Express.js, also known as Express, is a backend web application framework for Node.js. It’s a lightweight and versatile framework that offers many features for web and mobile applications. In this article, I will explain how to easily integrate a chatbot into your Express.js project.
To follow this tutorial, you need to be familiar with JavaScript and have a basic understanding of Node.js. Make sure you have Node.js installed on your machine before you start.
You will also need a pre-built chatbot that is ready to be deployed on your Express.js project. In this tutorial, we will use the prebuilt chatbot from Kompose. If you don’t have a chatbot yet, there is a step-by-step tutorial to create your own chatbot without any coding.
To set up your Express.js application, follow these steps:
1. Open your terminal and enter the following commands:
– mkdir myapp
– cd myapp
– npm init
– npm install express –save
2. Create an app.js file in the myapp directory and add the following code:
“`javascript
const express = require(‘express’)
const app = express()
const port = 3000
app.get(‘/’, (req, res) => {
res.send(‘Hello World!’)
})
app.listen(port, () => {
console.log(`Example app listening at http://localhost:${port}`)
})
“`
To generate an application skeleton quickly, you can use Express-generator. Install it globally using the following command:
– npm install -g express-generator
Then, create the app structure with the following command:
– express
Note: The structure generated by Express-generator is just one option. Feel free to modify it to suit your needs.
To integrate Kompose with Express.js, follow these steps:
1. Create a separate script file in the public/javascript folder and name it kommunicate.js.
2. Add the following script tag to the layout.pug file:
“`html
script(src=”javascripts/kommunicate.js”)
“`
3. Add the following function signature in the app.js file to serve static files:
“`javascript
app.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname, ‘public’)));
“`
4. In the layout.pug file, add the following line to access the Kommunicate script file:
“`html
script(src=”javascripts/kommunicate.js”)
“`
After completing these steps, you can run your Express.js app in a browser and see the chat widget screen pop up, indicating that your chatbot is ready.
At Kommunicate, we strive to provide the best customer support solution. We invite you to sign up and experience Kommunicate firsthand. Signup now and start delighting your customers.