Bots & Smart Apps

A chat bot is a special contact that represents a web application. The web application interacts with the user via chat. Chat bots have functionality familiar to many from other messengers:

• sending text messages and files;
• sending messages with buttons;
• receiving system events (chat creation, user joining a chat, etc.);
• enabling/disabling enhanced privacy mode;
• assigning chat administrators;
• creating a chat with a user (useful for corporate chat bots), etc.
• data exchange with third-party corporate systems or applications.

A corporate server administrator can connect a chat bot in the admin panel. Anyone can create a bot using the API, or bots can be ordered from an eXpress provider.

❓ Related Topics:
• What to do if a chat bot is not working or functioning incorrectly
• In a chat created by a bot, sent messages hang with an error

Internal Bots

eXpress has internal bots (a server administrator can enable or connect them to the global chat). Some of them include:

• Conference Notifier bot. Notifies users about upcoming conferences. It can also be used to set up regular reminders for indefinite conferences.
• Notifications bot. A bot for sending messages to the global chat.
• Recordings bot. A bot for notifications about ready call recordings.

Smart Apps are full-fledged web applications for various business processes: email, calendar, HR services, electronic document management, portals, support, and others. They can be embedded directly into the eXpress app.

⚠️ The Aurora app temporarily does not support Smart Apps.

Smart Apps allow you to quickly solve tasks even on a smartphone or tablet, saving time and increasing employee productivity. As a result, organizations get a unified platform that combines both mobile and desktop devices for most corporate tasks.

All Smart Apps operate within the encrypted container of the client app, ensuring corporate data protection from third parties.

A catalog of ready-to-deploy bots and Smart Apps is available:

• Collection of bots and Smart Apps by the eXpress team
  Each bot and Smart App in the catalog includes an .env file with variables, containing a detailed description of all configuration parameters. We do not provide the source code.
  Please note: The description of variables could be in Russian language.
• Bot & Smart App Deployment Guide for Administrators (PDF)

The eXpress platform supports the creation of custom bots and Smart Apps. A user without administrator console access cannot add a bot to the server independently — to deploy a bot, they must contact their organization's support team.

Bots and Smart Apps can be created by:

• The eXpress development team. Requests for deployment and customization of such bots and Smart Apps are submitted through the eXpress account manager or the sales department.
• The customer independently using the BotX API. API documentation is available via the links below.
• The customer's partners. Requests for customization of such bots and Smart Apps are submitted through the partner organization's support team.

BotX API

About bots in the eXpress knowledge base:

• General information about bots (in Russian)
• Bot developer guide (in Russian)

BotX API documentation:

• BotX documentation welcome page (in Russian)
• General description of BotX (in Russian)
• HTTP(s) Bot API v4 (in Russian) — the protocol for sending data from BotX to the bot (BotX → Bot). The protocol version is specified on the bot editing page in the admin panel, in the Protocol version field.
• HTTP(s) BotX API (in Russian) — the BotX service API. Allows the bot to interact with eXpress internal services.

Smart Apps documentation:

• About Smart Apps in the knowledge base — developer guide (in Russian)

GitHub repository with libraries and examples:

• ExpressApp (in Russian)

Use the Latest Android System WebView

For Smart Apps to work correctly in the Android mobile app, the Android System WebView system component must be up to date. Clear the app cache after updating Android System WebView.

What to Do If a Chat Bot Doesn't Work or Works Incorrectly

1. Identify which platform the issue occurs on: web/desktop or mobile app, and specify the app version.
2. Check if the issue reproduces on another client platform.
3. Document the reproduction steps, take screenshots, or record a video.

If the issue occurs on two or more platforms (e.g., iOS and Android), possible causes:

• the bot uses outdated methods and requires updating,
• the bot contains an error in the code.

Contact your organization's support for diagnostics and data collection or directly contact eXpress support, providing the gathered information.

If the issue occurs only on one platform (web/desktop/iOS/Android), provide to eXpress support:

• a description of the issue,
• client app logs.

If necessary, the issue will be logged as a bug and fixed in the future.

What to Do If a Smart App Doesn't Work or Works Incorrectly

1. Try clearing the Smart App cache via the ellipsis button on the screen or the Smart App panel.
2. If the issue persists, identify which platform it occurs on (web/desktop/mobile app) and specify the app version.
3. Check if the issue reproduces on another platform.
4. Document the reproduction steps, take screenshots, or record a video.
5. Collect Smart App client logs.
6. Through the corporate server administrator, request:
   • Smart App server logs,
   • .env file with variable values.
7. Submit all data to eXpress support for further analysis.

If necessary, the issue will be logged as a bug and fixed in the future.