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These files are not Jinja2 templates, so there's no reason that they needed to be inside `templates/zerver`. Moving them to the top level reflects their importance and also makes it feel nicer to work on editing the help center content, without it being unnecessary buried deep in the codebase.
87 lines
3.4 KiB
Markdown
87 lines
3.4 KiB
Markdown
# About bots
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Bots allow you to
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* Send content into and out of Zulip.
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* Send content to and from another product.
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* Automate tasks a human user could do.
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A bot that sends content to or from another product is often called an
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**integration**.
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## Pre-made bots
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Zulip natively supports integrations with over one hundred products, and with
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almost a thousand more through Zapier and IFTTT. If you're looking to add an
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integration with an existing product, see our
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[list of integrations](/integrations), along with those of
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[Zapier](https://zapier.com/apps) and [IFTTT](https://ifttt.com/search).
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## Anatomy of a bot
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You can think of a bot as a special kind of user, with limited permissions.
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Each bot has a **name**, **profile picture**, **email**, **bot type** and **API key**.
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* The **name** and **profile picture** play the same role they do for human users. They
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are the most visible attributes of a bot.
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* The **email** is not used for anything, and will likely be removed in a
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future version of Zulip.
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* The **bot type** determines what the bot can and can't do (see below).
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* The **API key** is how the bot identifies itself to Zulip. Anyone with the
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bot's API key can impersonate the bot.
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## Bot type
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The **bot type** determines what the bot can do.
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Bot type | Permissions | Common uses
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Generic | Like a normal user account | Automating tasks, bots that listen to all messages on a stream
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Incoming webhook | Limited to only sending messages into Zulip | Automated notifications into Zulip
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Outgoing webhook | Generic bot that also receives new messages via HTTP post requests | Third party integrations, most custom bots
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It's generally best to pick the most restricted bot type that is sufficient
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to do the task at hand. Anyone with the bot's API key can do anything the
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bot can.
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A few more details:
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* Bots can send messages to any stream that their owner can,
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inheriting their owner's [sending permissions](/help/stream-sending-policy).
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* Bots can be subscribed to streams, and their role can be modified if
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they need to have permission to do administrative actions.
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* **Generic**: A generic bot is like a normal Zulip user account that
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cannot log in via a browser. Note that if you truly want to
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impersonate yourself (e.g. write messages that come from your Zulip
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account), you'll need to use your **personal API key**.
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* **Outgoing webhook**: The bot can read private messages where the bot is a
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participant, and stream messages where the bot is [mentioned](/help/mention-a-user-or-group). When the
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bot is PM'd or mentioned, it POSTs the message content to a URL of your
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choice. The POST request format can be in a Zulip format or a
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Slack-compatible format.
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This is the preferred bot type for interactive bots built on top of Zulip
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Botserver.
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## Adding bots
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By default, anyone other than guests can [add a bot](/help/add-a-bot-or-integration) to a
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Zulip organization, but administrators can
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[restrict bot creation](/help/restrict-bot-creation). Any bot that is added
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is visible and available for anyone to use.
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## Related articles
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* [Add a bot or integration](/help/add-a-bot-or-integration)
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* [Edit a bot](/help/edit-a-bot)
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* [Request an integration](/help/request-an-integration)
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* [Deactivate or reactivate a bot](/help/deactivate-or-reactivate-a-bot)
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* [Restrict bot creation](/help/restrict-bot-creation)
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* [View all bots in your organization](/help/view-all-bots-in-your-organization)
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