pipecat/examples/twilio-chatbot

Twilio Chatbot

This project is a FastAPI-based chatbot that integrates with Twilio to handle WebSocket connections and provide real-time communication. The project includes endpoints for starting a call and handling WebSocket connections.

Table of Contents

• Features
• Requirements
• Installation
• Configure Twilio URLs
• Running the Application
• Usage

Features

• FastAPI: A modern, fast (high-performance), web framework for building APIs with Python 3.6+.
• WebSocket Support: Real-time communication using WebSockets.
• CORS Middleware: Allowing cross-origin requests for testing.
• Dockerized: Easily deployable using Docker.

Requirements

• Python 3.10
• Docker (for containerized deployment)
• ngrok (for tunneling)
• Twilio Account

Installation

1. Set up a virtual environment (optional but recommended):

   python -m venv venv
   source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows, use `venv\Scripts\activate`
   

2. Install dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt
   

3. Create .env: create .env based on env.example

4. Install ngrok: Follow the instructions on the ngrok website to download and install ngrok.

Configure Twilio URLs

1. Start ngrok: In a new terminal, start ngrok to tunnel the local server:

   ngrok http 8765
   

2. Update the Twilio Webhook: Copy the ngrok URL and update your Twilio phone number webhook URL to http://<ngrok_url>/.

3. Update streams.xml: Copy the ngrok URL and update templates/streams.xml with wss://<ngrok_url>/ws.

Running the Application

Using Python

1. Run the FastAPI application:

   python server.py
   

Using Docker

1. Build the Docker image:

   docker build -t twilio-chatbot .
   

2. Run the Docker container:

   docker run -it --rm -p 8765:8765 twilio-chatbot
   

Usage

To start a call, simply make a call to your Twilio phone number. The webhook URL will direct the call to your FastAPI application, which will handle it accordingly.