ChatScript is the next generation chatbot engine that has won the Loebner's 4 times and is the basis for natural language company for a variety of tech startups.
ChatScript is a rule-based engine, where rules are created by humans writers in program scripts through a process called dialog flow scripting. These use a scripting metalanguage (simply called a "script") as their source code. Here what a ChatScript script file looks like:
#
# file: food.top
#
topic: ~food []
#! I like spinach
s: ( I like spinach ) Are you a fan of the Popeye cartoons?
a: ( ~yes ) I used to watch him as a child. Did you lust after Olive Oyl?
b: ( ~no ) Me neither. She was too skinny.
b: ( yes ) You probably like skinny models.
a: ( ~no ) What cartoons do you watch?
b: ( none ) You lead a deprived life.
b: ( Mickey Mouse ) The Disney icon.
#! I often eat chicken
u: ( ![ not never rarely ] I * ~ingest * ~meat ) You eat meat.
#! I really love chicken
u: ( !~negativeWords I * ~like * ~meat ) You like meat.
#! do you eat bacon?
?: ( do you eat _ [ ham eggs bacon] ) I eat '_0
#! do you like eggs or sushi?
?: ( do you like _* or _* ) I don't like '_0 so I guess that means I prefer '_1.
#! I adore kiwi.
s: ( ~like ~fruit ![~animal _bear] ) Vegan, you too...
#! do you eat steak?
?: ( do you eat _~meat ) No, I hate _0.
#! I eat fish.
s: ( I eat _*1 > )
$food = '_0
I eat oysters.
Take this project and put it into some directory on your machine (typically we call the directory ChatScript, but you can name it whatever). That takes care of installation.
Standalone mode - run locally on a console (for developement/test)
From your ChatScript home directory, go to the BINARIES directory:
cd BINARIES
And run the ChatScript engine
Windows
ChatScript
Linux
./LinuxChatScript64 local
Note: to set the file executable: chmod a+x ./LinuxChatScript64
MacOS
./MacChatScript local
This will cause ChatScript to load and ask you for a username. Enter whatever you want. You are then talking to the default demo bot Harry.
Server Mode (for production)
From your ChatScript home directory, go to the BINARIES directory and run the ChatScript engine as server
Run the server on Windows
ChatScript port=1024
Run the server on Linux
./LinuxChatScript64
Run the server on MacOS
./MacChatScript
This will cause ChatScript to load as a server. But you also need a client (to test client-server communication). You can run a separate command window and go to the BINARIES directory and type
Run a client (test) on Windows
ChatScript client=localhost:1024
Run a client (test) on Linux
./LinuxChatScript64 client=localhost:1024
Run a client (test) on MacOS
./MacChatScript client=localhost:1024
This will cause ChatScript to load as a client and you can talk to the server.
How to build a bot
Run ChatScript locally. From the ChatScript command prompt, type
:build Harry
or whatever other preinstalled bot exists. If you have revised basic data, you can first:
:build 0
How to compile the engine.
On windows if you have Visual Studio installed, launch VS2010/chatscript.sln or VS2015/chatscript.sln and do a build. The result will go in the BINARIES directory.
On Linux, go stand in the SRC directory and type make server (assuming you have make and g++ installed). This creates BINARIES/ChatScript, which can run as a server or locally. There are other make choices for installing PostGres or Mongo.
