Build Facebook Messenger Bots Faster with Ampalibe Framework 🥝
Tags: facebook, botmessenger, ampalibe, python
Published: 2023-04-02 09:17:18

Building a Facebook Messenger bot can be a great way to engage with your audience, automate customer service, or even sell products. But building a bot from scratch can be time-consuming and realy complicated. That's where the Ampalibe framework comes in - a lightweight Python framework that can help you build Messenger bots faster.


### 🥝 What is Ampalibe?
Ampalibe is an OpenSource Python Framework that provides a simple way to interact with the Messenger API and build Facebook Messenger bots faster. The framework is named after the Jackfruit, a fruit commonly found in Madagascar, where it is known as "Ampalibe" in the Malagasy language. The Jackfruit is highly adaptable, just like the Ampalibe framework, which can help developers adapt and build bots that provides an interactive user experience on facebook.

The framework is built on top of the official Facebook Messenger API, which means that it's always up-to-date with the latest features and changes. It provides a simple interface for sending and receiving messages, handling different types of actions and events, and managing user data. With Ampalibe, developers can focus on building their bot's logic, without worrying about the details of the Messenger API.

### 🥝 How does ampalibe work?
To get started with Ampalibe, you will need to create and configure a Facebook Developer application, a Facebook page, get the access to the page, link the application to the page and configure a webhook for your app.
You can follow the instructions in this [youtube tutorial](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg2P9uFJEF4).

{% embed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg2P9uFJEF4 %}

Once you have your app and bot set up, you can install the Ampalibe framework using pip like any python package, it will install all needed dependencies.

```sh
$ pip install ampalibe
```
Ampalibe framework comes with CLI which allows you to create the project and run it.
> If you are on windows, you'll have to use `ampalibe.bat` command line instead of `ampalibe`.

![ampalibe CLI](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/0hfl18yjra8fyr1uw0h2.png)


on development mode, you can use `ampalibe run --dev` to enable hot reload feature.

To end up the setup, you'll need to fill up the `.env` file to link your facebook app to the ampalibe server.

Of course, you'll need a tools to populate the server remotely so that facebook can interact with your server through internet. The most recommended one is [`NGROK`](https://ngrok.com/).

Once all is ready, time to code xD
```py
import ampalibe
from ampalibe import Messenger

chat = Messenger()

@ampalibe.command('/')
def main(sender_id, cmd, **ext):
    chat.send_text(sender_id, "Hello, Ampalibe")
```
This simple exemple will send a message "Hello, Ampalibe" whenever a user send message to the bot on the page.
You can discover much more features in the [documentation](https://ampalibe.readthedocs.io/).

### 🥝 Why use ampalibe ?
One of the key benefits of using Ampalibe is that it is a mature project that has been actively developed since January 2022, meaning that it is stable and reliable. Lastest version right now is 1.2.0.1alpha and a stable version 1.1.8 has already been released. 

The framework supports for Webhooks & Process Management, Action Management, Temporary Data Management, Payload Management, Advanced Messenger API, and Language Management make it an excellent choice for a wide range of applications and use cases.


🥝 In summary, if you're looking to build a Messenger bot, Ampalibe is a reliable and straightforward framework that can help you do it faster and more efficiently.
Additionally, you can contribute to the Ampalibe community by posting issues, providing feedback on new features, sharing your experiences or making pull requests in our [github repository](https://github.com/iteam-s/ampalibe).
By contributing to Ampalibe, you can help make it an even better tool, and be a part of a growing open-source community 😉.