Custom Actions

Custom Actions

Custom Actions allow you to extend your Nexvio.ai chatbot with unique functionality tailored to your specific use cases. By creating Custom Actions, you can connect your chatbot to external systems, retrieve dynamic information, and execute complex operations.

What Are Custom Actions?

Custom Actions are programmable functions that your chatbot can trigger during conversations. They enable your AI agents to:

• Make API calls to external services
• Execute custom code logic
• Process user inputs in specialized ways
• Return dynamic data to the conversation
• Trigger workflows in other systems

Creating a Custom Action

To create a new Custom Action:

1. Navigate to Chatbox > Actions > Custom Action
2. Click + Create New Action
3. Provide a name and description for your action
4. Define when the action should trigger
5. Write your action code using JavaScript
6. Test and save your action

Action Structure

A typical Custom Action has the following components:

Trigger Definition

Specify when your action should execute:

• Keywords: Specific words or phrases that trigger the action
• Intent Recognition: Trigger based on detected user intent
• Context Matching: Execute when conversation context meets certain criteria
• Manual Activation: Allow the AI to explicitly decide when to call the action

Action Configuration

Define the parameters and settings for your action:

• Input Parameters: What information the action needs from the conversation
• Output Format: How the action results should be structured
• Error Handling: How to handle failures or exceptions
• Timeout Settings: Maximum execution time for the action

Code Implementation

Write the JavaScript code that executes when your action is triggered. For example:

// Example of a weather lookup action
async function getWeather(parameters) {
  try {
    const location = parameters.location;
    const response = await fetch(`https://api.weather.com/forecast?location=${encodeURIComponent(location)}`);
    const data = await response.json();

    return {
      success: true,
      temperature: data.temperature,
      conditions: data.conditions,
      forecast: data.forecast
    };
  } catch (error) {
    return {
      success: false,
      error: error.message
    };
  }
}

Testing Custom Actions

Before deploying your Custom Action:

1. Use the Test Console to simulate conversations
2. Check that your action triggers appropriately
3. Verify the action returns the expected results
4. Test error cases and edge conditions
5. Optimize the action’s performance if needed

Example Use Cases

Custom Actions can be used for a wide range of scenarios:

• Product Inventory Check: Connect to your inventory system to check product availability
• Customer Status Lookup: Retrieve customer information from your CRM
• Data Processing: Perform calculations or data transformations
• Third-Party Integrations: Connect to services without native integrations
• Multi-step Workflows: Execute a sequence of operations across systems

Security Considerations

When implementing Custom Actions, ensure you follow these security best practices:

• Store sensitive API keys and credentials securely
• Validate and sanitize all user inputs
• Implement rate limiting to prevent abuse
• Use appropriate authentication for external API calls
• Minimize the permissions granted to your action code

Debugging and Monitoring

Track your Custom Action performance:

• Execution Logs: Review logs of action executions
• Error Tracking: Monitor and analyze failures
• Performance Metrics: Track response times and success rates
• Usage Statistics: See how often your actions are triggered

By creating well-designed Custom Actions, you can significantly enhance your Nexvio.ai chatbot’s capabilities and provide more value to your users.