codebro-bot

a toy markov-bot project; behold: stream-of-consciousness python

Run a local server

This is useful for testing the basic functionality and interacting with the bot, without connecting to Slack or Discord.

Start up:

Run main.py, with args to specify the input file ('brain'), output file (a log of recorded messages), the bot's name, and a local port. For example:

./main.py --local_server_port 9966 --brain blah.yaml --output meh.brain --name dumdum

For blank-slate testing, you need to create a seed brain with at least two tokens

[<START>, hi, hello, <STOP>]

Connecting & interacting

Once the server is running, you can background the process or open up another terminal, and connect to the port you opened with nc.

The Bot will respond when whatever name you've given it is called, in the same manner as a connection to Slack or Discord, and should start learning from your conversation:

> nc localhost 9966

Say something: hello dumdum
dumdum said: hi hello
Say something: dumdum, learn some things
dumdum said: hi hello
Say something: yes dumdum we covered that
dumdum said: hi hello
Say something: try something new dumdum
dumdum said: learn some things

persistence & logging

Everything the bot learns will be appended to the file you specified in --output

The input file needs to have some basic pickling; a convenience script, make_yaml.py, will convert any file of phrases into a new consumable brain for the bot.

This example takes the --output specified in the above example, and prepares it for a new instance of the bot:

 ./make_yaml.py --garbage-in meh.brain --garbage-out blah.yaml

You can tail the output file to see what the bot is learning in real-time.

Codebro Resurrect

Create a Slack app:

Head over to https://api.slack.com/apps.

Under "Your Apps", select "Create an App," then select "From scratch" from the next prompt.

Give your app a name and select a workspace to install the app.

Get an app token:

Find "Socket Mode" in the left-hand Settings menu. Enable socket mode. This will generate an app token, the first of two tokens you'll need. Copy and save the app token.

Add a bot token scope:

Before we can install the app to a workspace and get our bot token, we need to add a bot token OAuth scope. Find "OAuth & Permissions" in the left-hand Features menu. Scroll down to "Scopes" and add scope "channels:read" and "chat:write". Now the app has permission to view basic information about public channels in a workspace.

Install to Workspace & bot token:

At the top of the page, the "Install to Workspace" button should be green. Go ahead and install the app to a workspace. Then, head back to "Oauth & Permissions." You should see your bot token at the top of the page. Copy and save the token.

Event subscriptions:

Find "Event Subscriptions" in the left-hand Features menu. Enable event subscriptions. Then, select "Subscribe to bot events" and add:

- message:im
- message:groups
- message:channels
- message:mpim

Save your changes. You should see a prompt to reinstall your app. Go ahead and reinstall.

Slash commands and direct messaging:

Find "App Home" in the left-hand Features menu and check the box that allows users to send Slash commands and messages from the messages tab to your app.