Handle an incoming message
Note:
Before you can get started, you need the following already set up:
- Set all Conversation API configuration settings.
- JDK 8 or later and a familiarity with how to create a new Java application.
- Gradle and a familiarity with how use the Gradle build tools.
- ngrok. You'll use ngrok to open a tunnel to your local server.
Using the Conversation API, you can receive and respond to messages from any channel you have configured. This tutorial shows you how to set up a Java application that receives and responds to messages using the Java SDK.
Note:
This tutorial is easier to accomplish if you have already completed the steps for Sending a message.
Set up your Java application
- Create a new folder where you want your application project, then open a command prompt to that location.
- Create a new Java application using Gradle with the following command:In the prompts, select that you want to create an application, name your project and source package
gradle init
app
, and then accept the defaults for the rest of the options.
Add the Sinch Java SDK and other dependencies
- In your project folder, navigate to the
/app
folder and open thebuild.gradle
file. - Replace all of the code in the file with the following code:
plugins { id 'application' id 'org.springframework.boot' version '2.5.5' id 'io.spring.dependency-management' version '1.0.11.RELEASE' id 'java' } configurations { compileOnly { extendsFrom annotationProcessor } } repositories { mavenCentral() } dependencies { implementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-web' implementation 'com.sinch.sdk:java-sdk:+' compileOnly 'org.projectlombok:lombok' annotationProcessor 'org.projectlombok:lombok' testImplementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-test' } application { mainClass = 'app.App' }
This adds the Sinch Java SDK, Spring, and Lombok to your project. You will use Spring to listen to incoming HTTP requests. Lombok is used to deserialize requests.
- Save and close the file.
Modify your application
- Open the
App.java
file in your project folder, located in\app\scr\main\java\app
. Populate that file with the "App.java" code found on this page and save the file. This code starts a server that listens for incoming messages. It then sends a text message in response.Note:
This sample application is configured for the US Region. If your Conversation API app wasn't created in the US region, you must change theRegion.US
parameter toRegion.EU
.
- Assign your values to the following parameters:
Parameter | Your value |
---|---|
ACCESS_KEY | Find your access key on your Sinch dashboard. |
ACCESS_SECRET | Find your access secret on your Sinch dashboard. Note: Access secrets are only available during initial key creation. |
- Save the file.
Start your web server and set up a tunnel
- In your project directory, start the server by executing the following command:
gradle run
By default, your web server is started on port 8080.
- Now you need to open a tunnel to the server you just set up. We are using ngrok for this. If you don't have ngrok installed already, install it with the following command:
npm install ngrok -g
- Open a terminal or command prompt and enter:
ngrok http 8080
- Copy the HTTPS address that ends with .ngrok.io.
Configure your webhook
For your application to receive messages from Conversation API, you must configure a webhook in your Conversation API app. For detailed instructions on configuring a webhook, click here.- Set your webhook URL to the HTTP address you copied in the previous step.
- Assign the following triggers:
CONVERSATION_START
CONVERSATION_STOP
EVENT_DELIVERY
EVENT_INBOUND
MESSAGE_DELIVERY
MESSAGE_INBOUND
UNSUPPORTED
Test the application
Now that your server is running and your webhook is configured, you can test the application.
From your messaging platform, send your Conversation API app a message. You will receive a message back in response on the messaging platform.
Additional resources
Read the links below to learn more: