Conversation API

How to integrate own channels and custom interfaces in eva

What is the conversation API

Any developer can integrate their own channels to eva. A user could benefit from a chat in the company’s website using a custom interface or even custom templates for responses, such as graphs, masked inputs or interaction with other elements of the webpage.

Companies normally add chatbot platforms to their existing app, or use one of the internal channels to release a virtual agent for its employees. When using eva, this can be done by consuming the Conversation API described below.

Authentication

Authentication must be handled following the OAuth2 Bearer Token protocol, where one must authenticate with a valid, expirable token. Including the Bearer Token in your header is mandatory from the API version 4.x and onwards.

Once obtained, the access token must be sent in your header ‘Authorization’ as the string: “Bearer {{access_token}}”

Obtaining your Authentication Token

To generate a token, make a request on the following endpoint:

POST

{{keycloak_url}}/auth/realms/{{org_name}}/protocol/openid-connect/token

In distinction to the Integration API, the Conversation API authenticates with a pair of client credentials, persistent across all of your third party channels and services which might need a stable, consistent access.

Request Body

client_id: {{‘clientName’}}
client_secret: {{‘clientSecret’}}
grant_type: client_credentials

Content-Type is ‘x-www-form-urlencoded’. Client_id and client_secret are your provided client credentials for API usage; grant_type is a fixed value of 'client_credentials'.

Those credentials are delivered to you on environment creation, but should you lack said credentials, you may open a ticket requesting this information in this page.

Sample Response Body

While there are several, default fields that you may map from the OAuth2 response body, we recommend you to map those, as they are the only ones you will need to use.

Name	Type	Description
access_token	String	Your bearer token. Can be as long as 800 characters.
expires_in	Integer	Lifetime of your token, in seconds.
refresh_expires_in	Integer	Lifetime of your refresh token, in seconds.
refresh_token	String	Your refresh token, used to renew your token. (See below)

Sample response

{
    "access_token": "eyJhbGciOiJSUzI1NiIsInR5cCIgOiAiSldUIiwia2lkIiA6ICJjUkgxUkZSNkswejU1MmFxUTNmR2JOa0NteFg5dEVTelJRdjktclRMWkRVIn0.eyJleHAiOjE2MzE1NjE1MjAsImlhdCI6MTYzMTU2MTIyMCwianRpIjoiZDc4M2ZkYzQtYjEwNC00NmM2LWIxMGItY2JiNjRlYzk4MjIxIiwiaXNzIjoibmFuYW5pbmFuYW8iLCJzdWIiOiI5OTAxNGJiYS1hNDA3LTRjMDgtODExNi0xNzQ2MTVlZDU3OTIiLCJ0eXAiOiJCZWFyZXIiLCJhenAiOiJldmEtY29ja3BpdCIsInNlc3Npb25fc3RhdGUiOiIwOWU0YmMxNi01ODhhLTQzNGItOTVjMy1jNmIyMmMxMzBiMGUiLCJhY3IiOiIxIiwic2NvcGUiOiIifQ.TdIj45LlKktpPpwiuiQEN4-Ri47H2BCHLlBbpMQH_7F6HOwQgJhtLDBRcOQEew14UUZESzK-fTyV0Hwe2aWaT_kkx_xZeM1GPmhACIbz7JlVHL6Y8xu43rMl5DsmlQgj8jiDW4Z9ZvYxNJ0fVG_tjK-5eiuIB-KJd7TSvGU0H8yZ3p8ciFcUAlNQH4ufiaxz_VZqwXI6WVj7DDU5dgdpu8rxkGuTUb4urLO0yfRza1QQCoDhRHODTlO0nJRJC0Dc6N_WLpbJIlXFNnaAEQbnMZ-b8CBcDNUwRJdtDbqLDO9Lrd2FaOU8L1CE3U11_t1uje0fKy9G2T6iqav1HAy5kg",
    "expires_in": 300,
    "refresh_expires_in": 1800,
    "refresh_token": "eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCIgOiAiSldUIiwia2lkIiA6ICJmZmIyZGU1OC1iNDU3LTRmNmItODI3Yi1hMjUxNGY4YTQ1ZjAifQ.eyJleHAiOjE2MzE1NjMwMjAsImlhdCI6MTYzMTU2MTIyMCwianRpIjoiNGI3MWE4NjYtZjk1YS00MDAxLThjMDEtZDdjODdiOTNhYWNmIiwiaXNzIjoibmFuYW5pbmFuYW8iLCJhdWQiOiJuYW5hbmluYW5hbyIsInN1YiI6Ijk5MDE0YmJhLWE0MDctNGMwOC04MTE2LTE3NDYxNWVkNTc5MiIsInR5cCI6IlJlZnJlc2giLCJhenAiOiJldmEtY29ja3BpdCIsInNlc3Npb25fc3RhdGUiOiIwOWU0YmMxNi01ODhhLTQzNGItOTVjMy1jNmIyMmMxMzBiMGUiLCJzY29wZSI6IiJ9.fBMyJeLsT6JuE9kzQNUGl3FZWvrZ3teA5VgPptXAQlQ",
    "token_type": "Bearer",
    "not-before-policy": 1619470285,
    "session_state": "09e4bc16-588a-434b-95c3-c6b22c130b0e",
    "scope": ""
}

Authentication Token Renewal

Authentication tokens may expire, as indicated by the ‘expires_in’ field from the token generation response. Slightly different from the user credentials renewal, though, you must still provide your client credentials. Yuu may do this, by calling the same endpoint, but with the following request body:

Renewal Request Body

client_id: {{‘clientName’}}
client_secret: {{‘clientSecret’}}
grant_type: refresh_token
refresh_token: {{The ‘refresh_token’ from the previous response body}}

Once again, Content-Type is ‘x-www-form-urlencoded’. If your refresh_token has also expired (indicated by the field ‘refresh_expires_in’), you are required to generate a new token by reentering the client credentials.

Conversation services

The conversation service is where you implement your own eva web or custom channel. By using our methods, you can handle any conversation eva performs, besides being able to execute auxiliary methods, such as like and disliking replies and evaluation the conversation.

Input Type

When implementing the conversation API, you are able to handle both Text and Audio inputs. This means that this implementation allows you to use your Web, Web Mobile and Custom (Such as in proprietary apps through JSON implementation) channels with both text and audio inputs.

Both inputs use the same endpoints and their session codes are interchangeable, so your user may submit an input through audio and choose to type afterwards without breaking the conversation.

The body of the request will change when using Audio inputs, and this is detailed below.

(Text) Conversation Service API

Conversation service (Live)

Method	POST
URL:	/org/{orgUUID}/env/{envUUID}/bot/{botUUID}/channel/{channelUUID}/v1/conversations/ or /org/{orgUUID}/env/{envUUID}/bot/{botUUID}/channel/{channelUUID}/v1/conversations/{sessionCode}
Type:	application/json

The conversation service is used to execute a conversation from any given channel. Each call to this service is a message from a user that the virtual agent must process in order to understand and answer the user.

Authorization is required, organization specific and slightly configurable. The permissions from the user provided to request the token will be reflected on access, as specified on Authentication. Any calls will be refused whenever a token does not grant access to the provided Organization, Environment or Bot parameters, whenever it is revoked and whenever it expires.

This endpoint is interchangeable with it's Audio Input variant.

Deprecated Conversation service

Method	POST
URL:	/org/{orgUUID}/env/{envUUID}/bot/{botUUID}/conversations or /org/{orgUUID}/env/{envUUID}/bot/{botUUID}/conversations/{sessionCode}
Type:	application/json

This alternative URL is deprecated and will be removed in a future release. When using this deprecated version, the Header field 'CHANNEL' must be supplied.

This URL structure is NOT audio compliant. Please update from the deprecated structure if handling audio inputs.

URL Parameters

By default, the session code will expire after 30 minutes. This value is set in eva-broker deployment settings. Contact your system administrator for details.

Name	Type	Required	Description
orgUUID	String	Yes	The UUID of your organization. Your token is verified over this field.
envUUID	String	Yes	The UUID of the environment your bot is located. Your token is verified over this field.
botUUID	String	Yes	The UUID of the bot your channel is located. Your token is verified over this field.
channelUUID	String	Yes	The UUID of the channel. Unused in the deprecated endpoint.
sessionCode	String	No	The current conversation's ID. Any first call to eva’s conversation service must have this parameter empty. After the first call, this parameter is required in order to give continuity to the conversation. It is returned in the service’s response.

Request headers

Name	Type	Required	Description
CHANNEL	String	Yes	Deprecated. This field must only be supplied when using the deprecated conversation API URL. The channel name. The channel must be created in the virtual agent above through the Cockpit.
API-KEY	String	Yes	An API key for client identification. The environment administrator must provide this data.
OS	String	Yes	The user's operating system. Example: for web chat, it might be Windows; and for a mobile app, iOS.
OS-VERSION	String	No	The version of the operating system above.
BROWSER	String	No	User’s current browser, when using one.
BROWSER-VERSION	String	No	The version of the browser above
USER-REF	String	Yes	This field is used for identifying the user by a technical value, depending on the channel. Some examples: - For web chat: the user IP address - IVR: phone number - Messenger: Facebook’s user ID
BUSINESS-KEY	String	No	This field is used to identify the user in a business level if the channel has information about the user. Examples: - In a private section of a webpage that requires logging in, the business key might be the user login - User document number - Client #
LOCALE	String	Yes	The virtual agent’s language: <language>-<COUNTRY> This must be the same as configured in the Cockpit. Examples: en-US es-ES pt-BR
AUTHORIZATION	String	Yes	A Bearer Token. For more details, see the Authentication section.

If you lack your API KEY, you may request it through a ticket here.

Request body

Name	Type	Required	Description
text	String	No, if 'code' was provided or this is an Audio Request. Otherwise yes	A text input by a user or a transcription from an audio. This value must be empty if 'code' was provided.
code	String	No, if 'text' was provided or this is an Audio Request. Otherwise yes.	On the first call of a conversation, the code “%EVA_WELCOME_MSG” can be sent to execute a custom Welcome flow created in the Cockpit. This code may also be used to locate a specific answer. Learn more here. Either this value or a text This value must be empty if "text" was provided.
context	JSON Object	No	See Open context
intent	String	No	This parameter is only used with Intent Navigator behaviour (Intent Navigator). Name of the intent identified
confidence	Double	No	This parameter is only used with Intent Navigator behaviour (Intent Navigator). Confidence score for the intent, from 0 to 1
entities	JSON Objec	No	This parameter is only used with Intent Navigator behaviour (Intent Navigator). Entities as Json object containing fields (string, string) with the different entities detected in as key (entity name) and value (entity value)

Response body

Name	Type	Description
text	String	The same text sent in the request. No text is provided if 'code' was sent instead.
sessionCode	String	A conversation identifier, generated in the first request. This must be sent in the following calls in the URL as explained URL parameters in this chapter.
userInput	UserInput	The user input configuration, as created through Cockpit’s workspace.
answers	Answer[]	A list of responses that may be presented to the user. Each one might use different templates.
context	JSON Object	See Open context.
contextRead Only	JSON Object	See Visible context.
nlpResponse	Nlp Response	The NLP response data for the user message, including the accuracy score, Intent, Entities, and if you have the AL service, the Questions and Documents, the content varies according to what the NLP processed.

User Input

Name	Type	Description
type	String	The type selected by the editor in the Cockpit through the input cell modal.
callToAction	String	For chatbots, text for the input field placeholder for the next message.
pattern	String	When the selected type is ‘Custom’, this field will have the pattern filled by the editor in the Cockpit.

Answer

Name	Type	Description
content	String or JSON Array	Depends on the type of the answer. If it is a Carousel, this field will contain a JSON Array with each card of the carousel. For a file answer, this field will contain an URL and a filename. For other types, this content will be String with the content filled by the editor in the Cockpit.
buttons	Button[]	A button list containing all configured buttons for the answer, showing those buttons inside the response card.
quickReply	Button[]	A button list containing all configured quick reply buttons for the answer, showing those buttons as a carousel above the user input.
description	String	The answer’s description. This information may be inserted by the editor in the Cockpit and it serves organizing purposes. It isn't mandatory.
type	String	The card template selected for the answer. Types include: TEXT_OPTIONS – when the channel is ALL (default response for any channel) - TEXT - IMAGE - AUDIO - VIDEO - FILE - CAROUSEL - CUSTOM
interactionId	String	UUID representing the current interaction. This value can be used for answers like/dislike (thumbs up and down).
evaluable	Boolean	Will return true if this answer must show a thumbs up / thumbs down (like / dislike) option for the user, and false otherwise See Likable service
technicalText	JSON	This is a freeform field, filled by the customer when creating answers in eva's Cockpit. It is recommended that this field is a Json Object, but the client is free to choose which data format to use. If the field is filled as JSON, a JSON object will be returned by the API. This field aims to provide the customer with a resource that complements the experience of its users.

Learn more about all Answer's features in eva

Button

Name	Type	Description
name	String	Text of the button to be shown and sent back as text on the next call, if the button is clicked (depends on the type)
type	String	Possible values: · URL – if these buttons opens a browser page · FLOW – if the button is an action in the conversation. In this case, when clicked, other API call must be made using the name of the button as text.
action	String	If the type is URL, this field will have the URL that the browser will open.

Carousel card

Name	Type	Description
imageUrl	String	URL for the image on the card
title	String	Title of the card
subTitle	String	Subtitle of the card
buttons	Button[]	Buttons for the card

Learn more about Carousel features in eva

NLP Response

Name	Type	Description
type	String	The response's type, whether it is an intent, question or document.
name	String	The name of the response component (intent, question or document) returned by the NLP for the user message.
score	Double	Confidence score for the response component (intent, question or document) above, from 0 to 1.
entities	Entity[]	All the entities returned by the NLP for the user message.

Entity

Name	Type	Description
name	String	The name of the entity returned by the NLP for the user message.
value	String	The name of the entity value or value entered by the user.
position	Position	A pair of character positions indicating where the entity's value is located within the user's input.

Position

Name	Type	Description
start	Integer	The position of the first character that represents the entity within the user input string.
end	Integer	The position of the last character that represents the entity within the user input string.

Possible Errors

The Conversation API is notable in eva's API's in which it has a long list of possible error codes you'll receive for very detailed response for what went wrong. Like all other eva public API, the error codes and objects can be found at the Integration API page. We encourage you to consult our Broker API's page while implementing so you have an easier time with our response codes.

Sample requests

The request below is an example of a first call to the conversation service, requesting the execution of the welcome flow. It also add a variable to the context, although it is not necessary.

{
	"code": "%EVA_WELCOME_MSG",
	"context": {
		"user": 25237
	}
}

Another possible request, for following user messages:

{
	"text": "How much do I have in my account?",
	"context":{
		"user": 25237,
		"foo": "bar"
	}
}

Another possible request as Intent Navigator (intent/entities are detected previously and prevented from running NLP on eva):

{
	"text": "How much do I have in my account?",
	"context":{
		"user": 25237,
		"foo": "bar"
	}
	"intent":"”BALANCE",
 	"confidence":0.88,
 	"entities":{
        	"entityName":"entityValue"
 	}
}

Sample response

The following JSON is an example for a response for the request above.

{JSON
   "text": "How much do I have in my account?",
   "sessionCode": "555c03b6-d22f-431d-b82e-2b33aff5719d",
   "intent": "BALANCE",
   "confidence": 0.88,
   "answers": [
      {
         "quickReply": [],
         "interactionId": "2f300826-629f-495c-b925-3d6131946934",
         "buttons": [],
         "description": "",
         "type": "TEXT_OPTIONS",
         "content": "You have 10 points in your wallet."
      }
   ],
   "context": {
      "user": 25237,
      "foo": "bar"
   }
}

Loading answers

When you want to avoid NLP calls, eva offers a front-end pre-processing option that bypasses cognitive processing. The CODE practice ties a specific code to a specific answer and obliges eva to deliver this answer.

In eva, a call to the Conversation API with

 “code”:“%EVA_WELCOME_MSG”

loads the welcome flow. When this code appears, eva is obliged to load the welcome flow. The extension of this behavior to any other answer is what is called the CODE practice.

When you register an answer name, it will also be its “code”, eva will deliver that specific answer when faced with that code. If the answer is transactional, the transaction is done before the answer is delivered. If the answer is not found, the “code” content is sent to the NLP so it can be interpreted.

When eva API encounters a “code” and a “text”, the code is and the text not (unless the text is used by a transactional component). If an answer with the same name of the “code” content is not found, the “text” content is sent to the NLP. This happens too in the middle of a flow. If a code is sent in the middle of a flow, the flow is stopped to run the code.

So, eva loading priority will be code -> answer -> NLP -> Fallback

Important:

Every code interaction is registered in the User Interactions table

This is useful when you want to build a clickable menu with preset options and each option is a code. For example, a simple menu with options such as “check balance”, “check opening times” and “ask for a refund”.

Learn more about all Answer's features in eva

(Audio) Conversation API

Method	POST
URL:	/org/{orgUUID}/env/{envUUID}/bot/{botUUID}/channel/{channelUUID}/v1/conversations/ or /org/{orgUUID}/env/{envUUID}/bot/{botUUID}/channel/{channelUUID}/v1/conversations/{sessionCode}
Type:	multipart/form-data

As mentioned before, your implementation of the Conversation API for audio or text input remains uses the same endpoint and is interchangeable. eva distinguishes them according to the content-type submitted.

When your submitted content-type is a multipart/form-data structure, eva will discern this implies you are sending an audio file. At this point, the behaviour of the API remains mostly the same - the response, expected headers and parameter structure will not change.

The only part that differs from the text input Conversation API is the Body, as seen below:

Request body (Audio only)

Name	Type	Required	Description
file	FILE	Yes	The audio file. It's specifications are detailed below.
ConversationRequestJson	JSON	Yes	The exact body of the textual conversational API. Notably relevant because the Context field holds your open, visible and hidden context variables and they must be supplied for continuity. Submitted 'text' or 'code' fields will not trigger errors, but will be ignored.

Audio File Specifications

The supplied audio file must comply with some standards in order to be accepted.

The audio file must be no larger than 16 Mb, and it's file type must be one of the following:

• ogg

• wav

Another restriction is it's time limit. Any supplied audio file must be no longer than one minute in lenght. While this will not trigger any API error, any content past the first minute will be ignored.

Likable Service

Method:	POST
URL:	/org/{orgUUID}/env/{envUUID}/likable
Type:	application/json

The likable service is used when an answer is configured to be evaluable. When this option is enable, the answer should give the user a thumps up / thumbs down option (like / dislike) in the chat.

When the user likes or dislikes an answer, this service must be called.

URL parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
orgUUID	String	Yes	The UUID of your organization. Your token is verified over this field.
envUUID	String	Yes	The UUID of the environment your bot is located. Your token is verified over this field.

Request headers

Name	Type	Required	Description
API-KEY	String	Yes	Api key for client identification. The environment administrator must provide this data.
AUTHORIZATION	String	Yes	A Bearer Token. For more details, see the Authentication section.

Request body

Name	Type	Required	Description
evaluation	Boolean	Yes	True, if user liked the answer (thumbs up), and false, if user disliked the answer (thumbs down)
interactionId	String	Yes	The answer's interactionId, acquired in the conversation service response Answer object.

Response body

The likable service will return a HTTP Status 200 with a “Success” string.

Sample request

{
   "evaluation": true,
   "interactionId": "7cf85a1e-244b-4c75-bc8d-bb188911c724"
}

Sample Response

"Success"

Satisfaction service

Method:	POST
URL:	/conversations/{sessionCode}/satisfactions
Type:	application/json

When the conversation ends, a form might be given to the user to evaluate the virtual agent. This evaluation has 3 parts:

• A yes/no question asking the user if his doubt or if the problem was solved.

• A grade for the conversation. The range can vary, but it is recommended to use a 0 to 10 grade.

• Comments field for any details the user might want to add.

Important:

This service can be called only once for each sessionCode

URL parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
orgUUID	String	Yes	The UUID of your organization. Your token is verified over this field.
envUUID	String	Yes	The UUID of the environment your bot is located. Your token is verified over this field.
sessionCode	String	No	ID of the conversation. Same as the conversation service.

Request headers

Name	Type	Required	Description
API-KEY	String	Yes	API key for client identification. The environment administrator must provide this data.
LOCAL	String	Yes	Virtual agent’s language: <language>-<COUNTRY> This must be the same as configured in the Cockpit. Examples: - en-US - es-ES - pt-BR
AUTHORIZATION	String	Yes	A Bearer Token. For more details, see the Authentication section.

Request body

Name	Type	Required	Description
evaluation	Short number	Yes	This number represents how the user graded the virtual agent. It is recommended to be a number from 1 to 10, but can be changed to use other systems (i.e. 5 stars)
answered	Short number	Yes	Considering that a user interacts with a virtual agent to have a question/problem answered: 1 – the user had its problem solved 0 – his problem was not solved
userComments	String	No	User comments about the session.
expireSession	Boolean	Yes	·This value must be true if you wish the session to immediately be expired when the user sends this evaluation. It should be false instead if the session must not be expired so that the conversation might still continue

Response body

The satisfaction service will return a HTTP Status 200 with a “Success” string.

Sample request

{
 "evaluation": 5, 
 "answered": "true",
 "userComments": "You answered where to find the information, but why didn’t you give the info in the chat?",
 "expireSession": true
}

Sample response

"Success"

Recommended Practices

Message Protection

Messages sent to the conversation API are sent with both the user’s message data, which may contain sensitive information and with your eva token.

While one attempt a straightforward implementation in their front-end website that immediately calls our API, we highly recommend against that as it can endanger your user's data, your token integrity, and breaches the GDPR.

Leaving this valuable information exposed may be exploited and also exposes your token to anyone who wants it in the console. Furthermore, your data is now spoofable by softwares such as sharks which may intercept your messages if they are transmitted with their data in a human language.

Sending your raw requests from the front-end is an understandable practice during your development phase, but we highly recommend you to add a custom security layer for this data, encrypting all messages sent by the front-end.

One adequate way to do this, is to have your back-end act as a security intermediate. A secure message flow would have the messages your user is sending though your chat, encrypted by a library such as CryptoJS, sent to your back-end server instead, which will then decrypt the message and send the request to the Conversation API itself, where the data is not spoofable or exploitable by users.