React¶
Integrating with Alan¶
To integrate a React app with Alan:
Add the Alan Web SDK to your app. You can do it in two ways:
With the npm package
In the browser library mode
To install the Alan Web SDK with the npm package:
To load the Alan Web SDK in the browser library mode, add the
alan_lib.min.js
library to theindex.html
file using the<script>
tag:Client app¶<script type="text/javascript" src="https://studio.alan.app/web/lib/alan_lib.min.js"></script>
Add the Alan button to your React component:
React functional component
React class component
Client app¶import React, { useEffect } from 'react'; useEffect(() => { alanBtn({ key: 'YOUR_KEY_FROM_ALAN_STUDIO_HERE', onCommand: (commandData) => { if (commandData.command === 'go:back') { // Call the client code that will react to the received command } } }); }, []);
If you want to access the component state (or props) inside the callbacks that are passed to the AlanButton, please remember that you may face the «stale closure» problem that occurs because of the closure. To avoid this problem, you may use refs to store your state as shown in the example below:
Client app¶function useStateReference(value) { const ref = useRef(value); const [, forceRender] = useState(false); function updateState(newState) { if (!Object.is(ref.current, newState)) { ref.current = newState; forceRender(s => !s); } } return [ref, updateState]; } function App() { const [count, setCount] = useStateReference({}); useEffect(() => { alanBtn({ key: 'YOUR_KEY_FROM_ALAN_STUDIO_HERE', onCommand: () => { console.info('Actual count value:', count.current); } }); }, []); return ( <div className="App"> </div> ); }
With the code above, the count variable will hold the «actual» value.
Client app¶componentDidMount() { this.alanBtnInstance = alanBtn({ key: 'YOUR_KEY_FROM_ALAN_STUDIO_HERE', onCommand: (commandData) => { if (commandData.command === 'go:back') { // Call the client code that will react to the received command } }, }); }
Note
Regularly update the @alan-ai/alan-sdk-web
package your project depends on. To check if a newer version is available, run npm outdated
. To update the alan package, run npm update @alan-ai/alan-sdk-web
. For more details, see npm documentation.
Specifying the Alan button parameters¶
You can specify the following parameters for the Alan button added to your app:
Name |
Type |
Description |
---|---|---|
|
string |
The Alan SDK key for a project in Alan Studio. |
|
JSON object |
The authentication or configuration data to be sent to the voice script. For details, see authData. |
|
HTMLElement |
The element where Alan button will be added. If no |
|
Boolean |
The property signaling whether the overlay fade effect must be used when the microphone permission prompt in the browser is displayed. The overlay effect makes the prompt more noticeable and helps make sure users provide microphone access to the in-app assistant. |
|
function |
A callback for handling commands from the Alan voice script. In this callback, you can set up logic on how your app must react to commands received from the voice script. For details, see onCommand handler. |
|
function |
A callback for receiving the connection state of the Alan button. For details, see onButtonState handler. |
|
function |
A callback for receiving the connection state of the voice project run in the Alan Cloud. For details, see onConnectionStatus handler. |
|
function |
A callback responsible for handling events received from Alan. For details, see onEvent handler. |
Changing the Alan button position¶
By default, the Alan button is placed in the bottom right corner of the window. To change the Alan button position, you can use the following options for the alanBtn
variable:
left
: sets the Alan button position from the left edgeright
: sets the Alan button position from the right edgetop
: sets the Alan button position from the top edgebottom
: sets the Alan button position from the bottom edgezIndex
: sets the z-order of the Alan button
alanBtn({
key: 'YOUR_KEY_FROM_ALAN_STUDIO_HERE',
bottom: '50px',
left: '50px',
zIndex: 10
});
Using client API methods¶
You can use the following client API methods in your React app:
setVisualState()¶
Use the setVisualState()
method to inform the in-app assistant about the app’s visual context. For details, see setVisualState().
import alanBtn from "@alan-ai/alan-sdk-web";
import React, { useEffect, useRef } from 'react';
function App() {
const alanBtnRef = useRef({}).current;
useEffect(() => {
alanBtnRef.btnInstance = alanBtn({
key: "YOUR_KEY_FROM_ALAN_STUDIO_HERE",
});
}, []);
return (
<div className="App">
<button onClick={() => {
alanBtnRef.btnInstance.setVisualState({ data: 'your data' });
}}>Send visual state</button>
</div>
);
}
export default App;
callProjectApi()¶
Use the callProjectApi()
method to send data from the client app to the voice script and trigger activities without voice commands. For details, see callProjectApi().
projectAPI.setClientData = function(p, param, callback) {
console.log(param);
};
import alanBtn from "@alan-ai/alan-sdk-web";
import React, { useEffect, useRef } from 'react';
function App() {
const alanBtnRef = useRef({}).current;
useEffect(() => {
alanBtnRef.btnInstance = alanBtn({
key: "YOUR_KEY_FROM_ALAN_STUDIO_HERE",
});
}, []);
return (
<div className="App">
<button onClick={() => {
alanBtnRef.btnInstance.callProjectApi("setClientData", {value:"your data"}, function (error, result){
// handle error and result here
});
}}>Call setClientData method</button>
</div>
);
}
export default App;
playText()¶
Use the playText()
method to play specific text in the client app. For details, see playText().
import alanBtn from "@alan-ai/alan-sdk-web";
import React, { useEffect, useRef } from 'react';
function App() {
const alanBtnRef = useRef({}).current;
useEffect(() => {
alanBtnRef.btnInstance = alanBtn({
key: "YOUR_KEY_FROM_ALAN_STUDIO_HERE",
});
}, []);
return (
<div className="App">
<button onClick={() => {
alanBtnRef.btnInstance.playText("Hi there, I am Alan");
}}>Play text</button>
</div>
);
}
export default App;
sendText()¶
Use the sendText()
method to send a text message to Alan as the user’s input. For details, see sendText().
import alanBtn from "@alan-ai/alan-sdk-web";
import React, { useEffect, useRef } from 'react';
function App() {
const alanBtnRef = useRef({}).current;
useEffect(() => {
alanBtnRef.btnInstance = alanBtn({
key: "YOUR_KEY_FROM_ALAN_STUDIO_HERE",
});
}, []);
return (
<div className="App">
<button onClick={() => {
alanBtnRef.btnInstance.sendText("Hello Alan, can you help me?");
}}>Play text</button>
</div>
);
}
export default App;
playCommand()¶
Use the playCommand()
method to execute a specific command in the client app. For details, see playCommand().
import alanBtn from '@alan-ai/alan-sdk-web';
import React, { useEffect, useRef } from 'react';
function App() {
const alanBtnRef = useRef({}).current;
useEffect(() => {
alanBtnRef.btnInstance = alanBtn({
key: 'YOUR_KEY_FROM_ALAN_STUDIO_HERE',
onCommand: (commandData) => {
if (commandData.command === 'goBack') {
// Call client code that will react to the received command
}
},
});
}, []);
return (
<div className="App">
<button onClick={() => {
alanBtnRef.btnInstance.playCommand({command: "goBack"});
}}>Play command</button>
</div>
);
}
export default App;
activate()¶
Use the activate()
method to activate the Alan button programmatically. For details, see activate().
import alanBtn from '@alan-ai/alan-sdk-web';
import React, { useEffect, useRef } from 'react';
function App() {
const alanBtnRef = useRef({}).current;
useEffect(() => {
alanBtnRef.btnInstance = alanBtn({
key: 'YOUR_KEY_FROM_ALAN_STUDIO_HERE',
});
}, []);
return (
<div className="App">
<button onClick={() => {
alanBtnRef.btnInstance.activate();
}}>Activate the Alan button</button>
</div>
);
}
export default App;
deactivate()¶
Use the deactivate()
method to deactivate the Alan button programmatically. For details, see deactivate().
import alanBtn from '@alan-ai/alan-sdk-web';
import React, { useEffect, useRef } from 'react';
function App() {
const alanBtnRef = useRef({}).current;
useEffect(() => {
alanBtnRef.btnInstance = alanBtn({
key: 'YOUR_KEY_FROM_ALAN_STUDIO_HERE',
});
}, []);
return (
<div className="App">
<button onClick={() => {
alanBtnRef.btnInstance.deactivate();
}}>Deactivate the Alan button</button>
</div>
);
}
export default App;
isActive()¶
Use the isActive()
method to check the Alan button state: active or not. For details, see isActive().
import alanBtn from '@alan-ai/alan-sdk-web';
import React, { useEffect, useRef } from 'react';
function App() {
const alanBtnRef = useRef({}).current;
useEffect(() => {
alanBtnRef.btnInstance = alanBtn({
key: 'YOUR_KEY_FROM_ALAN_STUDIO_HERE',
});
}, []);
return (
<div className="App">
<button onClick={() => {
console.log('Button is active: ' + alanBtnRef.btnInstance.isActive());
}}>Check the button state</button>
</div>
);
}
export default App;
remove()¶
Use the remove()
method to remove the Alan button from the parent element. For details, see remove().
import alanBtn from '@alan-ai/alan-sdk-web';
import React, { useEffect, useRef } from 'react';
function App() {
const alanBtnRef = useRef({}).current;
useEffect(() => {
alanBtnRef.btnInstance = alanBtn({
key: 'YOUR_KEY_FROM_ALAN_STUDIO_HERE',
});
}, []);
return (
<div className="App">
<button onClick={() => {
alanBtnRef.btnInstance.remove();
}}>Remove the Alan button</button>
</div>
);
}
export default App;
Using handlers¶
You can use the following Alan handlers in your React app:
onCommand handler¶
Use the onCommand
handler to handle commands sent from the voice script. For details, see onCommand handler.
alanBtn({
key: 'YOUR_KEY_FROM_ALAN_STUDIO_HERE',
onCommand: (commandData) => {
if (commandData.command === 'go:back') {
// Call client code that will react to the received command
}
},
});
onButtonState handler¶
Use the onButtonState
handler to capture and handle the Alan button state changes. For details, see onButtonState handler.
alanBtn({
key: 'YOUR_KEY_FROM_ALAN_STUDIO_HERE',
onButtonState: function (e) {
console.info('onButtonState', e);
},
});
onConnectionStatus handler¶
Use the onConnectionStatus
handler to capture and handle the connection status for the voice project. For details, see onConnectionStatus handler.
alanBtn({
key: 'YOUR_KEY_FROM_ALAN_STUDIO_HERE',
onConnectionStatus: function(status) {
console.log("The status is " + status);
},
});
onEvent handler¶
Use the onEvent
handler to capture and handle events emitted by Alan: get user’s utterances, assistant responses and so on. For details, see onEvent handler.
alanBtn({
key: 'YOUR_KEY_FROM_ALAN_STUDIO_HERE',
onEvent: function (e) {
console.info('onEvent', e);
},
});