bottender

⚡️ A framework for building conversational user interfaces.

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Quick Overview

Bottender is a modern JavaScript framework for building conversational user interfaces. It provides a unified interface for various messaging platforms, including Messenger, LINE, Slack, Telegram, and more. Bottender aims to simplify the development process of chatbots and conversational applications.

Pros

Cross-platform support for multiple messaging services
Easy-to-use API with a consistent interface across platforms
Built-in session management and state handling
Extensive documentation and examples

Cons

Steeper learning curve for developers new to chatbot development
Limited built-in natural language processing capabilities
Requires additional setup for each messaging platform
May be overkill for simple chatbot projects

Code Examples

Creating a simple echo bot:

const { createServer } = require('bottender/express');
const { router, text } = require('bottender/router');

async function echo(context) {
  await context.sendText(context.event.text);
}

const app = router([
  text(echo),
]);

const server = createServer(app);

server.listen(5000, () => {
  console.log('server is running on 5000 port...');
});

Handling different types of events:

const { router, text, payload } = require('bottender/router');

async function handleText(context) {
  await context.sendText(`You said: ${context.event.text}`);
}

async function handlePayload(context) {
  await context.sendText(`You clicked: ${context.event.payload}`);
}

const app = router([
  text(handleText),
  payload(handlePayload),
]);

Using session to maintain conversation state:

async function askName(context) {
  await context.sendText('What is your name?');
  context.session.state = 'asking_name';
}

async function handleName(context) {
  const name = context.event.text;
  await context.sendText(`Hello, ${name}!`);
  context.session.state = 'idle';
}

const app = router([
  text('start', askName),
  text(context => context.session.state === 'asking_name', handleName),
]);

Getting Started

To get started with Bottender:

Install Bottender:
```
npm install bottender
```

Create a new project:

npx create-bottender-app my-bot
cd my-bot

Configure your messaging channel in bottender.config.js
Start development:
```
npm run dev
```

For more detailed instructions, refer to the official Bottender documentation.

Competitor Comparisons

botpress

12,494

The open-source hub to build & deploy GPT/LLM Agents ⚡️

Pros of Botpress

More comprehensive platform with built-in analytics, NLU, and visual flow builder
Larger community and more extensive documentation
Supports multiple languages and has a wider range of integrations

Cons of Botpress

Steeper learning curve due to more complex architecture
Heavier resource usage, which may impact performance on smaller servers
Less flexibility for custom implementations compared to Bottender's code-first approach

Code Comparison

Bottender (JavaScript):

const { router, text } = require('bottender/router');

async function App() {
  return router([
    text('hello', async (context) => {
      await context.sendText('Hello, world!');
    }),
  ]);
}

Botpress (JavaScript):

const botpress = require('botpress')

module.exports = async (bp) => {
  bp.hear(/hello/i, async (event, next) => {
    await event.reply('Hello, world!')
  })
}

Both frameworks allow for easy message handling, but Bottender's approach is more declarative and functional, while Botpress uses a more traditional event-based system. Bottender's code is slightly more concise, but Botpress offers more built-in features that may require less custom code overall.

botframework-sdk

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Bot Framework provides the most comprehensive experience for building conversation applications.

Pros of botframework-sdk

More comprehensive ecosystem with tools for bot development, testing, and deployment
Supports multiple programming languages (C#, JavaScript, Python)
Extensive documentation and community support

Cons of botframework-sdk

Steeper learning curve due to its complexity
Heavier framework with more dependencies
Less flexibility for customization compared to Bottender

Code Comparison

botframework-sdk (JavaScript):

const { ActivityHandler, MessageFactory } = require('botbuilder');

class EchoBot extends ActivityHandler {
    constructor() {
        super();
        this.onMessage(async (context, next) => {
            await context.sendActivity(MessageFactory.text(`Echo: ${context.activity.text}`));
            await next();
        });
    }
}

Bottender:

module.exports = async function App(context) {
  if (context.event.isText) {
    await context.sendText(`Echo: ${context.event.text}`);
  }
};

Both frameworks provide ways to create chatbots, but Bottender offers a more straightforward approach with less boilerplate code. botframework-sdk provides a more structured class-based approach, which can be beneficial for larger projects. Bottender's simplicity makes it easier to get started, while botframework-sdk's extensive features and cross-platform support make it suitable for complex enterprise applications.

botkit

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Botkit is an open source developer tool for building chat bots, apps and custom integrations for major messaging platforms.

Pros of Botkit

Mature and well-established framework with a large community
Supports a wide range of platforms including Slack, Facebook Messenger, and Twilio
Offers pre-built plugins and middleware for common bot functionalities

Cons of Botkit

Less modern syntax and architecture compared to Bottender
Steeper learning curve for beginners due to its extensive feature set
Limited built-in support for newer messaging platforms

Code Comparison

Botkit:

const { Botkit } = require('botkit');

const controller = new Botkit({
  webhook_uri: '/api/messages',
});

controller.hears('hello', 'message', async(bot, message) => {
  await bot.reply(message, 'Hi there!');
});

Bottender:

const { router, text } = require('bottender/router');

async function App(context) {
  return router([
    text('hello', async (context) => {
      await context.sendText('Hi there!');
    }),
  ]);
}

Both frameworks offer straightforward ways to create bot responses, but Bottender's syntax is more modern and concise. Botkit uses a controller-based approach, while Bottender leverages a functional programming style with routers.

rasa

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Pros of Rasa

More comprehensive NLU capabilities with built-in intent classification and entity extraction
Supports multiple languages out of the box
Offers both open-source and enterprise versions with additional features

Cons of Rasa

Steeper learning curve due to more complex architecture
Requires more setup and configuration compared to Bottender
May be overkill for simple chatbot projects

Code Comparison

Rasa (Python):

from rasa_sdk import Action, Tracker
from rasa_sdk.executor import CollectingDispatcher

class ActionHelloWorld(Action):
    def name(self) -> str:
        return "action_hello_world"

    def run(self, dispatcher: CollectingDispatcher,
            tracker: Tracker,
            domain: Dict[str, Any]) -> List[Dict[str, Any]]:
        dispatcher.utter_message(text="Hello World!")
        return []

Bottender (JavaScript):

const { router, text } = require('bottender/router');

async function HelloWorld(context) {
  await context.sendText('Hello World!');
}

module.exports = function App() {
  return router([
    text('*', HelloWorld),
  ]);
};

Both repositories offer powerful tools for building chatbots, but they cater to different needs. Rasa is more suitable for complex, multi-language projects requiring advanced NLU capabilities, while Bottender provides a simpler, more lightweight approach for JavaScript developers.

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README

Bottender

The readme below is the documentation for the v1 (stable) version of Bottender. To view the documentation:

for the latest Bottender version (v1.x), visit https://bottender.js.org/docs/

for the legacy Bottender version (v0.15), visit https://bottender.js.org/docs/0.15.17/

Declarative - Bottender takes care of the complexity of conversational UIs for you. Design actions for each event and state in your application, and Bottender will run accordingly. This approach makes your code more predictable and easier to debug.
Native User Experience - Bottender lets you create apps on every channel and never compromise on your usersâ experience. You can apply progressive enhancement or graceful degradation strategy on your building blocks.
Easy Setup - With Bottender, you only need a few configurations to make your bot work with channels, automatic server listening, webhook setup, signature verification and so much more.
Ready for Production - There are thousands of bots powered by Bottender. It has been optimized for real world use cases, automatic batching request and dozens of other compelling features.

Bottender is built on top of Messaging APIs.

Installation

You can create a new Bottender app using the CLI tools:

npx create-bottender-app my-app

Installation may fail on Windows during compilation of the native dependencies with node-gyp. To solve this problem, you can install windows-build-tools or check node-gyp documentation.

Documentation

You can find the Bottender documentation on the website.

Check out the Getting Started page for a quick overview.

Community

You can discuss anything about Bottender or chatbot development in our Discord Server. Join now!

Examples

We have a bunch of examples in the examples folder. Here is the first one to get you started:

// index.js
const { router, text } = require('bottender/router');

async function SayHi(context) {
  await context.sendText('Hi!');
}

async function Unknown(context) {
  await context.sendText('Sorry, I donât know what you say.');
}

module.export = function App(context) {
  return router([text('hi', SayHi), text('*', Unknown)]);
};

Notable Features

Messenger

Messenger Profile Sync
Attachment Upload
Handover Protocol
Persona
Built-in NLP
Multiple Pages

LINE

Reply, Push, Multicast, Narrowcast
Imagemap
Rich menu
Room, Group Chat
Beacon
Icon Switch
Line Notify
LIFF (LINE Front-end Framework)

Slack

Channel Chat
Interactive Message
Slash Command

Webhook, Long Polling
Updating, Deleting Messages
Keyboard
Group Chat
Inline Query
Message Live Location
Payment

Viber

Subscribed, Unsubscribed Event
Delivered, Seen Event

Ecosystem

bottender-compose - An utility library for Bottender and higher-order handlers.

Contributing

Pull Requests and issue reports are welcome. You can follow steps below to submit your pull requests:

Fork, then clone the repo:

git clone git@github.com:your-username/bottender.git

Install the dependencies:

cd bottender
yarn

Make sure the tests pass (including ESLint, TypeScript checks and Jest tests):

yarn test

Make your changes and tests, and make sure the tests pass.

Contribute using the online one-click setup

You can use Gitpod(a free online VS Code-like) for contributing. With a single click it will launch a workspace and automatically:

clone the bottender repo.
install the dependencies.
run yarn run start.

So that you can start straight away.

License

MIT Â© Yoctol

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Top Related Projects

Quick Overview

Pros

Cons

Code Examples

Getting Started

Competitor Comparisons

Pros of Botpress

Cons of Botpress

Code Comparison

Pros of botframework-sdk

Cons of botframework-sdk

Code Comparison

Pros of Botkit

Cons of Botkit

Code Comparison

Pros of Rasa

Cons of Rasa

Code Comparison

Convert designs to code with AI

README

Bottender

Installation

Documentation

Community

Examples

Notable Features

Messenger

LINE

Slack

Telegram

Viber

Ecosystem

Contributing

Contribute using the online one-click setup

License

Top Related Projects

Convert designs to code with AI

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