botbuilder-adapter-hangouts

Connect Botkit or BotBuilder to Google Hangouts.

This package contains an adapter that communicates directly with the Google Hangouts API, and translates messages to and from a standard format used by your bot. This package can be used alongside your favorite bot development framework to build bots that work with Google Hangouts.

Install Package

Add this package to your project using npm:

npm install --save botbuilder-adapter-hangouts

Import the adapter class into your code:

const { HangoutsAdapter } = require('botbuilder-adapter-hangouts');

Get Started

If you are starting a brand new project, follow these instructions to create a customized application template.

Use HangoutsAdapter in your App

HangoutsAdapter provides a translation layer for Botkit and BotBuilder so that bot developers can connect to Google Hangouts and have access to the Google Hangouts's API.

Botkit Basics

When used in concert with Botkit, developers need only pass the configured adapter to the Botkit constructor, as seen below. Botkit will automatically create and configure the webhook endpoints and other options necessary for communicating with Google.

Developers can then bind to Botkit's event emitting system using controller.on and controller.hears to filter and handle incoming events from the messaging platform. Learn more about Botkit's core feature →.

A full description of the HangoutsAdapter options and example code can be found in the class reference docs.

const adapter = new HangoutsAdapter({
    token: process.env.GOOGLE_TOKEN,
    google_auth_params: {
        credentials: process.env.GOOGLE_CREDS
    }
});

const controller = new Botkit({
    adapter,
    // ...other options
});

controller.on('message', async(bot, message) => {
    await bot.reply(message, 'I heard a message!');
});

BotBuilder Basics

Alternately, developers may choose to use HangoutsAdapter with BotBuilder. With BotBuilder, the adapter is used more directly with a webserver, and all incoming events are handled as Activities.

const adapter = new HangoutsAdapter({
    token: process.env.GOOGLE_TOKEN,
    google_auth_params: {
        credentials: process.env.GOOGLE_CREDS
    }
});

const server = restify.createServer();
server.use(restify.plugins.bodyParser());
server.post('/api/messages', (req, res) => {
     adapter.processActivity(req, res, async(context) => {
         await context.sendActivity('I heard a message!');
     });
});

Class Reference

• HangoutsAdapter
• BotWorker Extensions

Event List

Botkit will emit the following events:

Calling Google APIs

This package exposes a pre-configured Google API client for developers who want to use one of the many available API endpoints.

In Botkit handlers, the bot worker object passed into all handlers will contain a bot.api field that contains the client, preconfigured and ready to use.

controller.on('message', async(bot, message) {

    // get a list of the members of a room
    let members = await bot.api.spaces.members.get({name: message.channel});
    // .. do stuff

});

Botkit Extensions

In Botkit handlers, the bot worker for Hangouts contains all of the base methods as well as the following platform-specific extensions:

Use cards

Botkit will automatically construct your outgoing messages according to Google's specifications. Google Hangouts supports card attachments with buttons.

To use card attachments, add the cards field to the outgoing message object used to create the reply:

await bot.reply(message, {
    text: 'Pick a card!',
    cards: [
        {
            // card object
        },
    ]
});

Reply in a new thread

In Google Hangouts, messages are organized into threads. Botkit provides specialized methods for cases where a bot's reply should create a new thread, or for when a bot should conduct an entire conversation in new/separate thread.

• bot.replyInThread
• bot.startConversationInThread

Respond to card_clicked events

When a button in an card attachment is clicked, Google sends a special event that requires a special response. Botkit will emit a card_clicked event, which should be responded to using either bot.replyWithUpdate() or bot.replyWithNew().

See Google doc for interactive cards →.

• bot.replyWithUpdate
• bot.replyWithNew

Update and remove messages

Google Hangouts supports updating and deleting messages. Do so with the following convenience methods:

• bot.updateMessage
• bot.deleteMessage

Community & Support

Join our thriving community of Botkit developers and bot enthusiasts at large. Over 10,000 members strong, our open Slack group is the place for people interested in the art and science of making bots. Come to ask questions, share your progress, and commune with your peers!

You can also find help from members of the Botkit team in our dedicated Cisco Spark room!

About Botkit

Botkit is a part of the Microsoft Bot Framework.

Want to contribute? Read the contributor guide

Botkit is released under the MIT Open Source license