Automate the Boring Stuff with Slackbot (ver. 2)

Takanori Suzuki

PyCon TW 2023 / 2023 Sep 3

Agenda

• Background and Motivation for Slackbot

• How to create simple bot

• How to create interactive bot

• How to extend bot using libs and APIs

Photos 📷 Tweets 🐦 👍

#pycontw / @takanory

Slides 💻

slides.takanory.net

Why ver. 2 in the title?

Back to 2019

• Title: “Automate the Boring Stuff with Slackbot”

• Talk in 🇵🇭 🇹🇭 🇲🇾 🇯🇵 🇹🇼 🇸🇬 🇮🇩

And the 2023

• Updated with latest information 🆕

• Thanks to PyCon Taiwan staff and volunteers!! 👏

Who am I? 👤

• Takanori Suzuki / 鈴木 たかのり ( @takanory)

• PyCon JP Association: Chair

• BeProud Inc.: Director / Python Climber

• Python Boot Camp, Python mini Hack-a-thon, Python Bouldering Club

• Love: Ferrets, LEGO, 🍺 / Hobby: 🎺, 🧗‍♀️

PyCon APAC 2023 in Tokyo, Japan 🇯🇵

• 2023-apac.pycon.jp

• Date: 2023 Oct 27-29

Background and Motivation

Conference Tasks

• I held PyCon JP(2014-2016) as Chair

• Conference tasks:

  • 👨‍💻 Keynotes, Talks and Trainings

  • 🎫 Ticket sales and reception

  • 🏬 Venue and facility(WiFi, Video…)

  • 🍱 Foods, ☕️ Coffee, 🧁 Snacks and 🍺 Beers

Staff ask me the same things

• 40+ staff

• 🐣 NEW staff : 🐔 OLD staff = 50 : 50

• 🐣 NEW staff ask me similar questions

Programmer is Lazy

I have an idea! 💡

Let’s create a secretary!!

Goal 🥅

• How to create simple bot

• How to create interactive bot

• How to extend bot using libs and APIs

Why Slack ?

• Launching the Slack app at any time 💻 📱

• Easy to access

• To do everything

You can create interactive bot

Simple integration with Incoming Webhooks 🪝

System overview

Create Incoming Webhooks Integration 🔧

Create Incoming Webhooks Integration

• Generate Webhook URL

  1. Create a Slack app

  2. Activate Incoming Webhooks in the app

  3. Add Webhook to Workspace

• see: Sending messages using Incoming Webhooks

1. Create a Slack app

• https://api.slack.com/apps

• Enter name and choose workspace

• Set app icon (optional)

• see: Beer icons created by Freepik - Flaticon

2. Activate Incoming Webhooks

3. Add Webhook to Workspace

• Click “Add New Webhook to Workspace”

• Choose channel → Click “Allow”

• Get Webhook URL: https://hooks.slack.com/...

Post message via Webhook URL 📬

Post message with cURL

$ curl -X POST -H 'Content-type: application/json' \
> --data '{"text":"Hello Slack!"}' \
> https://hooks.slack.com/services/T000...

Post message with Python

• see: urllib.request

import json
from urllib import request

url = "https://hooks.slack.com/services/T000..."
message = {"text": "Hello from Python!"}
data = json.dumps(message).encode()
request.urlopen(url, data=data)

Post message with Requests

• see: Requests

$ pip install requests

import requests

url = "https://hooks.slack.com/services/T000..."
message = {"text": "Hello from Requests!"}
r = requests.post(url, json=message)

Post message with Slack SDK

• see: Python Slack SDK

$ pip install slack-sdk

from slack_sdk.webhook import WebhookClient

url = "https://hooks.slack.com/services/T000..."
webhook = WebhookClient(url)
r = webhook.send(text="Hello from Slack SDK!")

Formatting text

• see: Formatting text for app surfaces

from slack_sdk.webhook import WebhookClient

url = "https://hooks.slack.com/services/T000..."
webhook = WebhookClient(url)
# *bold*, <url|text>, :emoji: and etc.
r = webhook.send(text="*Hello* from "
  "<https://slack.dev/python-slack-sdk/|Slack SDK>! :beer:")

Block Kit 🧱

Block Kit

• see: Block Kit

Example of Block Kit

blocks = [{
  "type": "section",
  "text": {"type": "mrkdwn",
    "text": "*THANK YOU* for coming to my talk !:tada: Please tell me good *craft beer bar* :bow:",
  },
  "fields": [
    {"type": "mrkdwn", "text": "*Love*"},
    {"type": "mrkdwn", "text": "*From*"},
    {"type": "plain_text", "text": ":beer:, Ferrets, LEGO"},
    {"type": "plain_text", "text": "Japan :jp:"},
  ],
}]
response = webhook.send(blocks=blocks)

Block Kit Builder

• app.slack.com/block-kit-builder/

Summary of Incoming Webhooks

• Easy to post messages from programs 📬

• Create complex messages with Block Kit 🧱

• But one-way (program➡️Webhook➡️Slack)

Interactive bot 🤝

Connection protocols

• Events API over HTTP

• Socket Mode

• see: Choosing a protocol to connect to Slack

Events API over HTTP

• see: Using the Slack Events API

Socket Mode

• see: Intro to Socket Mode

Connection protocols

• Events API over HTTP

• Socket Mode 👈

Create bot user 🤖

Create bot user

• Create bot user with Socket Mode

  1. Create a Slack app (same procedure)

  2. Enable Socket Mode

  3. Subscribe bot event

  4. Add Bot Token Scopes

  5. Install App to Workspace

• Invite bot user to Slack channels

1. Create a Slack app

• Open https://api.slack.com/apps

• Enter name and choose workspace

• Set app icon (optional)

• see: Beer icons created by Freepik - Flaticon

2. Enable Socket Mode

• Select “Socket Mode” → Turn toggle on

• Enter token name → Click “Generate”

• Get app-level token: xapp-...

3. Subscribe bot event

• Select “Event Subscriptions” → Turn toggle on

• Add “message.channels” to bot events

4. Add Bot Token Scopes

• Select “OAuth & Permissions”

• Click “Add on OAuth Scope”

• Add “chat:write” to Bot Token Scopes

5. Install App to Workspace

• Select “Install App” → Click “Install to Workspace”

• Switch OAuth screen → Click “Allow” button

• Get Bot Token: xoxb-...

Invite bot user to channels

Long and Complex !! 🤯

App Manifest ⚙️

App Manifest

• YAML-formatted configuration for Slack apps

• see: Create and configure apps with manifests

Example of App Manifest

display_information:
  name: beerbot2
features:
  bot_user:
    display_name: beerbot2
    always_online: false
oauth_config:
  scopes:
    bot:
      - channels:history
      - chat:write
settings:
  event_subscriptions:
    bot_events:
      - message.channels
  interactivity:
    is_enabled: true
  org_deploy_enabled: false
  socket_mode_enabled: true
  token_rotation_enabled: false

Get App Manifest

• Select “App Manifest” menu

Create new app with App Manifest

• Select “From an app manifest”

• Select workspace → Click “Next”

• Enter app manifest YAML

• Review app summary → Click “Create”

• Install App to Workspace

• Generate App-Level Token

Short and Reusable !! 🥳

Create bot with Bolt ⚡️

Bolt for Python

• Python framework to build Slack app in a flash

• Developped by Slack

• github.com/slackapi/bolt-python

• see:

  • Bolt for Python

  • The Bolt family of SDKs (JavaScript, Java)

Install Bolt for Python

$ mkdir beerbot
$ cd beerbot
$ python3.11 -m venv env
$ . env/bin/activate
(env) $ pip install slack-bolt

Create a simple bot with Bolt

import os
from slack_bolt import App
from slack_bolt.adapter.socket_mode import SocketModeHandler

app = App(token=os.environ["SLACK_BOT_TOKEN"])

# match any message contains "Hi"
@app.message("Hi")
def handle_hi_message(message, say):
    say("Hi!!! I am beerbot! :beer:")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    app_token = os.environ["SLACK_APP_TOKEN"]
    SocketModeHandler(app, app_token).start()

Running bot

# Set 2 tokens in environment variables
(env) $ export SLACK_APP_TOKEN=xapp-...
(env) $ export SLACK_BOT_TOKEN=xoxb-...
(env) $ python app.py
⚡️ Bolt app is running!

I can interact with the bot ! 🎉

Extend bot 🔧

@app.message() decolator

# match any message contains "Hi"
@app.message("Hi")
def handle_hi_message(message, say):
    say("Hi!!! I am beerbot! :beer:")

# match any message contains "cheers"
@app.message("cheers")
def handle_cheers_message(mesasge, say):
    say("Cheers! :beers:")

mention

# mention
@app.message("morning")
def handle_morning_message(message, say):
    user = message["user"]  # get user ID
    say(f"Good morning <@{user}>!")

Using regular expression

import random
import re

@app.message(re.compile(r"choice (.*)"))
def handle_choice(say, context):
    # get matched text from context["matches"]
    words = context["matches"][0].split()
    say(random.choice(words))

Using regular expression

@app.message(re.compile(r"(\d+)\s*(beer|tea)"))
def handle_beer_or_tea(say, context):
    count = int(context["matches"][0])
    drink = context["matches"][1]
    say(f":{drink}:" * count)

Block Kit support

@app.message("follow me")
def handle_follow_me(message, say):
    blocks = [{
        "type": "section",
        "text": {
            "type": "mrkdwn",
            "text": "*Takanori Suzuki*\nFollow me! <https://twitter.com/takanory|@takanory>"
        },
        "accessory": {
            "type": "image",
            "image_url": "https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/192722095/kurokuri_400x400.jpg",
            "alt_text": "takanory"
        }}]
    say(blocks=blocks)

Logging

import logging
logging.basicConfig(level=logging.DEBUG)

@app.message("log")
def handle_log(message, say, logger):
    logger.debug(f"message: {message['text']}")
    say("logs exported!")

$ python app.py
⚡️ Bolt app is running!
DEBUG:app.py:handle_log:message: log
DEBUG:app.py:handle_log:message: please write log

Events and Scopes 🔭

Events and Scopes

• Can only receive events in Bot Events

• Can only execute APIs allowed by Bot Token Scopes

Current Bot Events and Scopes

• Events

  • message.channels

• Scopes

  • channels:history

    • View messages in public channels

  • chat:write

    • Post message

Current Bot Events and Scopes

• Cannot read/write messages on private channels

Add Events and Scopes for private channels

• Select “Event Subscriptions” → Click “Add Bot User Event”

• Add message.groups event→ Click “Save Changes”

Add Events and Scopes for private channels

• Select “OAuth & Permissions”

• groups:history scope is automatically added

Add Events and Scopes for private channels

• Reinstall app to workspace

Add Events and Scopes for private channels

• Bot can read/write messages in private channel

To know user joined a channel

• Add member_joined_channel event → Reinstall app

# A user joined a public or private channel
@app.event("member_joined_channel")
def member_joined(event, say):
    user = event["user"]  # get user ID
    say(f"Welcome <@{user}>! :tada:")

Add Emoji reaction

• Add reactions:write scope → Reinstall app

@app.message("beer")
def add_beer_emoji(client, message):
    # add reaction beer emoji
    client.reactions_add(
        channel=message["channel"],
        timestamp=message["ts"],
        name="beer",
    )

Summary of Events and Scopes

• To receive new events

• To use new API with new scopes

• Add events and/or scopes → Reinstall app

• see: Events API types

• see: Permission scopes

Case studies 📚

Calculator function using SymPy 🔢

Calculator function using SymPy

• Motivation

  • I feel heavy to call a calculator app on my smartphone

  • It seems useful if Slack as a calculator

System overview

about SymPy

• SymPy: Python library for symbolic mathematics

• www.sympy.org

$ pip install sympy

calc() function using Sympy

from sympy import sympify, SympifyError

@app.message(re.compile(r"^([-+*/^%!().\d\s]+)$"))
def calc(message, context, say):
    try:
        formula = context["matches"][0]
        result = sympify(formula)  # Simplifies formula
        if result.is_Integer:
            answer = int(result)  # Convert to integer
        else:
            answer = float(result)  # Convert to float
        say(f"{answer:,}")
    except SympifyError:
        pass

Slack as a calculator !! 🎉

Plus-plus feature using Peewee ORM 👍

Plus-plus feature using Peewee ORM

• Motivation

  • In PyCon JP, I want to make a culture that appreciates each other staff 👍

System overview

about Peewee

• Simple and small ORM.

  • a small, expressive ORM

  • supports sqlite, mysql and postgresql

• docs.peewee-orm.com

$ pip install peewee

plusplus_model.py

from peewee import SqliteDatabase, Model, CharField, IntegerField

db = SqliteDatabase("plusplus.db")

class Plusplus(Model):
    name = CharField(primary_key=True)  # fields
    counter = IntegerField(default=0)

    class Meta:
        database = db

db.connect()
db.create_tables([Plusplus], safe=True)

plusplus() function using Peewee

from plusplus_model import Plusplus

# match "word++" pattern
@app.message(re.compile(r"^(\w+)\+\+"))
def plusplus(say, context):
    name = context["matches"][0]
    # Get or create object
    plus, created = Plusplus.get_or_create(
        name=name.lower(),
        defaults={'counter': 0}
    )
    plus.counter += 1
    plus.save()
    say(f"Thank you {name}! (count: {plus.counter})")

I can appreciate it! 🎉

Search issues with Jira APIs 🔎

Search issues with Jira APIs

• Motivation

  • Jira is very useful

  • Jira Web is slow

  • Search issues without Jira Web

System overview

about Python Jira

• Python library to work with Jira APIs

• jira.readthedocs.io

$ pip install jira

Authentication

• Create an API token

  • see: Manage API tokens for your Atlassian account

from jira import JIRA

url = 'https://jira.atlassian.com/'
jira = JIRA(url, basic_auth=('email', 'API token'))

• see: 2.1.2. Authentication

Search issues

@app.message(re.compile(r"^jira (.*)$"))
def jira_search(message, context, say):
    keywords = context["matches"][0]
    jql = f'text ~ "{keywords}" order by created desc'
    text = ""
    # get 5 recent issues
    for issue in jira.search_issues(jql, maxResults=5):
        issue_id = issue.key
        url = issue.permalink()
        summary = issue.fields.summary
        text += f"* <{url}|{issue_id}> {summary}\n"
    if not text:
        text = "No issues found"
    say(text)

• see: 2.1.6. Searching

• see: JQL: Get started with advanced search in Jira

Free from Jira web! 🎉

Create multiple issues from a template 📝

Create multiple issues from a template

• Motivation

  • In pycamp event, 20+ issues are required for each event

  • Copying issues by hand is painful

  • Jira Web is slow (again)

System overview

Google Authorization is Complex

• Create a Google Cloud project

  • Enable API(in this case: Google Sheets API)

  • Download credentials.json

• Install Google Client Library

$ pip install google-api-python-client \
  google-auth-httplib2 google-auth-oauthlib

• Download quickstart.py from GitHub

Google Authorization is Complex

• Run quickstart.py

  • Select your Google account in Web browser

  • Click “Accept” button

  • Get token.json (finish!!)

$ python quickstart.py
Please visit this URL to authorize this application: https://accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/auth?....
Name, Major:
Alexandra, English
:

• see: Python Quickstart | Sheets API

Issue template

Get Spreadsheet data

from google.oauth2.credentials import Credentials
from googleapiclient.discovery import build

SCOPES = ["https://www.googleapis.com/auth/spreadsheets.readonly"]
SHEET = "1i3YQPObe3ZC_i1Jalo44_2_..."

@app.message("create issues")
def creaete_issues(message, say):
    creds = Credentials.from_authorized_user_file('token.json', SCOPES)
    service = build("sheets", "v4", credentials=creds)
    sheet = service.spreadsheets()
    result = sheet.values().get(spreadsheetId=SHEET, range="A2:C4").execute()
    for row in result.get("values", []):
        say(f"* Title: {row[0]}, Delta: {row[1]}")

• see: Method: spreadsheets.values.get | Sheets API

Get Spreadsheet data

Create Jira issues

def creaete_issues(message, say):
    # --snip--
    today = datetime.date.today()
    for row in result.get("values", []):
        duedate = today + datetime.timedelta(days=int(row[1]))
        issue_dict = {"project": {"key": "ISSHA"},
                      "summary": row[0],
                      "description": row[2],
                      "duedate": f"{duedate:%Y-%m-%d}",
                      "issuetype": {"name": "Task"}}
        issue = jira.create_issue(fields=issue_dict)
        url = issue.permalink()
        say(f"* Create: <{url}|{issue.key}> {row[0]}\n")

• see: 2.1.4. Issues

Free from copying issues! 🎉

Account management of Google Workspace 👥

Account management of Google Workspace

• Motivation

  • PyCon JP Association use pycon.jp domain with Google Workspace

  • I only use Google Admin web occasionally

  • I forgot to use admin screen

System overview

Update Google Authorization

• Update a Google Cloud project

  • add Directory API

  • re-download credentials.json

• Remove token.json

• Add Directory API quickstart.py

  • Re-run quickstart.py

  • Get new token.json

Get user list

SCOPES = ["https://www.googleapis.com/auth/admin.directory.user"]

@app.message("user_list")
def user_list(message, say):
    creds = Credentials.from_authorized_user_file("token.json", SCOPES)
    service = build("admin", "directory_v1", credentials=creds)

    users_list = service.users().list(
        orderBy="email", maxResults=10, customer="my_customer").execute()

    for user in users_list.get("users", []):
        email = user["primaryEmail"]
        fullname = user["name"]["fullName"]
        say(f"* {email} {fullname}")

• see: Method: users.list | Directory API

Get user list

Add user

@app.message(re.compile(r"user_add (\w+) (\w+) (\w+) (\w+)"))
def insert_user(message, say, context):
    creds = Credentials.from_authorized_user_file("token.json", SCOPES)
    service = build("admin", "directory_v1", credentials=creds)

    body = {
        "primaryEmail": context["matches"][0] + "@pycon.jp",
        "password": context["matches"][1],
        "name": {
            "givenName": context["matches"][2],
            "familyName": context["matches"][3]
        }}
    service.users().insert(body=body).execute()
    say(f"User {body['primaryEmail']} created")

• see: Method: users.insert | Directory API

Add user

I can forget Google Admin! 🎉

Security Issue 🔓

• Anyone can run it

• Run only Slack Admin 🔒

Not-Admin cannot run

• Add users:read scope, use users.info API

@app.message("user_list")
def user_list(message, say, client):
    # get user info: https://api.slack.com/methods/users.info
    response = client.users_info(user=message["user"])
    user = response.data["user"]
    if not user["is_admin"]:
        say("You are not an admin!")
        return

Resolve a security issue 🎊

Summary

• Simple bot using Incoming Webhooks

• Interactive bot using Bolt for Python

• Extend bot using libraries and APIs

Next Step 🪜

• Let’s make your Slackbot

• Let’s connect with libraries and APIs

• Automate your Boring Stuff with Slackbot

Thank you! 🙏

translate command

$ pip install deepl

import deepl

translator = deepl.Translator(os.environ["DEEPL_AUTH_KEY"])

@app.message(re.compile(r"^translate (.*)"))
def translate(message, context, say):
    text = context["matches"][0]
    result = translator.translate_text(
        text, target_lang="EN-US")
    say(result.text)

Thank you! 🙏

slides.takanory.net code

@takanory takanory takanory takanory