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Getting Started with the Microsoft Bot Framework

Getting Started with the Microsoft Bot Framework

Shawn Tjai · · 1 min read

The Microsoft Bot Framework provides a unified platform where developers can write code once and reach multiple platforms — Skype, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, and more. The example below is built with the Bot Framework, the Language Understanding Intelligent Service (LUIS), the Microsoft Translator API, and the myTransport.SG API.

This open-source project walks through deploying a simple bus-timing bot. It’s written in Node.js, but you could just as easily build a bot in C#. Feel free to fork it.

Bot flow

  1. The user sends a query, which LUIS understands through machine learning.
  2. The intents and entities (bus number, bus stop) are sent to the bot’s “brain” for processing.
  3. The bot searches the public bus API and matches the data the user wants.
  4. The Translator API outputs the result in the desired language.
  5. The Bot Framework connector sends the reply back to whichever platform the user is on.

Full instructions and source are on GitHub: ShawnTjai/SGBusBot.