Laravel 11 - BotMan Chatbot Integration
Laravel 11 - BotMan Chatbot Integration
In this tutorial, we’ll explore integrating BotMan Chatbot into Laravel 11, enhancing user engagement through automated conversations and providing seamless customer interactions.
If you're a video person, feel free to skip the post and check out the video instead!
Step # 1 : Create fresh Laravel project or use existing project.
Two commands to create fresh laravel project.
Global Command : laravel new botman
Or use
Non Global Command : composer create-project laravel/laravel --prefer-dist botman
Step # 2 : Access the project.
Open a terminal (e.g., Git Bash) and navigate to your Laravel project's root folder.
Git Bash : cd c:xampp/htdocs/botman
Step # 3 : Install Botman package.
Command : composer require botman/botman
Step # 4 : Install Botman driver.
Command : composer require botman/driver-web
Step # 5 : Configure cache for Botman.
Create a new folder inside the config directory named Botman, then create a new file named config.php and paste the following code.
<?php
return [
'conversation_cache_time' => 40,
'user_cache_time' => 30,
];
?>
Step # 6 : Configure driver for Botman.
Create a new file inside the Botman directory named web.php and paste the following code
<?php
return [
'matchingData' => [
'driver' => 'web',
],
];
Step # 7 : Create a route.
Import BotManController class.
use App\Http\Controllers\BotManController;
Crate route.
Route::match(['get', 'post'], '/botman', 'App\Http\Controllers\BotManController@handle');
This route will listen for both GET and POST requests at the /botman URL and pass them to the handle method in the BotManController
Step # 8 : Update View.
Replace the content of the welcome.blade.php file with the following HTML to set up the Botman chatbot interface.
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<title>Laravel 11 - BotMan Chatbot - Code Shotcut</title>
<link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Nunito:200,600" rel="stylesheet">
</head>
<body>
</body>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/botman-web-widget@0/build/assets/css/chat.min.css">
<script>
var botmanWidget = {
aboutText: 'Start the conversation with Hi',
introMessage: "WELCOME TO CODE SHOTCUT"
};
</script>
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/botman-web-widget@0/build/js/widget.js"></script>
</html>
Step # 9 : Create a controller.
Run the following command to generate the BotManController.
Command : php artisan make:controller BotManController
Once the controller is created, replace the content of BotManController.php with the following code.
<?php
namespace App\Http\Controllers;
use BotMan\BotMan\BotMan;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;
use BotMan\BotMan\Messages\Incoming\Answer;
class BotManController extends Controller
{
/**
* Handle the incoming messages from the Botman chatbot.
*/
public function handle()
{
$botman = app('botman');
// Listen for any message
$botman->hears('{message}', function($botman, $message) {
// Convert the message to lowercase to handle case insensitivity
$message = strtolower($message);
// If the user says 'hi', start a conversation to ask for their name
if ($message == 'hi') {
$this->askName($botman);
}
// For any other input, send a default message
else {
$botman->reply("Start a conversation by saying hi.");
}
});
$botman->listen();
}
/**
* Ask the user for their name when they say 'hi'.
*/
public function askName($botman)
{
// For fewer questions, you can use the inline conversation approach as shown below. Alternatively, use a dedicated conversation class for multi-step conversations
$botman->ask('Hello! What is your name?', function(Answer $answer, $conversation) {
// Capture the user's answer
$name = $answer->getText();
// Respond with a personalized message
$this->say('Nice to meet you, ' . $name);
//Continue inline conversation.
$conversation->ask('Can you advise about your email address.', function(Answer $answer, $conversation){
$email = $answer->getText();
$this->say('Email : '.$email);
});
});
}
}
Explanation :
handle(): This method listens for incoming messages. If the user sends 'hi', it triggers the askName() method to start a conversation. If the user sends anything else, it replies with a prompt to say 'hi'.
askName(): This method asks the user for their name and then responds with a personalized greeting.
This sets up basic chatbot functionality where the user can start a conversation by saying 'hi', and the bot will ask for their name.
Step # 10 : It's time to test.
Start the Laravel development server.
Command : php artisan serve.
Access below URL
127.0.0.1:8000
If a users says hi or Hi.
if a user says anything else.
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2 Comments
Great tutorial, thank you. I followed your instructions, I am getting error 404 page not found. Any advice?.
Hi Mohammed,
The 404 error indicates that Laravel is unable to locate the route you set up or that there might be a misconfiguration. I recommend reviewing each step again, and please let me know if anything is unclear. If you’re still unable to resolve the issue, feel free to email me at codeshotcut@gmail.com, and I’ll be happy to assist you further.