Create AI-powered chatbots
OutSystems is a low-code platform that lets you quickly create chatbots and add them to your apps. Use the OutSystems.AI Chatbot component from Forge to create UI and connect your logic to the AI back end.
To create a chatbot from the Chatbot component, you need:
- A Microsoft Azure account and a permission to create and edit a bot service
- Permissions to install Forge components in your environment
Your chatbot consists of the user interface and logic that generates replies to the user. If you want to quickly add a chatbot to your app, a chatbot that can answer questions based on the information from the knowledge base, check Getting started: How to create an FAQ chatbot for instructions.
For more options and advanced computational features, such as natural language processing or intent detection, use an AI provided. OutSystems uses Microsoft Azure as the AI provider. Use the chatbot webhook module to connect to Azure and design advanced responses, for example to send a file or create a card with buttons or suggested actions.
There's a chatbot demo app in Forge. Install the demo in your environment, check out the logic, and reuse it in your chatbots. Go to OutSystems.AI Chatbot Reactive, click Download, and then Download component + demo.
Here is an overview of some use cases to get you started. The time to develop and deploy for use cases other than an FAQ chatbot refers to the OutSystems developers with intermediate skills.
| Your chatbot use case | Recommended guides | Time to develop and deploy |
|---|---|---|
| Answers frequently asked questions, based on your knowledge base. | See Getting started: How to create an FAQ chatbot for detailed instructions. | Fast |
| Implements interactions with both Azure and OutSystems resources. | See Create and configure the chatbot webhook module and then see an example how to reply with an echo message through the webhook module. | Moderate, depends on use case complexity |
| Shows cards with thumbnails, buttons, and files for download. | See Reply with cards. | Moderate |
| Has a fully custom interface. | See Create custom chatbot UI. | Moderate |
Making a working chatbot is only part of the work towards creating a useful chatbot solution. You also need knowledge about designing interactive user experiences. Check out Principles of bot design and Writing for bots by Microsoft.
Articles in this Section
- The chatbot architecture
- Overview of the parts that make a chatbot in OutSystems and how they function together.
- Get started: create an FAQ chatbot for your app
- Steps for creating an FAQ chatbot with the OutSystems component and Azure resources.
- Create advanced logic for more AI functionalities
- Learn how to combine OutSystems logic with Azure for advanced chatbot features and add powerful AI features to your chatbot. The advanced features include custom replies, connection with a knowledge base, and detecting intents.
- Create custom chatbot UI
- See how to create a custom user interface for the chatbot.
- Reply with cards
- Learn how to combine OutSystems logic with Azure for advanced chatbot features. See how to use cards in the chatbot responses.
- Add a chatbot UI block to your app
- How to add the UI chatbot component to an app. This is a quick solution that covers many use cases.
- Create and configure the chatbot webhook module
- Add a webhook chat module to your app to create advanced chatbot logic.
- Create and deploy a knowledge base in Azure
- How to create and deploy a knowledge base in Azure.
- Create the chatbot resources in Azure
- This document guides you through creating the Azure resources for developing a chatbot.
- Reference
- Additional information about settings for Azure and OutSystems.