First my apologies if this is a dumb question, or has been asked before. I've been searching for a couple of days and can't find an answer. This usually means I'm asking a dumb question. ;-)
I have a rPi and touchscreen in my kitchen; it displays helpful things like appointments for next 7 days, weather next 7 days, news headlines, etc. It's a web app I wrote in Angular 7, and it queries a NodeJS v8 backend which I also wrote. This was a hobby project to learn Angular and Node.
The Node app performs all interactions with the outside world, using Google's Calendar API to get appointments, Yahoo Weather API, newsapi.org. All of these integrations followed the same pattern -- obtain some apikey token, and use that when invoking some API method to get the requested data in a JSON wad.
Now, I would like to also get the grocery list from my Echo. After reviewing Amazon's Alexa API documentation, it doesn't appear that I can do this the same way as the previous three integrations I did. Must I really write a "skill" for this, though I never intend to invoke it on the Echo?
And if so, could you point to a decent sample? None of the samples provided by Amazon utilize the Lists API.
Yes, you must create a skill in order to receive access_token. And then - Out of Session Interaction feature might be useful.
Related
I’m new to Dialogflow CX and after reading its node.js documentation (I’m a jr Dev) I’m still struggling to get the problem below solved.
PROBLEM: I need my chatbot to receive the question “do you have Toyota Corollas (cars!) in black with less than 20,000 miles, 2017 or newer and cheaper than $15,000 for sale?”
CONTEXT: I have a database with all car makes, models, years, versions, mileage, colors and prices available. The problem is that I can’t (and sorry for how silly this looks) even initiate the bot and I know that after initiating it I would need to create a zillion entities through code (can’t do it manually) so the bot would be able to read all car parameters of the user’s question. Then after reading those parameters (entities) the bot should query my database to check availability of those particular Corollas and then give a proper answer.
ASK: I would be very grateful if you could please help me initiate the Dialogflow CX bot, load all car makes, models, years, versions, colors and prices into it AS ENTITIES and then give the answer that the user needs.
I’ve checked the GitHub quickstarts and read the documentation multiple times but am still very confused.
It looks like you have a few different issues with some of the Dialogflow CX basics. Let's try to clear them up.
How do I initiate the Dialogflow CX bot?
It isn't clear what you mean, exactly, from this.
Dialogflow CX, itself, isn't a bot client. Instead, it provides integrations with various ways to communicate with your agent. This may include telephone integrations, web-based chat systems, and an API so you can integrate with other clients such as Slack.
Your Dialogflow CX agent, itself, is setup using Google's Cloud services, and can support one or more of these integrations.
How do I create a zillion entities through code?
It isn't clear why you need to create a zillion of them, nevermind through code itself.
You likely will want to create a custom entity type for the make/model combination. And it should probably have aliases, so that people could say "Ford Explorer" or just "Explorer" and have it resolve to the same type.
If you really wanted to use an API to do this, you could use EntityType.create to do so. That points to the REST documentation, but based on the language you want to use, there may be a library able to handle it.
Some of the other types, however, can be handled with system entity types such as #sys.color or a numeric type. There's no reason for you to create those.
But what happens if someone asks for a combination that isn't valid?
Then you'll need to tell them it isn't valid. Just like if someone was talking to you in person and asked for something that didn't make sense.
How will it check the database for a good response?
You'll need to make this database call as part of a webhook that you create to implement the business logic.
I have a setup on a Raspberry Pi (with its native camera) that uses a cronjob to start an ffmpeg session with its output streaming to YouTube. I re-use the same stream key each time, which is written into my ffmpeg scripts. This all works perfectly each week, automatically starting and stopping at the desired time.
However, each week PRIOR to that livestream, I have to "manually" go into YouTube Studio and "schedule" a new future event. This is easy enough, since it lets me "reuse" previous settings -- all I have to change is the Title, date, and time. But I would love to figure out a way to automate that part of the process, as well. I assume it involves using the YouTube Data API, but I'm not well versed in API's, JSON, etc.
(I do have a strong Linux background, bash scripting skills, and general programming background.)
My final solution just needs to:
create the new scheduled event (maybe 12 hours prior to going live), with Title, Date, Time, "Unlisted" status, category, and so forth -- all the usual settings I do manually within Studio
retrieve the assigned URL for the upcoming stream (my script will then email that to me)
So, basically, I'm asking for help getting started with the API, or whatever method is capable of doing this. I would prefer to code it on the same Pi that does the ffmpeg encoding (although in a pinch, I could create the schedule from another computer, even Windows). Any examples would be great.
So far, all I have done is create my Google project, enable the YouTube Data API in the project, and create my API key. But I'm not sure where to go from there.
If Python as implementation language suites you, then I'd recommend to use the Google's APIs Client Library for Python.
Basically, this library is of good quality and (compared to other client libraries) simple to use. It will, for example, insulate you from having to deal explicitly with REST API calls, JSON and the like. Your code will also work under both GNU/Linux and Windows.
You may begin your journey by reading the official getting started doc: YouTube Live Streaming API Overview. Then I recommend absorbing these two important documents: Life of a Broadcast and Understanding Broadcasts and Streams.
Then go read, understand and run the following sample program from Google: create_broadcast.py. Of course, you'll have to adapt that code to your use case.
You'll have to exercise patience and perseverance (since you say you have no prior experience using the YouTube Data API). This API is non-trivial, but it'll pay off to you at the end of your (programming) journey (you mentioned to be versed in programming).
A special mention: for to be able to call the live streaming APIs you will first need to get acquainted with the things related to the so-called OAuth 2.0 authorization and authentication: Implementing OAuth 2.0 Authentication. There's an official document that you need absorb: OAuth 2.0 for Mobile & Desktop Apps.
A few more references: the live streaming API has an official documentation too. The main site documenting the client library is: Google API Client Library for Python Docs. Its source is public, to be found within the client library's public repo under the directory docs.
Also useful is to see the YouTube Data API's list of all instance methods.
These days I am finding myself in the position of having to implement for one of my college courses a system that should act as a giant wrapper over many communications apps like Gmail , Facebook Messenger maybe even WhatsApp .To put it simply you should have a giant web interface where you can authorize Gmail , Messenger and use them at once when required. I am thinking of going with an REST API to manage the user's services authorized by OAuth2.Also I am thinking of using Node.JS and Express.js in the backend and React.js in the frontend. I found some sweet libraries in npm that should take care of interacting with the involved APIs(https://www.npmjs.com/package/node-gmail-api this one for instance), but I am also doubtful about this approach , for example I have no idea how to keep the use notified about its incoming mails or messages for example . I am in dire need of some expertise since I forgot to mention but I am quite the newbie in this field. To sum it up for once my question is how would you implement such an infrastructure ? Is it my approach viable or I am bound to hit some really hard to overcome obstacles?
As a college exercise, it would be a really fun experiment, so it definitely worth the time you want to put into it. However, once you want to add more features, the complexity will go up pretty fast.
Here are a couple of ideas you can think of:
It's pretty clear that your system can't do more things than the capabilities exposed by the APIs of communication apps (e.g. you can't have notifications in gmail if the API doesn't have this capability).
For that reason, you should carefully study the APIs and what functionalities they expose. They have public docs that you can check out: (Gmail API, Facebook Messanger API)
Some of the apps you want to communicate with may not have an official API (e.g. WhatsApp) - those kinds of details you definitely want to know from the start.
Based on the analysis of those APIs, you should lay out a list of requirements for your system, which can be extracted from all the APIs, for example: message notifications, file transfers, user profiles, etc.
In this way, you know exactly what capabilities your system should have, and you don't end up implementing a feature that is available only in 1 API out of 4.
Also, it would be a bit challenging to design your system from a user perspective, because the apps have different usage patterns - chat apps, where messages are coming in real-time, vs email, which is not real-time communication. That's just a detail anyway, the gist of your project is to play with those APIs.
Also, it may worth checking out the Gateway Aggergation Pattern, which is related to this project - you may want the user to send a message to multiple apps, by using a single request to your service.
Prewarning: I am a noob with development, I started doing web design when I retired from the Marines about 3 years ago. I specialized in Intelligence and Tactics, so not a computer user during that career. Fast forward to Today:
I work as an Exchange admin and migration specialist with GoDaddy, I have been through several Webdesign courses and learned a decent foundation of html/css/php however JavaScript, Nodejs, Java, Python, C++, and C# are all still things I am working on.
My issue: My lead wants to have a bot built that essentially posts messages in the #general group (I learned how to do this and actually setup a nodejs server within my test hosting server # GD and have a Joke bot running in my slack WS). The tricky part that I have been scratching my brain on is how to use an web API that GD has to monitor our call que, hold times, and agents online. I need to figure out how to get the bot to post a message regarding certain triggers automatically(exp. Hold time exceeds 10mins). I can not figure out whether to use a webhook, eventListener, or a direct bot auth'd into the GD api like my joke bot that links to chuckNorris jokes.
I appreciate all the comments truly, I have thick skin and know that I am late to the game on development. I want to build this for the experience and to integrate with slack, my end goal would be more projects to eventually become a Dev within GD.
I have a few thoughts that might help you.
Regarding these holdtimes, agents online, and call queues, think of these as events. Whenever these events occur, they should fire a payload (HTTP request) to your service that then posts messages to slack. I think you might need a slack bot token for this.
Many APIs have this functionality under webhooks. You provide them the URL to the endpoint your developing and theres usually a toggle to tell them that you want to start accepting events.
To get going on your service/bot, I'd recommend starting with learning about what these webhook event payloads will look like in terms of structure so that you can parse it.
If you have more detailed questions feel free to comment or message. Happy to help. I've written a slack bot or two.
Reading through the Flickr API documentation it keeps stating I require an API key to use their REST protocols. I am only building a photo viewer, gathering information available from Flickr's public photo feed (For instance, I am not planning on writing an upload script, where a API key would be required). Is there any added functionality I can get from getting a Key?
Update I answered the question below
To use the Flickr API you need to have an application key. We use this to track API usage.
Currently, commercial use of the API is allowed only with prior permission. Requests for API keys intended for commercial use are reviewed by staff. If your project is personal, artistic, free or otherwise non-commercial please don't request a commercial key. If your project is commercial, please provide sufficient detail to help us decide. Thanks!
http://www.flickr.com/services/api/misc.api_keys.html
We set up an account and got an API key. The answer to the question is, yes there is advanced functionality with an API key when creating something like a simple photo viewer. The flickr.photos.search command has many more features for reciving an rss feed of images than the Public photo feed, such as only retrieving new photos since the last feed request (via the min_upload_date attribute) or searching for "safe photos" only.
If you have a key, they can monitor your usage and make sure that everything is copacetic -- you are below request limit, etc. They can separate their stats on regular vs API usage. If they are having response time issues, they can make response a bit slower to API users in order to keep the main website responding quickly, etc.
Those are the benefits to them.
The benefits to you? If you just write a scraper, and it does something they don't like like hitting them too often, they'll block you unceremoniously for breaking their ToS.
If you only want to hit the thing a couple of times, you can get away without the Key. If you are writing a service that will hit their feed thousands of times, you want to give them the courtesy of following their rules.
Plus like Dave Webb said, the API is nicer. But that's in the eye of the beholder.
The Flickr API is very nice and easy to use and will be much easier than scraping the feed yourself.
Getting a key takes about 2 minutes - you fill in a form on the website and then email it to you.
Well, they say you need a key - you need a key, then :-) Exposing an API means you can pull data off the site way easier, it is understandable they want this under control. It is pretty much the same as with other API enabled sites.