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Actions: let your chatbot call your own API
Chatbots can now fetch live information during a conversation by calling an HTTP endpoint you define, for answers that change too often to live in a document.
- NewCreate an action with a name, a description of when to use it and the HTTPS endpoint it calls.
- NewDefine inputs the chatbot collects from the conversation and places in the URL, parameters, headers or body.
- NewTest an action with sample inputs and see the live response before you rely on it.
- NewChoose whether the chatbot sees the full response or only the fields you select.
- NewSwitch individual actions on or off without deleting them.
Training covers what is written down. Actions cover what changes: stock levels, prices, delivery areas or the status of a request in your own system. An action is an HTTP request to an endpoint you control, and the chatbot calls it when a visitor's question matches the description you wrote.
To set one up, open the Actions tab, describe when the action should be used and enter the method and URL. Add the inputs the chatbot needs, such as a product name or a postcode, and reference them with {{variable}} placeholders in the URL, parameters, headers or body. Then run a test with sample values to check the response.
You decide what the chatbot sees. Limit data access to the response fields that matter, and switch an action off at any time. Later releases added import from a cURL command, ready-made authentication options and client-side actions that run on your own page.