How to use ngrok with Rasa X on Windows

[Deprecated] Rasa X Community Edition
1

Hi - I tried to follow the instructions for using ngrok with Rasa X to tactically share locally hosted Rasa X with other users in this video, starting at 45:00 Webinar: Rasa X in-depth - YouTube

The video describes two steps to do prior to starting Rasa X

  1. start ngrok and get ngrok forwarding URL (https://________.ngrok.io)
  2. set RASA_X_HOSTNAME

the video shows Linux command for 2 “export RASA_X_HOSTNAME=https://________.ngrok.io”

I’m on Windows, so I need to use something different for 2. I’ve tried:

  • SET RASA_X_HOSTNAME=https://________.ngrok.io
  • SETX RASA_X_HOSTNAME https://________.ngrok.io

However, after each when I start Rasa X, it still has the localhost URL instead of the shareable ngrok URL.

Has anybody successfully been able to share Rasa X with ngrok on Windows? If so, what steps did you take?

2

Hi @ryanmark, could you try using RASA_X_HOST instead of RASA_X_HOSTNAME?

3

Thanks for responding. I followed your recommendation to set RASA_X_HOST and after a bit more fiddling finally got it to (sort of) work of:

  • .\ngrok.exe 5002 to get forwarding URL
  • set both RASA_X_HOST and RASA_X_HOSTNAME in env. variables to forwarding URL
  • check values using ECHO %RASA_X_HOST% (has to be in a vanilla command window - won’t work in Powershell)
  • set RASA_X_PASSWORD in env. variables - (see How to get Rasa X password for details)
  • start rasa x (again from a vanilla command window
  • when rasa x starts, replace “localhost:5002” in the URL it opens with the ngrok forwarding URL (so the result looks like “http://_______.ngrok.io/conversations”
  • click on the share icon and then click on generate link to get shareable URL
  • you can now use that shareable URL on another system to do a chat with your model

The “sort of” in my intro is because on the remote system you only see the user entries, not the bot responses. The bot responses are visible in the Conversations tab of Rasa x on the “host” system.

Next step is debugging why bot responses aren’t showing up on the remote system.