In our first tutorial we learned how to develop resume chatbot in Dialogflow using intents. We have created intents and added training phrases and responses. The bot is now ready to be introduced to the world! But we didn’t cover how to test the bot and publish on Google Assistant. In this part, we’ll cover those things.
Update: We are now making the resume agent available as zip file. You can simply download it and import in your agent. Just sign up below to download the agent.
In this tutorial we will show you how to test our bot in console, how to test in Simulator provided by Dialogflow, how to test in mobile device and what required things need to be done to make the bot ready for publishing.
1. Test conversation in console
We can test conversation at right side bar of intents page. This is the easiest and pretty handy testing tool while you are developing the chatbot. You can simply put the input on right side bar and it will show you the expected output. You don’t need to leave the development page. Let’s look at how the console works.
As you can see in below screenshot, it shows what user has entered as input text and what response is received. It also shows which intent is triggered for that user input.
Now, Dialogflow supports multiple chat platforms, so if you want to see how the response output will look on different platform, you can click on “DEFAULT RESPONSE” and select the platform. In our case, we have added response for Google Assistant only, so we see the option “ACTIONS ON GOOGLE”.
You can see how it will look in google assistant. You can also see suggestion chips below the response. Click on any of those suggestion chips to see how it extend conversation flow.
If you scroll down console, you will find “DIAGNOSTIC INFO” button there.
Clicking on the DIAGNOSTIC INFO opens up a popup with details about whole response in JSON format. Understanding JSON format is very useful when you are building webhook for Dialogflow to handle responses for the intent.
2. How to use simulator
In simulator we can check how conversation works in Google Assistant right from our browser. To use simulator click on “See how it works in Google Assistant” on right side bar.
Following the link you will land on Simulator page where you can perform testing of your bot. The benefit of using Simulator is that you can actually see how the response will look in Google Assistant.
To start testing bot in simulator you can write or click on “Talk to my test app”. That will open up your app in the simulator.
You will be greeted with the response you have set in Default Welcome Intent. That is the starting point of conversation for your chatbot.
Now you can input any text you would like to test. If you have set Suggestion Chips in welcome intent then you should see suggestion chips along with the welcome message. To continue the conversation you can click on suggestion chips too.
On right side, you can see how it will look in Google Assistant of your smartphone.
To check Request/Response in JSON format click on REQUEST/RESPONSE tabs. If there is any error you can see error log inside ERROR tab.
3. Setup Invocation
Invocations are the phrases which users will use to start interaction with your bot. In invocation section you can set the bot name so bot name will become default invocation for your bot. Users will type or say “Talk to BOT_NAME” in google assistant to enter into conversation with your bot.
We have Provided “Resume Demo” name for our bot so invocation phrase will be Talk to Resume Demo.
Provide name to your bot. You can set voice type at “Google Assistant Voice” section. There are 6 options to select voice for your bot: Male 1, Male 2, Male 3, Female 1, Female 2, Female 3. Select anyone as per your liking and click on SAVE button to save the changes.
4. Fill up Directory Information
Directory Information contains all the basic details about your bot. Let’s check them one by one.
Description
You can add short and full description about your bot.
Sample Invocations
In invocation section you can set invocation phrases for your bot. These invocations are phrases to trigger your bot in google assistant. You can enter up to 5 invocations here.
Images
In images section you can set small logo and large banner image with PNG format (scale is given). Small logo is mandatory so you will have to upload it.
Contact Details
Provide your email address.
Privacy and consent
Provide valid privacy policy URL. If you don’t have Privacy Policy created then you can find free privacy policy creator websites and create your privacy policy. You will need to host that privacy policy page somewhere so that you can provide that URL in this field.
Additional Info
Select category related to your bot. For our resume bot “Education & Reference” category is suitable. You can enter optional instructions for your bot and click on SAVE button to save your changes.
5. Language Selection
To select languages go to directory page and click on “Modify Languages” to view all the options available.
Select your languages and click on save button.
6. Target Locations
In target locations you can select in which countries you want your bot to be accessible. We have selected all 213 countries so it will be accessible worldwide.
7. How to test in Mobile (Smartphones)
You can now test your bot in your smartphone in Google Assistant application. To test conversation on your smartphone, open google assistant application. Make sure you are logged in with same google account you used to sign up for dialogflow.
Say/Type “Talk to Resume Demo” in google assistant. You will see response as below.
Assistant will open up your bot with greeting message set in Default Welcome Intent.
Now you can interact with your bot by giving some input. You shall receive the response as per your input. See in below screenshot when I entered “introduction” as input, it shows response what we have added in responses. You can see suggestion chips below.
If you select any suggestion chip it works as input and you get response for that. In below screenshot you can see example of rich response (Table Card).
Another example, if I select/enter project as input we get response what we added in project intent.
When you enter bye or goodbye, you opt out of conversation because when we enter bye it will trigger Exit intent and we have set Exit intent as End of conversation.
8. Submit Your App for Review
To publish your bot worldwide you will have to submit it for review. Your bot will not be accessible by other users until it is published on Google Assistant.
We will show you how to submit your bot for review.
Go to Actions on Google Console page and select release from left side bar.
Click on “Start new release” button.
You can see pop up “Submit for review in alpha, beta and production”. Read and select checkboxes.
Choose your languages below and click on “SUBMIT” button.
You will see that your app is now Under Review.
The review will be performed by Assistant reviewer team and they will either approve or reject your submission. If your submission is rejected then they will also provide details about why it was rejected. You can make changes as per the suggestions provided in the email and re-submit the app again.
Once reviewers team approve your app you can start sharing it with your friends! Now your bot is accessible worldwide. Congratulations on launching your very first bot!
