Can Rasa bot send a first message via Whatsapp?

Rasa Open Source
1

Hi,

Ive linked a Rasa bot with Twilio/Whatsapp and so it replies when I type a message. However I want the not to start conversation with first message. Is this possible? How can I test it with Postman or via Python script? thanks

2

Without a way to trigger a signal from the user to the bot, the bot cannot know what the user’s ID is and if it even exists and is connected to it in the first place.

Usually, in a custom app, you would send a hidden message from the user to the bot when the app starts to establish the connection and seemingly get the first message from the bot.

If you are able to do a similar thing with Twilio/WhatsApp, then you can do it.

3

@ChrisRahme thanks for the reply. Yes that was my understanding, the real question is whether a Python script or Postman request can send a hidden message/intent to Rasa and receive response through Whatsapp channel? Do you know?

4

@koaning maybe you are able to help here given your expertise with Rasa API and Postman? thank you