General description

Channels connector is a component responsible for providing a bridge between different channels and SentiOne Automate. It allows to conduct conversations with Automate bots. It's meant to replace separate "Bot" apps by merging them into one application.

Currently, It supports:

WhatsApp by Twilio or Vonage
Facebook

API

Default port: 5782

There are default endpoints for monitoring purposes. They are described in Components monitoring section.

Databases

RabbitMQ

The component reads and writes data to queues:

automate.webhooks.messenger - used for Facebook's webhooks
automate.webhooks.vonage - used for Vonage's webhooks
automate.webhooks.twilio - used for Twilio's webhooks

Communication

This service communicates with the following services:

Application	Config to URL	Auth
admin	chatbots.channels-connector.api.admin-external.url	OTP
Twilio API	chatbots.channels-connector.twilio.api-url	Token-based
Facebook Graph API	chatbots.channels-connector.messenger.facebook-uri	Token-based
gateway	chatbots.gateway-api.url	None
MS Teams API	`https://graph.microsoft.com` `https://login.microsoftonline.com`	Token-based

Webhooks

For both WhatsApp by Vonage and WhatsApp by Twilio channels, webhooks URLs are visible on the application's UI in the Channel creation form. Detailed guides on how to integrate Automate with WhatsApp (including setting up webhooks) are available here: Vonage Twilio.

Facebook Messenger

The webhooks URL is https://CHANNELS-CONNECTOR_SERVER_PUBLIC_URL/webhooks/messenger

To register webhooks, you need to go to Facebook Developer website and set this address as Callback URL in Messenger -> Settings -> Webhooks.

Microsoft Teams configuration

Please refer to configuration documentation MsTeams

Config

Application's config

chatbots.channels-connector {

	# Public address of channels connector. It's required for some channels e.g. Twilio
  public-url: "https://CHANNELS-CONNECTOR_SERVER_PUBLIC_URL" 

  api {
    admin-external {
      url: "http://ADMIN_URL/api/external"
      otp-secret: "PUT_SECRET_HERE"
    }
  }

  vonage: {
    enabled: true
    message-timeout: 15s
    message-interval: 500ms
  }

  twilio: {
    enabled: true
    message-timeout: 15s
    handoverEnabled: true
    //api-url: "api.twilio.com"
  }

  messenger: {
    enabled: true
    message-timeout: 15s
    facebook-uri: "https://graph.facebook.com"
    typing-time: 1s
    
    # Defining app-id, app-secret and webhook-token enables Facebook Messenger Channel (OAuth)
    app-id: "XXX"
    app-secret: "XXX"
    webhook-token: "XXX"
  }
  
  # Defining this section enables Ms Teams Channel (OAuth)
  ms-teams {
    enabled: true
    private-key: "XXX",
    client-secret: "XXX"
    tenant-id: "XXX"
    client-id: "XXX"
    // Optional, available since v227
    proxy: {
    	host: "hostname.com" // without protocol and port, can be IP address
      port: 3128
      username: "user" // optional, needed if Proxy requires Authentication
      password: "password // optional, needed if Proxy requires Authentication
    }
  }
}

Other required configurations:

chatbots.messaging {  
  rabbit {  
    hosts: ["HOST:PORT"]  
    username: "USER"  
    password: "PASSWORD"  
  }  
}

chatbots.channels {
  channel-data-encryption-key: "XXX" # Key length should be 256 bits (32 characters)
  
  channels-connector-url: "http://CHANNELS-CONNECTOR_SERVER_PUBLIC_URL"
  vonage-repeat-hmac-key: "XXX" # By default it is equal to Listen's onpremise hookServer.vonage.repeatHmacKey  
  hooks-server-url: "URL" # Optional 
}

Job execution

None

Channels Connector