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Getting Started

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Eric Anderson edited this page Nov 17, 2016 · 28 revisions

General steps to get up and running

  • Download and run the Bot Framework Emulator. See instructions for downloading [here].(https://github.com/Microsoft/BotFramework-Emulator/blob/master/README.md#download)
  • Enter your bot's endpoint into the emulator's address bar. This value differs by hosting environment. See sections below for specific scenarios.
  • If your bot is running with Microsoft Account (MSA) credentials, enter these credentials too.
  • If your bot is hosted remotely, ensure that ngrok tunneling software is installed and configured. The Bot Framework Emulator is tightly integrated with ngrok and can launch it for you when needed. Learn more about what ngrok is, how the emulator utilizes ngrok, and how to configure it: Tunneling (ngrok).
  • If you prefer to use alternate tunneling software, you may configure a custom Callback URL in the emulator's App Settings dialog.

Connect to a bot running on localhost

When developing a bot using the BotBuilder SDK, the default endpoint for local debugging is http://localhost:3978/api/messages. This is where the bot will be listening for messages when hosted locally.

For localhost debugging you will not typically need to enter MSA appId or password, although it is supported if your bot requires it.

To connect, enter your bot's endpoint into the address bar and click on the Connect button:

Connect_Localhost

Connect to a bot hosted remotely

This scenario is similar to the localhost scenario, but with two additional requirements:

  • You will need to enter your bot's MSA appId and password.
  • You must run tunneling software so that the remotely hosted bot can reply to you. Read up on network tunnel configuration: Tunneling (ngrok)

[screenshot]

If you registered your bot with the Bot Framework, you can retrieve endpoint and MSA appId from its registration page. If you do not already know the MSA password of your bot, a new one can be generated from the registration page.

Connect to an Azure Bot Service

This scenario is similar the remotely hosted scenario, but there are extra steps involved in discovering your bot's endpoint:

  • When you create an Azure Bot Service, a registration for it is created with the Bot Framework. Your endpoint can be found on your bot's registration page on the Bot Framework Dev Portal.

[screenshot]

Learn more about Azure Bot Services.

Troubleshooting

TODO

Documentation

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