Sending Messages

• Introduction
• Single Message Replies
• Multi Message Replies

Introduction

Bots have to send messages to deliver information and present an interface for their functionality. BotMan bots can send messages in several different ways, depending on the type and number of messages that will be sent.

Single message replies to incoming commands can be sent using the $bot->reply() function.

Multi-message replies, particularly those that present questions for the end user to respond to, can be sent using the $bot->startConversation() function and the related conversation sub-functions.

Bots can originate messages - that is, send a message based on some internal logic or external stimulus - using $bot->say() method.

Single Message Replies

Once a bot has received a message using hears(), a response can be sent using $bot->reply().

Messages sent using $bot->reply() are sent immediately. If multiple messages are sent via $bot->reply() in a single event handler, they will arrive in the client very quickly and may be difficult for the user to process. We recommend using $bot->startConversation() if more than one message needs to be sent.

You may pass either a string, a Message object or a Question object to the function.

As a second parameter, you may also send any additional fields to pass along the configured driver.

$bot->reply()

Simple reply example:

$botman->hears('keyword', function (BotMan $bot) {
    // do something to respond to message
    // ...

    $bot->reply("Tell me more!");
});

You can also compose your message using the Mpociot\BotMan\Messages\Message class to have a unified API to add images to your chat messages.

use Mpociot\BotMan\Messages\Message;

$botman->hears('keyword', function (BotMan $bot) {
    // Build message object
    $message = Message::create('This is my text')
                ->image('http://www.some-url.com/image.jpg');
    // Reply message object
    $bot->reply($message);
});

Slack-specific fields and attachments:

$botman->hears('keyword', function (BotMan $bot) {
    // do something...

    // then respond with a message object
    $bot->reply("A more complex response",[
        'username' => "ReplyBot",
        'icon_emoji' => ":dash:",
    ]);
})

Multi Message Replies

For more complex commands, multiple messages may be necessary to send a response, particularly if the bot needs to collect additional information from the user.

BotMan provides a Conversation object that is used to string together several messages, including questions for the user, into a cohesive unit. BotMan conversations provide useful methods that enable developers to craft complex conversational user interfaces that may span several minutes of dialog with a user, without having to manage the complexity of connecting multiple incoming and outgoing messages across multiple API calls into a single function.