By now you must have configured and published your Assistant via the Slang Console and also maybe customized it as required. Congratulations! :) If you have not already done that, you can do so by following the instructions .
Let's start coding!
For testing, we recommend using a physical Android device instead of an emulator because most emulators don't work well with microphones.
1. Configure the build system
The first step is to update the app's build system to include Slang's Retail Assistant SDK.
Add the Slang dependency to your Gradle files
Add the path to the Slang maven repository to your top-level Gradle file
# Add this to your top level Gradle file
allprojects {
repositories {
…
maven { url "http://maven.slanglabs.in:8080/artifactory/gradle-release" }
}
}
Add the Slang Retails Assistant dependency to your app's Gradle file
# Add this to your app's Gradle file
dependencies {
…
implementation 'in.slanglabs.assistants:slang-retail-assistant:5.0.5'
}
Install the Slang Retail Assistant package
The next step is to install the required packages inside your code repo
yarn setup
If you use yarn for install packages, run the below command
The recommendation is to perform the initialization in the onCreate method of the Application class. If the app does not use an Application class, the next best place would be the onCreate method of the primary Activity class.
// Your application class
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstance) {
...
AssistantConfiguration configuration = new AssistantConfiguration.Builder()
.setAPIKey(<API Key>)
.setAssistantId(<AssistantId>)
.setEnvironment(STAGING) // Change this to PRODUCTION once you've published the Assistant to production environment
.build();
SlangRetailAssistant.initialize(this, configuration);
}
This should ideally be done in the componentDidMount of your main app component
import SlangRetailAssistant from '@slanglabs/slang-conva-react-native-retail-assistant';
SlangRetailAssistant.initialize({
requestedLocales: ['en-IN', 'hi-IN'], // The languages to enable
assistantId: '<assistant id>', // The Assistant ID from the console
apiKey: '<API Key>', // The API key from the console
})
This should ideally be done inside the main method.
import 'package:slang_retail_assistant/slang_retail_assistant.dart';
var assistantConfig = new AssistantConfiguration()
..assistantId = "<AssistantId>"
..apiKey = "<APIKey>"
..requestedLocales = ['en-IN', 'hi-IN'];
SlangRetailAssistant.initialize(assistantConfig);
If you're using async/await, then -
import SlangRetailAssistant from '@slanglabs/slang-retail-assistant';
await SlangRetailAssistant.init({
assistantID: '<assistant id>', // The Assistant ID from the console
apiKey: '<API Key>', // The API key from the console
})
If you use Promise callback, then -
import SlangRetailAssistant from '@slanglabs/slang-retail-assistant';
SlangRetailAssistant.init({
assistantID: '<assistant id>', // The Assistant ID from the console
apiKey: '<API Key>', // The API key from the console
}).then(() => {
// other integration code...
})
If you are using a framework like React, we recommend putting this code inside a useEffect block.
If you are building a simple HTML project, then put this code inside an document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', () => {}) event listener.
2.2 Show the Assistant Trigger (microphone icon)
Once the Assistant is initialized, the next step is to show the Assistant Trigger (ie the microphone button) that the app's users can click on to invoke the Assistant and speak to it.
Add the below line to the onResume method of the Activities where you want the Assistant to be enabled.
protected void onResume(Bundle savedInstance) {
...
SlangRetailAssistant.getUI().showTrigger(this); // There is a corresponding hideTrigger too if needed
}
One can call "show" and "hide" methods as required to control the visibility of the Assistant
SlangRetailAssistant.ui.showTrigger(); // There is a corresponding hideTrigger too if needed
Use "showTrigger" and "hideTrigger" APIs to control the visibility of the Assistant as shown below.
One can call "show" and "hide" methods as required to control the visibility of the Assistant
SlangRetailAssistant.getUI().showTrigger(); // There is a corresponding hide too if needed
By default, the trigger is sticky, which means that it will show up on all Activities after it is made visible. To prevent the trigger from showing up on specific activities, you will need to call:
SlangRetailAssistant.getUI().hideTrigger(this)
2.3 Implement Actions
Now if the actions (basically the visual change that the app should do) corresponding to the various User Journeys have not been already defined in the console, the app needs to do that via code and implement the Actions associated with the various User Journeys supported by the Assistant. This can be done as shown below
SlangRetailAssistant.setAppAction(new SlangRetailAssistant.AppAction() {
@Override
public SearchAppState onSearch(SearchInfo searchInfo, SearchUserJourney searchJourney) {
// Handle search requests
// ...
return new SearchResultsAppState(OrderViewAppState.SUCCESS);
}
public OrderManagementAppState onOrderManagement(OrderInfo orderInfo, OrderManagementUserJourney orderourney) {
// Handle order management requests
// ...
return new OrderViewAppState(OrderViewAppState.SUCCESS);
}
public OfferAppState onOfferManagement(OfferInfo offerInfo, OfferManagementUserJourney offerManagementUserJourney) {
// Handle offers requests
// ...
return new ViewOfferAppState(ViewOfferAppState.SUCCESS);
}
public CheckoutAppState onCheckOut(CheckoutInfo checkoutInfo, CheckoutUserJourney checkoutUserJourney) {
// Handle checkout requests
// ...
return new CheckoutCompleteAppState(CheckoutCompleteAppState.SUCCESS);
}
public NavigationAppState onNavigation(NavigationInfo navInfo, NavigationUserJourney navJourney) {
// Handle navigation requests
// ...
return new NavigationCompleteAppState(SUCCESS);
}
@Override
public void onAssistantError(final AssistantError error) {
// Handle errors that might have occurred during the Assistant lifecycle
// Error codes available
// FATAL_ERROR, SYSTEM_ERROR, ASSISTANT_DISABLED, INVALID_CREDENTIALS,
}
}
const actionHandler = {
onSearch: (searchInfo, searchUserJourney) => {
// Handle the search request
// ...
searchUserJourney.setSuccess();
return SearchUserJourney.AppState.SEARCH_RESULTS;
},
onOrderManagement: (orderInfo, orderManagementUserJourney) => {
// Handle the order request
// ...
orderManagementUserJourney.setViewSuccess();
return OrderManagementUserJourney.AppState.VIEW_ORDER;
},
onNavigation: (navigationInfo, navigationUserJourney) => {
// Handle the navigation request
// ...
navigationUserJourney.setNavigationSuccess();
return NavigationUserJourney.AppState.NAVIGATION;
},
onAssistantError: errorCode => {
// Handle errors that might have happened during the processing of the
// Assistant
// Error codes available
// FATAL_ERROR, SYSTEM_ERROR, ASSISTANT_DISABLED, INVALID_CREDENTIALS,
},
};
SlangRetailAssistant.setAction(retailAssistantListener)
//Set the action handler via the setAction method
class AppAction implements RetailAssistantAction {
@override
void initState() {
super.initState();
SlangRetailAssistant.setAction(this);
}
@override
void onAssistantError(Map<String, String> assistantError) {
// Handle errors that might have occurred during the Assistant lifecycle
}
@override
SearchAppState onSearch(SearchInfo searchInfo, SearchUserJourney searchUserJourney) {
// Handle search requests
// ...
return new SearchResultAppState(SUCCESS)
}
}
var action = new AppAction();
SlangRetailAssistant.setAction(action);
SlangRetailAssistant.setAction(new SlangRetailAssistant.Action() {
@Override
public SearchUserJourney.AppState onSearch(SearchInfo searchInfo, SearchUserJourney searchJourney) {
// Handle search requests
// ...
userJourney.setSuccess();
return SearchUserJourney.AppState.SEARCH_RESULTS;
}
public NavigationUserJourney.AppState onNavigation(NavigationInfo navInfo, NavigationUserJourney navJourney) {
// Handle navigation requests
// ...
userJourney.setNavigationSuccess();
return NavigationUserJourney.AppState.NAVIGATION;
}
public OrderManagementUserJourney.AppState onOrderManagement(OrderInfo orderInfo, OrderManagementUserJourney orderourney) {
// Handle order management requests
// ...
userJourney.setViewSuccess();
return OrderManagementUserJourney.AppState.VIEW_ORDER
}
@Override
public void onAssistantError(final AssistantError error) {
// Handle errors that might have occurred during the Assistant lifecycle
// Error codes available
// FATAL_ERROR, SYSTEM_ERROR, ASSISTANT_DISABLED, INVALID_CREDENTIALS,
}
}
The following user journeys are currently supported by the Slang Retail Assistant:
Voice Search
Voice Order Management
Voice Offers
Voice Checkout
Voice Navigation
Backward compatibility note: Earlier offers and checkout were targets inside Navigation Journey. Now they have become their own full-blown user journeys
The Action Handler interface has an explicit callback for each of the supported user journeys. Whenever the Assistant detects the user's journey (based on what they spoke), it invokes the callback associated with that user journey.
When these callbacks are invoked, the Assistant also passes the parametric data corresponding to the user journey that the Assistant was able to gather. The app is then expected to:
Consume the parametric data as needed
Optionally launch appropriate UI actions
Set appropriate conditions in the Assistant based on the app's internal state
Return the AppState that the app transitioned to
2.4 Return the AppState and Condition
An AppState indicates which state the app transitioned to, based on the user-journey and parametric data that was passed to the app. The list ofAppStates that are supported depends on the user journey.
Conditions represent more detailed states of the app within a particular app state. For example, the search might have failed when performing the search or the items might be out of stock. The app can use Conditions to indicate the correct condition to the Assistant. The condition controls the message that the Assistant speaks up after the call-back returns.
public SearchUserJourney.AppState onSearch(SearchInfo searchInfo, SearchUserJourney searchJourney) {
// Handle the Search requests
// ...
return new SearchResultsAppState(SUCCESS);
}
public SearchUserJourney.AppState onSearch(SearchInfo searchInfo, SearchUserJourney searchJourney) {
// Handle the Search requests
// ...
searchUserJourney.setSearchSuccess(); // Set the condition
return SearchUserJourney.AppState.SEARCH_RESULTS;
}
2.4.1 Assistant Prompts
Based on the AppState returned and the conditions that were set, the Assistant will speak out an appropriate message to the user.
The prompts spoken by the Assistant are customizable. Refer to the Customizing the Assistant section, if you're interested in customization.
That's it! These are the basic set of steps required to add Slang's In-App Voice Assistant into your app.
Beyond this integration, Slang Voice Assistants provide a lot more power and flexibility to cater to the more advanced needs of the apps. Please refer to the Advanced Concepts section for more details.
The next step is to initialize the SDK with the you obtained after creating the Assistant in the Slang console.
Note that there are two types of Assistant Icons. Global and Inline. Refer to this for more details and how to make use of it in your app. The default is the "Global" Assistant Icon
Refresher: A UserJourney represents a path that a user may take to reach their goal when using a web or mobile app. See for details.
Refresher: The Actions for the various User Journeys can also be specified directly in the console. Refer to the section for details
Refresher: An AppState typically corresponds to a screen that the app transitioned to based on user input. See for details.
