Customizing =========== The bot's working directory contains a :file:`commands` subdirectory and a :file:`tasks` subdirectory. Custom IRC commands can be placed in the former, whereas custom wiki bot tasks go into the latter. Developing custom modules is explained in detail in this documentation. Note that custom commands will override built-in commands and tasks with the same name. :py:class:`~earwigbot.bot.Bot` and :py:class:`~earwigbot.bot.BotConfig` ----------------------------------------------------------------------- :py:class:`earwigbot.bot.Bot` is EarwigBot's main class. You don't have to instantiate this yourself, but it's good to be familiar with its attributes and methods, because it is the main way to communicate with other parts of the bot. A :py:class:`~earwigbot.bot.Bot` object is accessible as an attribute of commands and tasks (i.e., :py:attr:`self.bot`). The most useful attributes are: - :py:attr:`~earwigbot.bot.Bot.config`: an instance of :py:class:`~earwigbot.config.BotConfig`, for accessing the bot's configuration data (see below). - :py:attr:`~earwigbot.bot.Bot.commands`: the bot's :py:class:`~earwigbot.managers.CommandManager`, which is used internally to run IRC commands (through :py:meth:`commands.call() `, which you shouldn't have to use); you can safely reload all commands with :py:meth:`commands.load() `. - :py:attr:`~earwigbot.bot.Bot.tasks`: the bot's :py:class:`~earwigbot.managers.TaskManager`, which can be used to start tasks with :py:meth:`tasks.start(task_name, **kwargs) `. :py:meth:`tasks.load() ` can be used to safely reload all tasks. - :py:attr:`~earwigbot.bot.Bot.frontend` / :py:attr:`~earwigbot.bot.Bot.watcher`: instances of :py:class:`earwigbot.irc.Frontend ` and :py:class:`earwigbot.irc.Watcher `, respectively, which represent the bot's connections to these two servers; you can, for example, send a message to the frontend with :py:meth:`frontend.say(chan, msg) ` (more on communicating with IRC below). - :py:attr:`~earwigbot.bot.Bot.wiki`: interface with the :doc:`Wiki Toolset `. - Finally, :py:meth:`~earwigbot.bot.Bot.restart` (restarts IRC components and reloads config, commands, and tasks) and :py:meth:`~earwigbot.bot.Bot.stop` can be used almost anywhere. Both take an optional "reason" that will be logged and used as the quit message when disconnecting from IRC. :py:class:`earwigbot.config.BotConfig` stores configuration information for the bot. Its docstrings explains what each attribute is used for, but essentially each "node" (one of :py:attr:`config.components `, :py:attr:`~earwigbot.config.BotConfig.wiki`, :py:attr:`~earwigbot.config.BotConfig.irc`, :py:attr:`~earwigbot.config.BotConfig.commands`, :py:attr:`~earwigbot.config.BotConfig.tasks`, or :py:attr:`~earwigbot.config.BotConfig.metadata`) maps to a section of the bot's :file:`config.yml` file. For example, if :file:`config.yml` includes something like:: irc: frontend: nick: MyAwesomeBot channels: - "##earwigbot" - "#channel" - "#other-channel" ...then :py:attr:`config.irc["frontend"]["nick"]` will be ``"MyAwesomeBot"`` and :py:attr:`config.irc["frontend"]["channels"]` will be ``["##earwigbot", "#channel", "#other-channel"]``. Custom IRC commands ------------------- Custom commands are subclasses of :py:class:`earwigbot.commands.Command` that override :py:class:`~earwigbot.commands.Command`'s :py:meth:`~earwigbot.commands.Command.process` (and optionally :py:meth:`~earwigbot.commands.Command.check` or :py:meth:`~earwigbot.commands.Command.setup`) methods. :py:class:`~earwigbot.commands.Command`'s docstrings should explain what each attribute and method is for and what they should be overridden with, but these are the basics: - Class attribute :py:attr:`~earwigbot.commands.Command.name` is the name of the command. This must be specified. - Class attribute :py:attr:`~earwigbot.commands.Command.commands` is a list of names that will trigger this command. It defaults to the command's :py:attr:`~earwigbot.commands.Command.name`, but you can override it with multiple names to serve as aliases. This is handled by the default :py:meth:`~earwigbot.commands.Command.check` implementation (see below), so if :py:meth:`~earwigbot.commands.Command.check` is overridden, this is ignored by everything except the help_ command (so ``!help alias`` will trigger help for the actual command). - Class attribute :py:attr:`~earwigbot.commands.Command.hooks` is a list of the "IRC events" that this command might respond to. It defaults to ``["msg"]``, but options include ``"msg_private"`` (for private messages only), ``"msg_public"`` (for channel messages only), ``"join"`` (for when a user joins a channel), ``"part"`` (for when a user parts a channel), and ``"rc"`` (for recent change messages from the IRC watcher). See the afc_status_ plugin for a command that responds to other hook types. - Method :py:meth:`~earwigbot.commands.Command.setup` is called *once* with no arguments immediately after the command is first loaded. Does nothing by default; treat it like an :py:meth:`__init__` if you want (:py:meth:`~earwigbot.tasks.Command.__init__` does things by default and a dedicated setup method is often easier than overriding :py:meth:`~earwigbot.tasks.Command.__init__` and using :py:obj:`super`). - Method :py:meth:`~earwigbot.commands.Command.check` is passed a :py:class:`~earwigbot.irc.data.Data` object, and should return ``True`` if you want to respond to this message, or ``False`` otherwise. The default behavior is to return ``True`` only if :py:attr:`data.is_command` is ``True`` and :py:attr:`data.command` ``==`` :py:attr:`~earwigbot.commands.Command.name` (or :py:attr:`data.command ` is in :py:attr:`~earwigbot.commands.Command.commands` if that list is overriden; see above), which is suitable for most cases. A possible reason for overriding is if you want to do something in response to events from a specific channel only. Note that by returning ``True``, you prevent any other commands from responding to this message. - Method :py:meth:`~earwigbot.commands.Command.process` is passed the same :py:class:`~earwigbot.irc.data.Data` object as :py:meth:`~earwigbot.commands.Command.check`, but only if :py:meth:`~earwigbot.commands.Command.check` returned ``True``. This is where the bulk of your command goes. To respond to IRC messages, there are a number of methods of :py:class:`~earwigbot.commands.Command` at your disposal. See the test_ command for a simple example, or look in :py:class:`~earwigbot.commands.Command`'s :py:meth:`~earwigbot.commands.Command.__init__` method for the full list. The most common ones are :py:meth:`say(chan_or_user, msg) `, :py:meth:`reply(data, msg) ` (convenience function; sends a reply to the issuer of the command in the channel it was received), :py:meth:`action(chan_or_user, msg) `, :py:meth:`notice(chan_or_user, msg) `, :py:meth:`join(chan) `, and :py:meth:`part(chan) `. Commands have access to :py:attr:`config.commands[command_name]` for config information, which is a node in :file:`config.yml` like every other attribute of :py:attr:`bot.config`. This can be used to store, for example, API keys or SQL connection info, so that these can be easily changed without modifying the command itself. The command *class* doesn't need a specific name, but it should logically follow the command's name. The filename doesn't matter, but it is recommended to match the command name for readability. Multiple command classes are allowed in one file. The bot has a wide selection of built-in commands and plugins to act as sample code and/or to give ideas. Start with test_, and then check out chanops_ and afc_status_ for some more complicated scripts. Custom bot tasks ---------------- Custom tasks are subclasses of :py:class:`earwigbot.tasks.Task` that override :py:class:`~earwigbot.tasks.Task`'s :py:meth:`~earwigbot.tasks.Task.run` (and optionally :py:meth:`~earwigbot.tasks.Task.setup`) methods. :py:class:`~earwigbot.tasks.Task`'s docstrings should explain what each attribute and method is for and what they should be overridden with, but these are the basics: - Class attribute :py:attr:`~earwigbot.tasks.Task.name` is the name of the task. This must be specified. - Class attribute :py:attr:`~earwigbot.tasks.Task.number` can be used to store an optional "task number", possibly for use in edit summaries (to be generated with :py:meth:`~earwigbot.tasks.Task.make_summary`). For example, EarwigBot's :py:attr:`config.wiki["summary"]` is ``"([[WP:BOT|Bot]]; [[User:EarwigBot#Task $1|Task $1]]): $2"``, which the task class's :py:meth:`make_summary(comment) ` method will take and replace ``$1`` with the task number and ``$2`` with the details of the edit. Additionally, :py:meth:`~earwigbot.tasks.Task.shutoff_enabled` (which checks whether the bot has been told to stop on-wiki by checking the content of a particular page) can check a different page for each task using similar variables. EarwigBot's :py:attr:`config.wiki["shutoff"]["page"]` is ``"User:$1/Shutoff/Task $2"``; ``$1`` is substituted with the bot's username, and ``$2`` is substituted with the task number, so, e.g., task #14 checks the page ``[[User:EarwigBot/Shutoff/Task 14]].`` If the page's content does *not* match :py:attr:`config.wiki["shutoff"]["disabled"]` (``"run"`` by default), then shutoff is considered to be *enabled* and :py:meth:`~earwigbot.tasks.Task.shutoff_enabled` will return ``True``, indicating the task should not run. If you don't intend to use either of these methods, feel free to leave this attribute blank. - Method :py:meth:`~earwigbot.tasks.Task.setup` is called *once* with no arguments immediately after the task is first loaded. Does nothing by default; treat it like an :py:meth:`__init__` if you want (:py:meth:`~earwigbot.tasks.Task.__init__` does things by default and a dedicated setup method is often easier than overriding :py:meth:`~earwigbot.tasks.Task.__init__` and using :py:obj:`super`). - Method :py:meth:`~earwigbot.tasks.Task.run` is called with any number of keyword arguments every time the task is executed (by :py:meth:`tasks.start(task_name, **kwargs) `, usually). This is where the bulk of the task's code goes. For interfacing with MediaWiki sites, read up on the :doc:`Wiki Toolset `. Tasks have access to :py:attr:`config.tasks[task_name]` for config information, which is a node in :file:`config.yml` like every other attribute of :py:attr:`bot.config`. This can be used to store, for example, edit summaries or templates to append to user talk pages, so that these can be easily changed without modifying the task itself. The task *class* doesn't need a specific name, but it should logically follow the task's name. The filename doesn't matter, but it is recommended to match the task name for readability. Multiple tasks classes are allowed in one file. See the built-in wikiproject_tagger_ task for a relatively straightforward task, or the afc_statistics_ plugin for a more complicated one. .. _help: https://github.com/earwig/earwigbot/blob/develop/earwigbot/commands/help.py .. _afc_status: https://github.com/earwig/earwigbot-plugins/blob/develop/commands/afc_status.py .. _test: https://github.com/earwig/earwigbot/blob/develop/earwigbot/commands/test.py .. _chanops: https://github.com/earwig/earwigbot/blob/develop/earwigbot/commands/chanops.py .. _wikiproject_tagger: https://github.com/earwig/earwigbot/blob/develop/earwigbot/tasks/wikiproject_tagger.py .. _afc_statistics: https://github.com/earwig/earwigbot-plugins/blob/develop/tasks/afc_statistics.py