I can trigger an intent directly via the REST-API endpoint but I can also trigger it directly via the rest webhook with a prepended slash (/my_intent).
The result is the same for both ways, but what is the difference?
Background information:
We are using a custom rest webhook (the rasa rest webhook with a different output format) and triggering the reminders directly with the slash notation would allow us to use the same logic for the whole dialog. Instead of making a second request for the first dialog turn.
The API endpoint is for special use cases. In general, use the REST or socket channels.
The channels setup a conversation / session with a user. The user has a sender_id and unique conversation_id. The Tracker Store is used to store the events (user utterances, bot responses, actions taken, etc) that occur during the conversation.
Note that the API endpoint assumes the a conversation and channel already exist - a user has connected to Rasa already from a channel. That endpoint would be a special use case where some (probably external) code wants to jump into an existing conversation.