Implementing isRequestFromAssistant in Node.js on actions-on-google project fulfillment - node.js

Question

I am having trouble implementing the isRequestFromAssistant method to verify requests to my fulfillment webhook. Using Node.js, I instantiate the following variables at the start of my index.js file:
const App = require('actions-on-google').ApiAiApp;
const app = new App({ request, response });
I then use "app" with the .ask and .tell and other methods throughout my functions.
The code I see in the docs for implementing isRequestFromAssistant is:
const app = new ActionsSdkApp({request, response});
app.isRequestFromAssistant('my-project-id')
.then(() => {
app.ask('Hey there, thanks for stopping by!');
})
.catch(err => {
response.status(400).send();
});
If I leave out the first line and use my existing app variable, created with the .ApiAi method instead of the .ActionsSdkApp method, it doesn't work. If I create a new variable App1 and app1 using the .ActionsSdkApp method and change the above code to be app1.isRequestFromAssistant, it also doesn't work. I have tried other variations with no luck.
When I say it doesn't work, I mean I receive a 500 Internal Server Error when I call it. I am hosting it with NGROK currently. I am still a beginner with Node.js, although I have managed to get the other 700 lines of code working just fine, learning mostly from Google searches and reading these forums.

Answer 1

You have a few things going on here which, individually or separately, may be causing the problem.
First - make sure you have the most recent version of the actions-on-google library. The isRequestFromAssistant() function was added in version 1.6.0, I believe.
Second - Make sure you're creating the right kind of App instance. If you're using Dialogflow (formerly API.AI), you should be creating it with something like
const App = require('actions-on-google').DialogflowApp;
const app = new App( {request, response} );
or
const { DialogflowApp } = require('actions-on-google');
const app = new DialogflowApp( {request, response} );
(They both do the same thing, but you'll see both forms in documentation.) You should switch to DialogflowApp from ApiAiApp (which your example uses) to reflect the new name, but the old form has been retained.
If you're using the Actions SDK directly (not using Dialogflow / API.AI), then you should be using the ActionsSdkApp object, something like
const { ActionsSdkApp } = require('actions-on-google');
const app = new ActionsSdkApp({request: request, response: response});
(Again, you'll see variants on this, but they're all fundamentally the same.)
Third - Make sure you're using the right function that matches the object you're using. The isRequestFromAssistant() function is only if you are using the Actions SDK.
If you are using Dialogflow, the corresponding function is isRequestFromDialogflow(). The parameters are different, however, since it requires you to set confirmation information as part of your Dialogflow configuration.
Finally - If you're getting a 500 error, then check your logs (or the output from stderr) for the node.js server that is running. Typically there will be an error message there that points you in the right direction. If not - posting that error message as part of your StackOverflow question is always helpful.

Answer 2

Set the secure (randomly generated) auth header & key values in the dialogflow Fulfillment page, then in nodejs:
if (app.isRequestFromDialogflow("replace_with_key", "replace_with_value")) {
console.log("Request came from dialogflow!");
// rest of bot
} else {
console.log("Request did not come from dialogflow!");
response.status(400).send();
}
Also see: https://developers.google.com/actions/reference/nodejs/DialogflowApp#isRequestFromDialogflow