate the availability if several distribution rules are provided	One of: `atLeastOne`, `all`, `notAvailable`, `customAvailability`	✓	`atLeastOne`	`customAvailability`
distributionRulesToCheck	Body	All distribution rules we should check for availability. This is subset of DistributionRules returned by the Get bot endpoint.	Array of Uuid	Required if strategy is equal to `atLeastOne`or `all`	ef4670c3-d715-4a21-8226-ed17f354fc44, fab46f63-a61b-4aec-930b-21a438863a6c
availability	Body	Allow the connector to handle the availability of the bot	Boolean	Required if strategy is equal to `customAvailability`		true

Response example 1: bot is available only if the distribution rule to check returns true

[
    {
        "strategy": "atLeastOne",
        "distributionRulesToCheck": [
            "ef4670c3-d715-4a21-8226-ed17f354fc44",
            "fab46f63-a61b-4aec-930b-21a438863a6c"
        ]
    }
]

Response example 2: bot is always available

[
    {
        "strategy": "customAvailability",
        "availability": true
    }
]

Note: You can validate your response data format with the associated json schema.

Implement the conversation flow

A conversation is typically initiated by a user. The bot can reply to user’s message, which means that iAdvize will call your endpoints when a message is received in the conversation.

To fully handle a conversation you only need to implement 3 endpoints:

GET /bots/:idOperator/conversation-first-messages to return the first messages you want to send as soon as the visitor opens up the chatbox (before the conversation really starts)
POST /conversations to handle a new conversation creation
POST /conversations/:conversationId/messages to receive messages from the visitor and reply to the visitor. Mind that all the messages posted in a conversation will result into this API call (which means you will also receive your own replies).

Conversation flow diagram

Here is a full conversation example:

Time	Bot Agent	Visitor		Bot response	Calls to bot connector	Explanation
00:00		“Hi, are you there ? Shall we begin ?”	⟹		POST /conversations	Create a conversation in the bot connector
			⟸	(empty replies)	Response
00:00			⟹		POST /conversations/:idConversation/messages “Hi, are you there ? Shall we begin ?”	Reply to the first user’s message
			⟸ ⟸ ⟸	Await 5s “How are you ?” “Fine” or “Bad” Await 3 minutes “Are you there ?”	Response
00:05	“How are you ? ”		⟹		POST /conversations/:idConversation/messages “How are you ?”	Do not reply to your own scheduled message (filter on author operator)
			⟸ ⟸	(empty replies)	Response
🕐
03:05	“Are you there ?”		⟹		POST /conversations/:idConversation/messages “Are you there ?”	Do not reply to your own scheduled message
			⟸	(empty replies)	Response
03:12		“Yes I'm here, sorry"	⟹		POST /conversations/:idConversation/messages “Yes I’m here, sorry ?”	Reply to the user’s message by repeating the question
			⟸	Await 1s “How are you ?” “Fine” or “Bad”	Response
03:13	“How are you ?”		⟹		POST /conversations/:idConversation/messages “How are you ?”	Do not reply to your own message
			⟸	(empty replies)	Response
03:42		“Good”	⟹		POST /conversations/:idConversation/messages “Good”	User received quick-reply clicked on good, take action action accordingly
			⟸ ⟸	Await 1s Ok, i'm transferring you to a human" transfer Await 20s “Transfer failed, please try again later” close	Response	Transfer the user, and notify the user about it. Schedule a message in case the transfer fail. The message is not going to be sent if the transfer is successful
03:43	“Ok, i'm transferring you to a human”		⟹		POST /conversations/:idConversation/messages “Ok, i'm transferring you to a human"	Do not reply to your own message
			⟸	(empty replies)	Response

Send messages before the conversation starts

This endpoint is used if you want your bot to initiate a conversation with new visitors. It should return the first messages you want to send as soon as the visitor opens up the chatbox, before the first visitor message.

⚠️ Please note that your bot must return a response in less than 2 seconds. Otherwise, you'll receive a timeout and the bot messages will not be displayed to the user.

Request - GET /bots/:idOperator/conversation-first-messages

Parameters	In	Description	Type	Example
idConnectorVersion	Query	Connector version identifier	String	c008849d-7cb1-40ca-9503-d6df2c5cddd8
idOperator	Path	iAdvize bot operator identifier that we associate to your bot scenario	String	ha-123

Response format

Field	In	Description	Type	Required
replies	Body	Array of replies	Array or Reply	✓
reply.type	Body	Reply/action type	`message` (other types will be ignored)	✓
reply.payload	Body	Typed payload of the message	One of Payload object see Payload objects for more details
reply.quickReplies	Body	Quick replies proposed to the visitor	Array of Quick Reply object see Quick reply object for more details

Response example

{
   "replies":[
      {
         "type":"message",
         "payload":{
            "contentType":"text",
            "value":"Hi, my name is robot and I'm here to help"
         },
         "quickReplies":[]
      },
      {
         "type":"message",
         "payload":{
            "contentType":"text",
            "value":"How can I help you ?"
         },
         "quickReplies":[
            {
               "contentType":"text/quick-reply",
               "value":"I didn't receive my order"
            },
            {
               "contentType":"text/quick-reply",
               "value":"Payment problem"
            }
         ]
      }
   ]
}

Note: You can validate your response data format with the associated json schema.

Create a conversation

Everytime a conversation starts, this endpoint is called. It allows iAdvize to notify your bot a conversation starts.

⚠️ Leave the replies array empty as another call to POST /conversations/:idConversation/messages is triggered right after POST /conversations. It will be the right time to answer the visitor.

Request - POST /conversations

Parameters	In	Description	Type	Example
idConnectorVersion	Query	Connector version identifier	String	c008849d-7cb1-40ca-9503-d6df2c5cddd8
idWebsite	Query	Unique identifier of the website on which your connector is installed	String	ha-123

Field	In	Description	Type	Example
idOperator	Body	iAdvize bot operator identifier that we associate to your bot scenario	String	ha-456678
idConversation	Body	Conversation unique identifier, you can use it or return your own internal id in the response body. We will make the join for you.	UUID	ce41ba2c-c25a-4351-b946-09527d8b940b
history	Body	First messages of the conversations	Array of History
history.idMessage	Body	Unique identifier of this message	String	ba4e1f71-7012-4b1a-86c3-d2fce8883dc7
history.author.role	Body	author of the message	One of: `operator` or `visitor`	`operator`
history.payload	Body	Typed payload of the message	One of Payload object see Payload objects for more details
history.createdAt	Body	Date the message was sent	String - ISO 8601	2018-07-16T13:53:57.961Z

Response format

Field	In	Description	Type	Required	Example
idConversation	Body	Conversation unique identifier	UUID	✓	ce41ba2c-c25a-4351-b946-09527d8b940b
idOperator	Body	iAdvize bot operator identifier that we associate to your bot scenario	String	✓	ha-456678
replies	Body	Array of replies	Array of Reply	✓	[]
createdAt	Body	Creation date of the conversation	String - ISO 8601	✓
updatedAt	Body	Date of the last message received	String - ISO 8601	✓

Response example

{
    "idConversation": "ce41ba2c-c25a-4351-b946-09527d8b940b",
    "idOperator": "ha-456678",
    "replies": [],
    "createdAt": "2017-11-22T12:04:00Z",
    "updatedAt": "2017-11-22T12:23:00Z"
}

Receive and reply to messages

This endpoint is called when a new message is received in the conversation, whether the bot or the user sent it.

Request - POST /conversations/:idConversation/messages

⚠️ Please note that in order to offer the best user experience, your bot must return a response in less than 10 seconds. If not, you'll receive a timeout and the bot answer will not be displayed to the user.

Parameters	In	Description	Type	Example
idConnectorVersion	Query	Connector version identifier	String	c008849d-7cb1-40ca-9503-d6df2c5cddd8
idWebsite	Query	Unique identifier of the website on which your connector is installed	String	ha-123
idConversation	Path	Conversation unique identifier	UUID	a0c65ae0-4e04-4909-a5cc-80dd0f05de96

Field	In	Description	Type	Example
idOperator	Body	iAdvize bot operator identifier that we associate to your bot scenario	String	ha-456678
message	Body	Message
message.idMessage	Body	Unique identifier of this message	String	ba4e1f71-7012-4b1a-86c3-d2fce8883dc7
message.author.role	Body	author of the message	One of: `operator` or `visitor`	`operator`
message.payload	Body	Typed payload of the message	One of Payload object see Payload objects for more details
message.createdAt	Body	Date the message was sent	String	2017-11-22T12:04:00.762Z[Etc/UTC]

Response format

Field	In	Description	Type	Required	Example
idConversation	Body	Conversation unique identifier	UUID	✓	a0c65ae0-4e04-4909-a5cc-80dd0f05de96
idOperator	Body	iAdvize bot operator identifier that we associate to your bot scenario	String	✓	ha-456678
replies	Body	Array of replies	Array or Reply	✓
reply.type	Body	Reply/action type	One of: `await` or `message` or `transfer` or `close`	✓
reply.duration.unit	Body	Awaiting unit of time	One of: `millis` or `seconds` or `minutes`	Required if replies.type is equal to `await`
reply.duration.value	Body	Awaiting value of time	Long	Required if replies.type is equal to `await`
reply.payload	Body	Typed payload of the message	One of Payload object see Payload objects for more details	Only available and required if reply.type is equal to `message`
reply.quickReplies	Body	Quick replies proposed to the visitor	Array of Quick Reply object see Quick reply object for more details
reply.distributionRule	Body	Distribution rules to transfer to	UUID	Required if reply.type is equal to `transfer`
reply.transferOptions	Body	Transfer options	Object
reply.transferOptions.timeout	Body	Configure how long must we wait until transfer cancel	Object	Required
reply.transferOptions.timeout.value	Body	Transfer timeout value (must be between 5 and 60 seconds)	Long	Required
reply.transferOptions.timeout.unit	Body	Transfer timeout unit	One of: `millis` or `seconds` or `minutes`	Required
createdAt	Body	Creation date of the conversation	String - ISO 8601	✓
updateAt	Body	Date of the last message received	String - ISO 8601	✓

Response example

{
    "idConversation": "ce41ba2c-c25a-4351-b946-09527d8b940b",
    "idOperator": "ha-456678",
    "replies": [
        {
            "type": "await",
            "duration": {
                "unit": "millis",
                "value": 10
            }
        },
        {
            "type": "message",
            "payload": {
                "contentType": "text",
                "value": "All Right, my job is done here."
             },
            "quickReplies": []
        },
        {
            "type": "transfer",
            "distributionRule": "ef4670c3-d715-4a21-8226-ed17f354fc44",
            "transferOptions": {
              "timeout": {
                "value": 20,
                "unit": "seconds"
              }
            }
        },
        {
            "type": "close"
        }
    ],
    "createdAt": "2017-11-22T12:04:00Z",
    "updatedAt": "2017-11-22T12:23:00Z"
}

Proactively send messages to the visitor

🎉 Through our GraphQL API you can now proactively send messages to the visitor after the conversation has started. You no longer need to wait for the visitor to systematically send you a message to get a chance to respond. So, if you think your response to the POST /conversations/:idConversation/messages might take some time (if you call an external api for example), you can send it asynchronously with this new endpoint.

⚠️ Note 1: this option does not exempt you from implementing the previous endpoint POST /conversations/:idConversation/messages (however, you can just reply an empty response list and only use this new way to answer the visitor).

⚠️ Note 2: with this solution you can only send one "message" (or action) at a time and only after the conversation has started (= after the visitor has sent a first message).

⚠️ Note 2: iAdvize will close the conversation automatically if there are no new messages for more than 5 minutes. So if you have performed a task that can potentially take more than 5 minutes, you can send a message at regular intervals to inform the visitor.

The `chatbotMessageSend` GraphQL mutation

To be able to use this new GraphQL mutation you will have to add an Accept header with the following value: application/vnd.iadvize.automation-chatbot-conversation-preview+json.

Here is an example of a query that will send the message "Hello world!" in the conversation 34562f45-187c-4290-976e-1b992b7b9799 via your iAdvize chatbot id (external bot id) 123456.

mutation SendProactiveMessage {
  chatbotMessageSend(
    input: {
      conversationId: "34562f45-187c-4290-976e-1b992b7b9799",
      chatbotId: 123456,
      actionOrMessage: {
        chatbotMessage: {
          chatbotSimpleTextMessage: "Hello world!"
        }
      }
    }
  ) {
    userErrors {
      __typename
    }
  }
}

conversationId

This is the id of the iAdvize conversation you receive on the POST /conversation route in the body (idConversation).

⚠️ Warning: if you return your own conversation id in the body of the call to POST /conversations, be careful not to use the conversation id passed in the call to POST /conversations/:idConversation/messages (because it will be your own conversation id and not the one from iAdvize).

chatbotId

This is the id of your external bot (=chatbotId) at iAdvize in integer format

⚠️ Warning: the format of the operator id you receive in the REST endpoints you have implemented is slightly different: it is a string containing the operator id (=chatbotId) prefixed with the iAdvize environment sd- or ha-. One possibility is to split the hyphen (-) and get the platform on one hand and the operator id (=chatbotId) on the other hand.

Using our GraphiQL tool, you can learn more about the different options you have to interact with the visitor.

Conversation objects

Conversation objects are used to describe the different events that can occur during a conversation with a visitor.

These objects allow you to:

make a pause (between two messages for example) see await object
end the conversation see close object
transfer the visitor to a group of agents see transfer object
send messages (simple or complex) see message objects

Await object

Field	Description	Type	Required	Example
type	Type of the conversation object	String	✓	`await`
duration.unit	Unit type	`millis \| seconds \| minutes`	✓	`seconds`
duration.value	Delay value	Integer	✓	`20`

{
  type: 'await',
  duration: {
    unit: 'seconds',
    value: 2
  }
}

Close object

A conversations is automatically closed after 5 minutes if nothing happens in the conversation. You can send a close conversation message such as:

Field	Description	Type	Required	Example
type	Type of the conversation object	String	✓	`close`

{
  type: "close"
}

Transfer object

Transferring a conversation is quite straightforward. You can send the following messages:

The timeout object (in the transferOptions key) allows you to specify the period of time during which iAdvize will try to perform the transfer. If the timeout is reached and the transfer could not be performed, the scenario continues and iAdvize will display the following messages.

Field	Description	Type	Required	Example
type	Type of the conversation object	String	✓	`transfer`
distributionRule	Distribution rule to transfer the visitor	UUID	✓	`f1cfbc00-1272-4780-9482-6597f56b39c3`
transferOptions.timeout.unit	Unit type	`millis \| seconds \| minutes`	✓	`seconds`
transferOptions.timeout.value	Delay value	Integer	✓	`20`

{
  type: "transfer",
  distributionRule: "f1cfbc00-1272-4780-9482-6597f56b39c3",
  transferOptions: {
    timeout: {
      unit: "seconds",
      value: 20
    }
  }
},
{
  type: "message",
  payload: {
    contentType: "text",
    value: "Transfer failed, please try again later"
  }
},
{
  type: "close"
}

Explanation: We send a transfer message and schedule a failed transfer message afterward. If the transfer is successful, the message for failed transfer is not published in the conversation. If the transfer fails, the message is sent to the conversation. This way you can notify your user about it and continue the conversation.

Message objects

Several kinds of payloads can be used within your bot replies in order to enrich your responses. You will find in this section information about every type of content you can send with your iAdvize bot.

Text payload

Sending a simple message

Field	Description	Type	Required	Example
type	Type of the conversation object	String	✓	`message`
payload	Payload described below	JSON Object	✓	see below
payload.contentType	Type of the message’s content	String	✓	`text`
payload.value	Textual content of the message	String	✓	Hi, i am a simple message.
quickReplies	Quick replies to allow visitor to answer	Quick reply object		see Quick reply object

{
  "type": "message",
  "payload": {
    "contentType": "text",
    "value": "Hi, i am a simple message."
  }
}

Generic card payload

A generic card is a payload you can use to send a more structured message. It always contains at least one link and can be used to help a visitor to navigate on a website by redirecting him to specific pages. You can specify multiple links on a single generic card. Generic card can also include a title, a description and an image. This help give context to the visitor about the links you are sending

Field	Description	Type	Required	Example
type	Type of the conversation object	String	✓	`message`
payload	Payload described below	JSON Object	✓	see below
payload.contentType	Type of the message’s content	String	✓	`card/content`
payload.image	Json describing attached picture	Image object see Generic JSON object section for more details
payload.title	Title of the card	String		Delivery & Pickup
payload.text	Textual content of the message	String		Learn more about dispatch and delivery times, methods and costs.
payload.actions	List of actions to be sent with the card	Array of Action object see Generic JSON object section for more details	Action must contains at least on link

Example of a generic card with title, text and picture set

{
  "type": "message",
  "payload": {
    "contentType": "card/content",
    "image": {
      "url": "http://image.net/delivery.jpg",
      "description": "delivery picture"
    },
    "title": "Delivery & Pickup",
    "text": "Learn more about dispatch and delivery times, methods and costs.",
    "actions": [
      {
        "type": "LINK",
        "name": "See more",
        "url": "http://mylink.com/delivery"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Example of a generic card with several links

{
  "type": "message",
  "payload": {
    "contentType": "card/content",
    "actions": [
      {
        "type": "LINK",
        "name": "How to print on an A4 page",
        "url": "http://mylink/a4page"
      },
      {
        "type": "LINK",
        "name": "I could not print my stamps",
        "url": "http://mylink/stamps"
      },
      {
        "type": "LINK",
        "name": "What are the different support and formats for etiquette?",
        "url": "http://mylink.com/etiquette"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Product Offer payload

A product offer payload lets you send a product offer to your visitor. Using the product offer you can showcase various attributes of your product such as the price, the photography of your product, the availability or a special offer. To show your visitors a carousel of product offers please see Product offer bundle

Field	Description	Type	Required	Example
type	Type of the conversation object	String	✓	`message`
payload	Payload described below	JSON Object	✓	see below
payload.contentType	Type of the message’s content	String: `product-offer`	✓	`product-offer`
payload.image	Json describing attached picture	Image object see Generic JSON object section for more details
payload.name	Name of the product	String	✓	Samsung Frame 4K UHD TV
payload.price	Price of the product without offer	String	✓	1,499,99 €
payload.offerPrice	Price of the product with offer	String		1,299,99 €
payload.description	Description of the product	String
payload.availability.status	Status of availability	One of: `AVAILABLE` or `UNAVAILABLE`		`AVAILABLE`
payload.actions	List of actions to be sent with the card	Array of Action object see Generic JSON object section for more details	✓

{
  "type": "message",
  "payload": {
    "contentType": "product-offer",
    "image": {
      "url": "http://image.net/tvsamsumg.jpg",
      "description": "picture of a TV"
    },
    "name": "Samsung Frame 4K UHD TV",
    "price": "€1,499.99",
    "offerPrice": "€1,299.99",
    "availability": {
      "status": "AVAILABLE"
    },
    "actions": [
      {
        "type": "LINK",
        "name": "See more",
        "url": "http://mylink/TvSamsung"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Example of a product offer with offer

File payload

An attachment lets you send files directly in the chatbox. If you send an image it will be directly shown to the visitors if it is in a supported format by the visitor's browser. For a non-picture file it will offer the possibility to download it.

Field	Description	Type	Required	Example
type	Type of the conversation object	String	✓	`message`
payload	Payload described below	JSON Object	✓	see below
payload.contentType	Type of the message’s content	String `file`	✓	`file`
payload.fileName	Name of the file to be displayed	String	✓	Can I add more information about my order?
payload.mimeType	Mime type of the file	One of: `image/gif`, `application/pdf`, `image/png` or `image/jpeg`	✓	`image/gif`
payload.url	Textual content of the message	String	✓	http://my-website/order.pdf

Example of a document payload

{
  "type": "message",
  "payload": {
      "contentType": "file",
      "fileName": "Can I add more information about my order?",
      "mimeType": "application/pdf",
      "url": "http://my-website.com/order.pdf"
  }
}

Example of a picture payload

{
  "type": "message",
  "payload": {
    "contentType": "file",
    "fileName": "My picture name",
    "mimeType": "image/png",
    "url": "http://my-website.com/image.png"
  }
}

Card bundle payload

With the generic card bundle you can create a carousel for the visitor. Sliders are an efficient tool to present multiple services, offers or products to your visitors.

Field	Description	Types	Required	Example
type	Type of the conversation object	String	✓	`message`
payload	Payload described below	JSON Object	✓	see below
payload.contentType	Type of the message’s content	String `bundle/card`	✓	`bundle/card`
payload.cards	List of cards to send	Array of Generic Card See Generic Card payload for more details	✓

Example of a generic card with title, text and picture set

{
  "type": "message",
  "payload": {
    "contentType": "bundle/card",
    "cards": [
      { ... },
      {
          "contentType": "card/content",
          "image": {
            "url": "http://image.net/delivery.jpg",
            "description": "delivery picture"
          },
          "title": "Delivery & Pickup",
          "text": "Learn more about our policies",
          "actions": [{
            "type": "LINK",
            "name": "See more",
            "url": "http://mylink/delivery"
          }]
      },
      { ... }
    ]
  }
}

Product Offer bundle payload

A product offer bundle is an efficient tool to showcase multiple products at one to your visitor. The visitor can navigate among the offers you sent using a slider.

Field	Description	Type	Required	Example
type	Type of the conversation object	String	✓	`message`
payload	Payload described below	JSON Object	✓	see below
payload.contentType	Type of the message’s content	String `bundle/product-offer`	✓	`bundle/product-offer`
payload.offers	List of product offers to display	Array of Product Offer payload See Product offer payload for more details	✓

Example of a generic card with title, text and picture set

{
  "type": "message",
  "payload": {
    "contentType": "bundle/product-offer",
    "offers": [
      { ... },
      {
        "contentType": "product-offer",
        "image": {
          "url": "http://image.net/tvpanasonic.jpg",
          "description": "picture of a TV"
        },
        "name": "Panasonic Smart TV 4K",
        "price": "€1,499.99",
        "offerPrice": "€1,299.99",
        "description": "Enhance your everyday space with The Frame TV that reflects your style and fits your space",
        "availability": {
          "status": "AVAILABLE"
        },
        "actions": [{
          "type": "LINK",
          "name": "See more",
          "url": "http://mylink/TvPanasonic"
        }]
      },
      { ... }
    ]
  }
}

Generic JSON objects

Image

An Image object can be used to display one image. The picture linked need to be of dimension 240x120(px) and should be displayable on browsers.

Field	Description	Type	Required	Example
url	Url pointing at a picture	String	✓	http://image.net/image.jpg
description	Textual description of the picture (alt field)	String	✓	picture of an image

{
  "url": "http://image.net/image.jpg",
  "description": "picture of an image"
}

Actions

Actions can be used to offers options to one visitor. Today, only link actions can be used. A link action is one action that can redirect one user to a given url link.

Field	Description	Type	Required	Example
type	Type of the action	String `LINK`	✓	`LINK`
name	name to display link	String	✓	My link
url	Link to be used in action	String	✓	http://mylink

{
  "type": "LINK",
  "name": "My link",
  "url": "http://mylink"
}

Quick reply object

A quick reply is used for offering several choices to a visitor. Each choice needs to be specified in the "quickReplies" field of a reply. The answer sent by the visitor to the multiple choice question can only contain text. There is no maximum number of quick replies you can display. However we recommend not to use more than 3 quick replies for a single question.

⚠️ Even if you have to fill in a QuickReply id for each of your choices, currently only the value is sent to your bot.

Field	Description	Type	Required	Example
contentType	Type of the message’s content	`text/quick-reply`	✓	`text/quick-reply`
value	Textual content of the quick-reply	String	✓	Yes

Example of a text payload reply with two quick replies

{
  "contentType": "text/quick-reply",
  "value": "Yes"
}

Customize replies with Markdown

Bot replies can be further customized using Markdown syntax to add style, linking, tables, lists, etc.

Supported Markdown features

Some Markdown features are fully functional, some are partially supported and some are not supported. Here is a table showing the status of each feature:

⚠️ As not all social channels support markdown in the same way, be careful with the tags you use.

Feature	Supported?	Example	Comments
Bold	🟢 Yes	`bold`
Bold italic	🟢 Yes	`*bold italic*`
Italic	🟢 Yes	`italic`
Strikethrough	🟢 Yes	`~~strikethrough~~`
Title	🔵 Partially	`# I'm a title\n## I'm another title`	Same level for all titles
Paragraph	🔵 Partially	`Paragraph 1\n\n\nParagraph2`	The space between each paragraph is only 5px
Line Break	🟢 Yes	`Line 1\nLine2`
Code	🟢 Yes	`Code`
Code block	🟢 Yes	`var foo = 'bar';\n alert('foo: ', foo);` or ```var foo = 'bar';\nalert('foo:', foo);```	Indent with four spaces or use three backticks
Table	🟢 Yes	`\\| Syntax \\| Description \\|\n\\| ----------- \\| ----------- \\|\n\\| Header \\| Title \\|\n\\| Paragraph \\| Text \\|`	Tables are supported but due to the chat window size, use them carefully because there is no horizontal scrollbar (words can be cut or line breaks can appear).
Horizontal rule	🟢 Yes	`\n\n---\n\n`	For compatibility, put blank lines before and after horizontal rules.
Blockquote (Multiple paragraphs)	🔵 Partially	`> I'm a\n> multiple lines blockquotes`	Line break is supported but not paragraph
Blockquote (Nested)	🟢 Yes	`> Nested\n>> Blockquotes`
Blockquote (Single line)	🟢 Yes	`> I'm a single line blockquote`
Blockquote (With other elements inside)	🔵 Partially	`> # Title\n> *bold italic*\n> - List item 1\n> - List item 2\n> - Sub item 1`	Refer to this table to know what is supported inside blockquotes
Images	🔵 Partially	`[Description](https://image-url…)`	Instead of an embbeded image in the chat, a link is displayed.
Link	🔵 Partially	`[iAdvize](https://www.iadvize.com "Go on the iAdvize Website")`	Link description is not displayed on hover
Link (email address)	🟢 Yes	`<fakeemail@fakeprovider.com>`	Quickly turn an email into a "mailto" url
Link (on anchor)	🔴 No	`[iAdvize](#iadvize)`
Link (quick link)	🟢 Yes	`<https://www.iadvize.com>`	Quickly turn a URL into a link
Footnote	🟢 Yes	`Here's a sentence with a footnote. [^1]\n\n[^1]: This is the footnote.`
List (Definition)	🔴 No	`term:\n definition`
List (nested blockquote)	🟢 Yes	`- First item\n > Nested blockquote`	Indent with four spaces then use `>` (greater-than sign) for nested blockquote
List (nested code block)	🟢 Yes	`- First item\n var foo = 'bar';\n alert('foo:', foo);`	Indent with four spaces then another four spaces (or use three backticks) for nested code block.
List (Nested paragraph)	🔵 Partially	`- First item\n Nested paragraph`	Indent with four spaces for nested paragraph. Line break is supported but not multiple paragraphs
List (Ordered)	🟢 Yes	`1. First item\n2. Second item\n 1. Sub item`	Indent item for nested list
List (Tasks)	🟢 Yes	`- [x] Test Markdown`
List (Unordered)	🟢 Yes	`- First item\n- Second item\n - Sub item`	Indent item for nested list
Escaping	🟢 Yes	`\Not italic\`	You can escape specials characters with a backslash (`\`). Depending on your code and the way you return the message, maybe you’ll need to escape with two backslashes

Bots and conversational experience

In order to provide a great conversational experience here are some of the best practices we advise every integrator to follow.

⚠️ Please note that these guidelines are important for your app to pass the iAdvize review process. ⚠️

Awaits / timeout on Bot Transfers

Our bot transfer process allows you to set any timeout value you might like. Please be advised that you should not set a timeout value inferior to 15 seconds. Under that delay our system will not have a sufficient amount of time to verify availability. This delay is perfectly acceptable in term of conversational experience and is required for the transfer to operate correctly.

⚠️ Please note that if you don't specify a transferOptions, the timeout value will be 60 seconds

You can specify a timeout in a transferOptions key as below :

{
  "type": "transfer",
  "distributionRule": "ef4670c3-d715-4a21-8226-ed17f354fc44",
  "transferOptions": {
    "timeout": {
      "value": 20,
      "unit": "seconds"
    }
  }
}

Delay your answers

We strongly advise to put an await between each answer your bot is going to send to the visitor to enhance the conversational experience with your bot. You can use an await of a few seconds for each message you send to the visitor. Answering directly would be too unnatural otherwise.

Do not disguise your bot as a human

We will refuse any integration that masks the fact that a bot isn't a human. According to our experience, we know that it results in important satisfaction drop. You should state at the beginning of the conversation that the operator is not human. Also provide a specific avatar that makes it clear that the agent is a bot.

Be careful about the length of your messages

You should never send a message over 450 characters long (technical limitation). We even advise not to send more than 250 characters per message (optimal Ux). To offer a great conversational experience try to write short and concise answers. If you really need to send a long answer we recommend splitting your entire message in smaller ones of max. 250 characters that are semantically coherent.

Do not say hello twice

A preconfigured welcome message is available for all of our clients. If your bot says hello at the start of every new conversation it will results in the visitor receiving a similar message two times in a few seconds.

To deliver a better conversational experience, your bot can skip any notion of welcoming message and just present itself as a bot.

Diversify your answers

Try and offer multiple versions of your common answers. It will help you deliver a better experience instead of a repetitive robotic one.

FAQ

My visitor is being inactive in the conversation, how can I send him/her a message ?

You can schedule a message to be sent after a while such as:

{
    "idConversation": "ce41ba2c-c25a-4351-b946-09527d8b940b",
    "idOperator": "ha-456678",
    "replies": [
        {
            "type": "await",
            "duration": {
                "unit": "seconds",
                "value": 120
            }
        },
        {
            "type": "message",
            "payload": {
                "contentType": "text",
                "value": "Can I still help you ?"
             },
            "quickReplies": []
        }
    ],
    "createdAt": "2017-11-22T12:04:00Z",
    "updatedAt": "2017-11-22T12:23:00Z"
}

Explanation: After 2 minutes, the message Can I still help you ? will be sent to the visitor. If the visitor sends a message before the 2 minutes timer, this message is not sent to the conversation.

How can I check availability of a rule before a transfer

You can check the availability with the routingRule query in our GraphQL API. This query returns a routingRule object in which there is an availability field allowing to know the availability of the different channels.

Here is an example of a query to retrieve the availability on chat channel:

query getAvailabilityOfMyRoutingRule {
  routingRule(id: "MY_ROUTING_RULE_UUID") {
    availability {
      chat {
        isAvailable
      }
    }
  }
}

And its result:

{
  "data": {
    "routingRule": {
      "availability": {
        "chat": {
          "isAvailable": false
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Bot troubleshooting

Q: My chat does not display, even if I went through all the bot creation process and campaign creation process

A1: Is your browser main language is the language the bot is configured to chat in ? If not, make sure they match

A2: Is your bot available to chat ? Make sure that your bot is available to chat i.e. the availability endpoint is reachable and returns true. See the availability-strategy endpoint here (link).

Q: My bot is stuck in an infinite loop, it keeps replying to itself.

A: Mind that all the messages sent in the conversation (whether your bot is the author or not) trigger a call to the POST /conversations/conversationId/messages. To avoid to reply to yourself, you have to filter on the author. If the author equals visitor then you can reply otherwise, just return an empty "replies" array:

{
  idConversation: ...,
  idOperator: ...,
  replies: [], // Empty replies
  createdAt: ...,
  updatedAt: ...
}

Q: My bot always appears to be offline, how can I change that ?

A: Did you implement the GET /availability-strategies correctly ?

Q: Why is the iAdvize bot selected and not my external bot in the iAdvize admin interface?

A: Did you implement the GET /external-bots, PUT /bot/:id and GET /bot/:id correctly ?

Building your Bot on iAdvize

What is a bot at iAdvize ?

Bots can

Bots really cannot

Create and configure a bot in iAdvize

In the dev platform

Create a bot connector

In the admin

Install the bot connector

Create a bot agent

Chat with your bot

Create a campaign

Create a targeting rule

Create a routing group

Create a routing rule

Check that everything is correctly setup

Implement a bot

Implement the bot creation flow

List available scenarios

Request - GET /external-bots

Expected Response format

Expected response example

Create and modify a bot

Request - PUT /bots/:idOperator

Request example

Response format

Response example

Get bot

Request - GET /bots/:idOperator

Response format

Response example

Get availability

Request - GET /availability-strategies

Response format

Response example 1: bot is available only if the distribution rule to check returns true

Response example 2: bot is always available

Implement the conversation flow

Send messages before the conversation starts

Request - GET /bots/:idOperator/conversation-first-messages

Response format

Response example

Create a conversation

Request - POST /conversations

Response format

Response example

Receive and reply to messages

Request - POST /conversations/:idConversation/messages

Response format

Response example

Proactively send messages to the visitor

The chatbotMessageSend GraphQL mutation

conversationId

chatbotId

Conversation objects

Await object

Close object

Transfer object

Message objects

Text payload

Generic card payload

Product Offer payload

File payload

Card bundle payload

Product Offer bundle payload

Generic JSON objects

Image

Actions

Quick reply object

Customize replies with Markdown

Supported Markdown features

Bots and conversational experience

Awaits / timeout on Bot Transfers

Delay your answers

Do not disguise your bot as a human

Be careful about the length of your messages

Do not say hello twice

Diversify your answers

FAQ

My visitor is being inactive in the conversation, how can I send him/her a message ?

How can I check availability of a rule before a transfer

Bots cannot

The `chatbotMessageSend` GraphQL mutation