Create a bot with the Bot Builder SDK v4 for .NET

• 04/27/2018
• 2 minutes to read
• Contributors
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[This topic is pre-release documentation and is subject to change.]

This quickstart walks you through building a bot by using the Bot Application template and the Bot Builder SDK for .NET, and then testing it with the Bot Framework Emulator. This is based off the Microsoft Bot Builder SDK v4.

Pre-requisites

• Visual Studio 2017
• Bot Builder SDK v4 template for C#
• Bot Framework Emulator
• Knowledge of ASP.Net Core and asynchronous programming in C#

Create a bot

Install BotBuilderVSIX.vsix template that you downloaded in the pre-requisite section.

In Visual Studio, create a new bot project.

Explore code

Open Startup.cs file to review code in the ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services) method. The CatchExceptonMiddleware middleware is added to the messaging pipeline. It handles any exceptions thrown by other middleware, or by OnTurn method.

options.Middleware.Add(new CatchExceptionMiddleware<Exception>(async (context, exception) =>
{
    await context.TraceActivity("EchoBot Exception", exception);
    await context.SendActivity("Sorry, it looks like something went wrong!");
}));

The conversation state middleware uses in-memory storage. It reads and writes the EchoState to storage. The turn count in EchoState class keeps track of the number of messages sent to the bot. You can use a similar technique to maintain state in between turns.

 IStorage dataStore = new MemoryStorage();
 options.Middleware.Add(new ConversationState<EchoState>(dataStore));

The Configure(IApplicationBuilder app, IHostingEnvironment env) method calls .UseBotFramework to route incoming activities to the bot adapter.

The OnTurn(ITurnContext context) method in the EchoBot.cs file is used to check the incoming activity type and send a reply to the user.

public async Task OnTurn(ITurnContext context)
{
    // This bot is only handling Messages
    if (context.Activity.Type == ActivityTypes.Message)
    {
        // Get the conversation state from the turn context
        var state = context.GetConversationState<EchoState>();

        // Bump the turn count. 
        state.TurnCount++;

        // Echo back to the user whatever they typed.
        await context.SendActivity($"Turn {state.TurnCount}: You sent '{context.Activity.Text}'");
    }
}

Start your bot

• Your default.html page will be displayed in a browser.
• Note the localhost port number for the page. You will need this information to interact with your bot.

Start the emulator and connect your bot

At this point, your bot is running locally. Next, start the emulator and then connect to your bot in the emulator:

1. Click create a new bot configuration link in the emulator "Welcome" tab.

2. Enter a Bot name and enter the directory path to your bot code. The bot configuration file will be saved to this path.

3. Type http://localhost:port-number/api/messages into the Endpoint URL field, where port-number matches the port number shown in the browser where your application is running.

4. Click Connect to connect to your bot. You won't need to specify Microsoft App ID and Microsoft App Password. You can leave these fields blank for now. You'll get this information later when you register your bot.

Interact with your bot

Send "Hi" to your bot, and the bot will respond with "Turn 1: You sent Hi" to the message.

Next steps

Next, jump into the concepts that explain a bot and how it works.