FlowChat

FlowChat is a Rails framework designed for crafting Menu-based conversation workflows, such as those used in USSD systems. It introduces an intuitive approach to defining conversation flows in Ruby, facilitating clear and logical flow development. Currently supporting USSD with plans to extend functionality to WhatsApp and Telegram, FlowChat makes multi-channel user interaction seamless and efficient.

The framework's architecture leverages a middleware processing pipeline, offering flexibility in customizing the conversation handling process.

Incorporate FlowChat into your Rails project by adding the following line to your Gemfile:

gem 'flow_chat', '~> 0.2.0'

Then, execute:

bundle install

Alternatively, you can install it directly using:

gem install flow_chat

Create a new class derived from FlowChat::Flow to define your conversation flow. It's recommended to place your flow definitions under app/flow_chat.

For a simple "Hello World" flow:

class HelloWorldFlow < FlowChat::Flow
  def main_page
    app.say "Hello World!"
  end
end

The app instance within FlowChat::Flow provides methods to interact with and respond to the user, such as app.say, which sends a message to the user.

Given that most USSD gateways interact via HTTP, set up a controller to handle the conversation flow:

class UssdDemoController < ApplicationController
  skip_forgery_protection

  def hello_world
    ussd_processor.run HelloWorldFlow, :main_page
  end

  private

  def ussd_processor
    @ussd_processor ||= FlowChat::Ussd::Processor.new(self) do |processor|
      processor.use_gateway FlowChat::Ussd::Gateway::Nalo
      processor.use_session_store FlowChat::Session::RailsSessionStore
    end
  end
end

This controller initializes a FlowChat::Ussd::Processor specifying the use of Nalo Solutions' gateway and a session storage mechanism. Here, RailsSessionStore is chosen for simplicity and demonstration purposes.

Bind the controller action to a route:

Rails.application.routes.draw do
  post 'ussd_hello_world' => 'ussd_demo#hello_world'
end

FlowChat comes with a USSD simulator for local testing:

class UssdSimulatorController < ApplicationController
  include FlowChat::Ussd::Simulator::Controller

  protected

  def default_endpoint
    '/ussd_hello_world'
  end

  def default_provider
    :nalo
  end
end

And set up the corresponding route:

Rails.application.routes.draw do
  get 'ussd_simulator' => 'ussd_simulator#ussd_simulator'
end

Visit http://localhost:3000/ussd_simulator to initiate and test your flow.

To engage users with a multi-step interaction, define a flow with multiple screens:

class MultipleScreensFlow < FlowChat::Flow
  def main_page
    name = app.screen(:name) { |prompt|
      prompt.ask "What is your name?", transform: ->(input) { input.squish }
    }

    age = app.screen(:age) do |prompt|
      prompt.ask "How old are you?",
        convert: ->(input) { input.to_i },
        validate: ->(input) { "You must be at least 13 years old" unless input >= 13 }
    end

    gender = app.screen(:gender) { |prompt| prompt.select "What is your gender", ["Male", "Female"] }

    confirm = app.screen(:confirm) do |prompt|
      prompt.yes?("Is this correct?\n\nName: #{name}\nAge: #{age}\nGender: #{gender}")
    end

    app.say confirm ? "Thank you for confirming" : "Please try again"
  end
end

This example illustrates a flow that collects and confirms user information across multiple interaction steps, showcasing FlowChat's capability to handle complex conversation logic effortlessly.

TODO:

TODO:

After checking out the repo, run bin/setup to install dependencies. Then, run rake spec to run the tests. You can also run bin/console for an interactive prompt that will allow you to experiment.

To install this gem onto your local machine, run bundle exec rake install. To release a new version, update the version number in version.rb, and then run bundle exec rake release, which will create a git tag for the version, push git commits and tags, and push the .gem file to rubygems.org.

Bug reports and pull requests are welcome on GitHub at https://github.com/[USERNAME]/flow_chat.

The gem is available as open source under the terms of the MIT License.