LockeBot: a demonstration of implementing a basic question answering bot with use of Rasa and a database.
NB: The code is undergoing an update so expect some changes compared to the old version and it is not completely "neatened up" yet! 😃
It is a bot that can answer simple questions via Rasa X plus any other interfaces Rasa supports and with extra work it can even be voice-enabled (see demo video)
After being trained on examples, it is (to a degree) able to generalise the questions and respond to a broad range of similar questions. The questions are turned into intents and entities, which are then used to construct queries to run against a database to provide the answer.
The demostration topic is the UK monarchy with the answers derived from a simple table of the kings and queens.
If you want to see the older version it's here.
** A work in progress - steps need refinement and may be missing **
Ensure you have Python 3.5+ installed (Python version requirements TBC)
- Git clone from this repo
git clone https://github.com/nmstoker/lockebot mybotfoldername- replace mybotfoldername with any valid name you likecd mybotfoldername
- Create a virtual environment (optional but recommended)
- Activate the virtual environment
- Use pip install
pip install -r requirements.txt
- Install Rasa / Rasa X - UPDATE DETAILS
- Train models (see below, Usage)
I plan to update this section to demonstrate how to extend the bot to be voice-enabled for local use.
See a YouTube demonstration here: https://youtu.be/8aqiVI3ITr8
See details of the various Channel Connectors in Rasa documentation
It should be feasible to connect it to any Channel Connectors or even a custom one that works with Rasa but this is up to you.
UPDATE THIS
The main files to focus on for training are:
- domain.yml for some overall settings and responses
- and under the data directory:
- for intents and entities, there is RoyBot.yml
- for the "stories" (ie typical sequences the conversation may follow) there is stories.yml
See the Rasa documentation here for details of the format and options for editing it.
UPDATE THIS
UPDATE THIS
-
Start Rasa Action server: in a first terminal activate your virtual environment, then enter:
rasa run actions --auto-reloadYou should see successful output including:Action endpoint is up and running on http://localhost:5055
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Start Rasa X: in a second terminal also activate your virtual environment, then enter:
rasa xYou should see it launch with a browser page opened automatically The terminal will also show something along the lines of:The server is running at http://localhost:5002....
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(if running voice-enabled) start SimpleSpeechLoop in a third terminal (NB: repo currently does not include updates for this integration to work)
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Interact via Rasa X on the "Talk to your bot" page
Currently it is only tested on Linux (specifically Arch x86-64.
In due course I would be interested like to support Windows and Mac - I have access to the former but not the latter, so if there's anyone keen to look into this on the Mac, volunteers will be gratefully received.
UPDATE THIS
LockeBot gets its name from a weak pun. It is built on Rasa, and John Locke (the philospher) was notable for his work in relation to the empty slate arguments regarding the mind, called tabula rasa.
The sqlite database for RoyBot has been populated with information gleened from public sources on the web, chiefly: