Convo.extractResponses method is not working

[kumarharsh]

Are you sure this is an issue with the Botkit core module?

Seems like it.

What are you trying to achieve or the steps to reproduce?

I created a brand new botkit instance by remixing a botkit-cms instance and a botkit-starter-slack instance to build a conversational slack bot. Then, I followed the instructions given in the slack bot setup checklist to configure the bot. I finally installed the app in my Slack team. I got the conversation working (using the default hello template provided in the botkit-cms). After that, I customized the conversation to accept user input as so:

Now, when I do the conversation, the bot does go through the full conversation, and it does have the user responses saved in the convo.transcript object. But when I try to extract the conversation values (as documented here: https://botkit.ai/docs/readme-studio.html#controllerstudioafter), the object comes up with no values:

  controller.studio.after('hello', function(convo, next) {
    console.log("TRANSCRIPT", convo.transcript);
    if (convo.status == 'completed') {
      var responses = convo.extractResponses();
      console.log("RESPONSES ARE", responses);
    }
    next();
  });

What was the result you received?

Output:

TRANSCRIPT [
  {
    "text": "G`day human!",
    "channel": "...",
    "capture_options": {
      "key": "temporary_value",
      "multiple": true
    },
    "handler": [
      [
        null
      ]
    ],
    "sent_timestamp": 1547641168153,
    "to": "...",
    "sent": true,
    "api_response": {
      "ok": true,
      "channel": "...",
      "ts": "1547641168.003200",
      "message": [
        null
      ]
    },
    "delivered": true
  },
  {
    "token": "...",
    "team_id": "...",
    "api_app_id": "...",
    "event": {
      "client_msg_id": "06aa5a48-b1bb-4a60-8295-f756b620a455",
      "type": "message",
      "text": "Hello bot, how are you? I wanted some help.",
      "user": "...",
      "ts": "1547641170.003400",
      "channel": "...",
      "event_ts": "1547641170.003400",
      "channel_type": "im"
    },
    "type": "direct_message",
    "event_id": "...",
    "event_time": 1547641170,
    "authed_users": [
      "..."
    ],
    "raw_message": {
      "token": "...",
      "team_id": "...",
      "api_app_id": "...",
      "event": [
        null
      ],
      "type": "event_callback",
      "event_id": "...",
      "event_time": 1547641170,
      "authed_users": [
        null
      ]
    },
    "_pipeline": {
      "stage": "receive"
    },
    "client_msg_id": "06aa5a48-b1bb-4a60-8295-f756b620a455",
    "text": "Hello bot, how are you? I wanted some help.",
    "user": "...",
    "ts": "1547641170.003400",
    "channel": "...",
    "event_ts": "1547641170.003400",
    "channel_type": "im",
    "team": "...",
    "events_api": true,
    "question": "G`day human!"
  },
  {
    "text": "why do you say that?",
    "channel": "...",
    "capture_options": {
      "key": "why_said",
      "multiple": true
    },
    "handler": [
      [
        null
      ]
    ],
    "sent_timestamp": 1547641172664,
    "to": "...",
    "sent": true,
    "api_response": {
      "ok": true,
      "channel": "...",
      "ts": "1547641172.003500",
      "message": [
        null
      ]
    },
    "delivered": true
  },
  {
    "token": "...",
    "team_id": "...",
    "api_app_id": "...",
    "event": {
      "client_msg_id": "...",
      "type": "message",
      "text": "Because I want to create you from nothing",
      "user": "...",
      "ts": "1547641174.003700",
      "channel": "...",
      "event_ts": "1547641174.003700",
      "channel_type": "im"
    },
    "type": "direct_message",
    "event_id": "...",
    "event_time": 1547640169,
    "authed_users": [
      "..."
    ],
    "raw_message": {
      "token": "...",
      "team_id": "...",
      "api_app_id": "...",
      "event": [
        null
      ],
      "type": "event_callback",
      "event_id": "...",
      "event_time": 1547641174,
      "authed_users": [
        null
      ]
    },
    "_pipeline": {
      "stage": "receive"
    },
    "client_msg_id": "...",
    "text": "My user input 2",
    "user": "...",
    "ts": "1547641174.003700",
    "channel": "...",
    "event_ts": "1547641174.003700",
    "channel_type": "im",
    "team": "T02LEFQ34",
    "events_api": true,
    "question": "why do you say that?"
  }
]

RESPONSES ARE { temporary_value: '', why_said: '' }

What did you expect?

The extractResponses() should have the user responses

Context:

• Botkit version: 0.7.0
• Messaging Platform: 0.0.2 (I've added the version of the botkit-starter-slack in package.json here)
• Node version: 10.15.0 (from glitch console)
• Os: Linux (glitch)
• Any other relevant information:

[benbrown]

That is unusual! Do you have the "collect multiple lines of input" option checked? This is likely the cause.

[kumarharsh]

Yes, actually I do have that checked. I'll post a JSON of the CMS here soon.

[benbrown]

When using that option, you have to take extra steps to configure the a condition that, when matched, continues with the dialog. See the screenshot below.

The default behavior of Botkit assumes the final line of input will match this "end" condition, so it discards it. If you have only one line, then the resulting value is empty.

[kumarharsh]

@benbrown thanks! I couldn't have figured that one out on my own.

Is this the intended behaviour for the bot or a workaround? If yes, then should this be added to the docs (or maybe somewhere in the CMS UI near the checkbox for multi-line input?).

[benbrown]

yes, this is the intended behavior. it should be enforced in the UI. thank you for your feedback.