How to Integrate Rasa with Twilio

Set Up Rasa Environment

• Ensure you have Rasa installed. You can install it using pip if not already done:

pip install rasa

• Create a new Rasa project (if you haven't). Use following command in your terminal:

rasa init

• Navigate to your Rasa project directory:

cd your_project_name

Set Up Twilio Account

• Go to the Twilio website and create an account if you don't have one.

 

• Get your Account SID and Auth Token from the Twilio Console. You will need these for authentication.

 

• Buy a phone number within Twilio which will be used for sending and receiving messages.

Install Twilio Python SDK

• Install the Twilio Python client which will be used to interact with Twilio services:

pip install twilio

Create Custom Twilio Channel for Rasa

• Create a new file under `your_project_name` named `twilio_channel.py`.

 

• Add the following code to initialize your custom Twilio input channel:

from twilio.rest import Client
from rasa.core.channels.channel import InputChannel, UserMessage
from sanic import Blueprint, response
import json

class TwilioInput(InputChannel):
    def name(self) -> str:
        return "twilio"
        
    def blueprint(self, on_new_message):
        twilio_webhook = Blueprint("twilio_webhook", __name__)
        
        @twilio_webhook.route("/", methods=["POST"])
        async def receive_message(request):
            sender = request.json.get("From")
            message = request.json.get("Body")
            
            if message:
                await on_new_message(UserMessage(message, self.get_output_channel(), sender))
            
            return response.text("Message received")
        
        return twilio_webhook

Configure Rasa to Use Twilio Channel

• Edit your Rasa project’s `credentials.yml` file to include Twilio channel custom configuration:

twilio_channel.TwilioInput:

Run Your Action Server

• Start your Rasa actions server if you have custom actions defined:

rasa run actions

Run Rasa Server with Twilio Channel

• Run the Rasa server with the custom Twilio input channel by specifying the `endpoint.yml` and `credentials.yml` files:

rasa run -m models --enable-api --cors "*" --debug

Configure Twilio Webhook

• Login to your Twilio console and navigate to the phone numbers section.

 

• Select the number you're using for your bot, then scroll to the Messaging section.

 

• Set the "A Message Comes In" webhook URL to point to your Rasa server's public URL with `/webhooks/twilio/webhook` appended. e.g., `https://your-custom-url.com/webhooks/twilio/webhook`.

Test Your Bot

• Send a message to your Twilio phone number and observe your Rasa bot interact through your terminal logs and respond accordingly.

This should effectively integrate Rasa with Twilio, allowing your Rasa bot to send and receive messages through Twilio. Adjust your configurations as necessary depending on specific requirements or additional settings within Twilio.