nio-template is a sample repository of a working Matrix bot that can be taken and transformed into one's own bot, service or whatever else may be necessary. Below is a quick setup guide to running the existing bot.
There are two paths to installing the dependencies for development.
If you would rather not or are unable to run docker, the following will instruct you on how to install the dependencies natively:
You can install libolm from source,
or alternatively, check your system's package manager. Version 3.0.0 or
greater is required.
(Optional) postgres development headers
By default, the bot uses SQLite as its storage backend. This is fine for a few hundred users, but if you plan to support a much higher volume of requests, you may consider using Postgres as a database backend instead.
If you want to use postgres as a database backend, you'll need to install postgres development headers:
Debian/Ubuntu:
sudo apt install libpq-dev libpq5
Arch:
sudo pacman -S postgresql-libs
Create and activate a Python 3 virtual environment:
virtualenv -p python3 env
source env/bin/activate
Install python dependencies:
pip install -e .
(Optional) If you want to use postgres as a database backend, use the following command to install postgres dependencies alongside those that are necessary:
pip install -e ".[postgres]"
Make sure to source your python environment if you haven't already:
source env/bin/activate
Then simply run the bot with:
matrix-trivia-bot
You'll notice that "matrix-trivia-bot" is scattered throughout the codebase. When it comes time to modifying the code for your own purposes, you are expected to replace every instance of "matrix-trivia-bot" and its variances with your own project's name.
Invite the bot to a room and it should accept the invite and join.
By default nio-template comes with an echo command. Let's test this now.
After the bot has successfully joined the room, try sending the following
in a message:
!c echo I am a bot!
The message should be repeated back to you by the bot.
Congratulations! Your bot is up and running. Now you can modify the code, re-run the bot and see how it behaves. Have fun!
If you had any difficulties with this setup process, please file an issue or come talk about it in the matrix room.