BotFramework-WebChat: role property is not set for messages sent by bot

Description (Actual behavior)

I noticed that in the the Web Chat channel

the role property is not set in from for messages sent by the bot
the role is set correct for messages sent by the user however

This applies both to

the embed WebChat from the Azure Portal, hosted at https://webchat.botframework.com/embed/<botId>?s=<secret>
self-hosted webchat using the Full Bundle example from the WebChat readme

Therefore, I cannot search for message sent by the bot by filtering

by type == "message" AND
by role == "bot"

(since role = bot is not set, zero messages are found)

The bot emulator correctly fills the role property though.

Expected behaviour

When a user has a conversation with the bot, I can get messages sent by the bot by filtering

by type == "message" AND
by role == "bot"

Workaround

To get bot messages: filter activities in the webchat

by type == "message" AND
by role != "user"

Related PRs

About this issue

Original URL
State: closed
Created 5 years ago
Comments: 18 (10 by maintainers)

Most upvoted comments

Just taking a look at the ConsoleTranscriptLogger, you are correct. The from attribute in Activities sent by the bot are being set properly when client is the emulator but not WebChat. Take a look at the screenshots below.

adapter.use(new TranscriptLoggerMiddleware(new ConsoleTranscriptLogger()));

Emulator Untitled

WebChat Untitled1

I think it’s worth noting that the TranscriptLoggerMiddleware sets the role for Activities sent by the user if it is missing.

https://github.com/Microsoft/botbuilder-dotnet/blob/a5ba0c40aa962188ce52a8a152af1128dcfa7aa1/libraries/Microsoft.Bot.Builder/TranscriptLoggerMiddleware.cs#L55

tdurnford on Apr 19, 2019