Configuration file

chatbot.yaml is the main configuration file of a chat bot. It contains the name of the script main file, information about linked modules, configuration of the NLU module, list of tests and other configuration data.

General settings

Bot name

name: botName

This parameter is used to generate the name of a zip file when you run the build or buildDeploy command and the botId when you run deploy or buildDeploy.

Main file

entryPoint: main.sc

main.sc or entryPoint.sc is the main file of the chat bot script from which the script starts to load. The file must be located in the src folder.

Other scripts and JS files can be loaded at the start of the script via the require tag.

Script XML tests

tests:
  include:
  - "**/*.xml"
  exclude:
  - broken.xml

You can use script XML tests to verify chat bot logic by emulating client requests and verifying bot responses.

Any tests located in the test folder run automatically when you deploy your bot. You can override this behavior in the tests section.

The tests section can contain two subsections, include and exclude, each of them being the list of ant templates with file names.

include — only the tests from the files that match the templates listed in this section will be executed.
exclude — all the files matching the templates listed in this section will be excluded from execution.

JS unit tests

jsTests:
  extensions:
     - spec.js
     - test.js
  include:
     - "**/*.test.js"
     - "dir/*.spec.js"
  exclude:
     - broken.test.js
     - modules/common/**

You can run JS unit tests on the platform to automatically verify whether your JS code is correct.

JS unit tests can only be executed locally. You can use the ZB-CLI maintenance utility for that.

The Jasmine framework is used to run the tests. All the files from the test folder with the test.js extension are run by default. You can refine your unit test inclusion rules in the chatbot.yaml file and specify extensions for files containing tests.

The jsTests section can contain two subsections, include and exclude, each of them being the list of ant templates with file names.

include — only the tests from the files that match the templates listed in this section will be executed.
exclude — all the files matching the templates listed in this section will be excluded from execution.

You can override the extension for your test files in the extensions subsection.

Default bot language

language: ru

Use the language parameter to specify your default bot language by filling the $request.language field (if it was not specified in the request).

The $request.language language will then be used to display localized error messages, and it can also be used in scripts.

Error messages

messages:
  onError:
    defaultMessage: Something has gone wrong
    locales:
      ru: Something has gone wrong
      en: Failed on request processing

You can override your chat bot error message text in the message section. The text of the message is specified in the defaultMessage field.

If an error occurs and this field is not specified, the bot will not respond.

Localized message is selected depending on the client language given with the $request.language parameter. If the parameter is not given, the defaultMessage message is displayed.

Including dependencies

dependencies:
 - name: common
   type: git
   url: https://<repository>
   version: heads/master
 - name: another_common
   type: git
   url: https://<repository>
   version: heads/master

You can define the list of dependencies of your project in the dependencies section.

Field	Possible values	Descriptions
`name`	`<name>`	Name of the module to be used when you include files with the `require` statement.
`type`	`git`, `module`	Dependency type. Here: `git` is an external git repository; `module` specifies the folder if the repository contains multiple modules.
`url`	`http://` `git://` `file://`	`url` address of the repository. For `git` dependencies only.
`version`	`heads/master`	Dependency version; can specify the `branch` of the `tag`. For `git` dependencies only.

?>Dependencies are downloaded to the module folder when you deploy via the web interface.

Injector

injector:
   name: value
   var1: value2

Use the injector section to define configuration parameters of your chat bot. Parameters defined here will be available in chat bot scripts via the $injector variable.

Learn more about $injector

NLU functions

Specify parameters for the platform’s nlp functions in order to enable an STS classifier. You can find detailed description of parameters and configuration file examples in this article.

Specify the following parameters in the chatbot.yaml file if you want to use the CAILA NLU service:

language: ru
botEngine: v2

sts:
    noMatchThreshold: 0.2
caila:
    noMatchThreshold: 0.2

Learn more about the CAILA NLU service

File example

Minimum configuration file:

name: echo-template

entryPoint:
  - main.sc

tests:
  include:
    - test.xml

Configuration file of a project that uses the CAILA NLU service:

name: zb-cailapub

entryPoint:
  - main.sc

botEngine: v2
language: ru

sts:
    noMatchThreshold: 0.2

caila:
    noMatchThreshold: 0.2

Configuration file of a project that uses the STS classifier:

name: content

entryPoint:
  - main.sc

dependencies:
  - name: common
    type: git
    url: https://bitbucket.org/common
    version: heads/master
    
tests:
  include:
    - test.xml
    - purchase_return.xml
    - order.xml
    - commercial.xml
    - unsubscription.xml


nlp:
  lengthLimit:
    symbols: 1200
  vocabFile: common-vocabulary.json
  spellcheck:
    enabled: true
    minWordLengthForEditDistance: 3
    maxWordEditDistance: 0

messages:
    onError:
        defaultMessage: Oops, something has gone wrong.
        locales:
            ru: Oops, something has gone wrong.