adk

# Botpress ADK Guidelines

Use this skill when you've got questions about the Botpress Agent Development Kit (ADK) - like when you're building a feature that involves tables, actions, tools, workflows, conversations, files, knowledge bases, triggers, or Zai.

## What is the ADK?

The Botpress ADK is a **convention-based TypeScript framework** where **file structure maps directly to bot behavior**. Place files in the correct directories, and they automatically become available as bot capabilities.

The ADK provides primitives for:

- Actions & Tools (reusable functions and AI-callable tools)
- Workflows (long-running, resumable processes)
- Conversations (message handling)
- Tables (data storage with semantic search)
- Files (file storage with semantic search)
- Knowledge Bases (RAG implementation)
- Triggers (event-driven automation)
- **Zai** (production-ready LLM utility library for common AI operations)

### Project Structure (Convention-Based)

All primitives must be placed in `src/` directory:

```
/                      # Project root
├── src/
│   ├── actions/       # Strongly-typed functions → auto-registered
│   ├── tools/         # AI-callable tools → available via execute()
│   ├── workflows/     # Long-running processes → resumable/scheduled
│   ├── conversations/ # Message handlers → routes by channel
│   ├── tables/        # Database schemas → auto-created with search
│   ├── triggers/      # Event handlers → subscribe to events
│   ├── knowledge/     # Knowledge bases → RAG with semantic search
│   └── utils/         # Shared helpers (not auto-registered)
└── agent.config.ts    # Bot configuration (includes integrations)
```

> **Note:** `dependencies.json` was removed in ADK 1.9+. All configuration including integrations now lives in `agent.config.ts`.

> **Critical:** Files outside `src/` are not discovered. Location = behavior.

## When to Use This Skill

Activate this skill when users ask ADK-related questions like:

- "How do I create an Action/Tool/Workflow/Conversation?"
- "What is the difference between X and Y?"
- "Show me an example of..."
- "How do I configure...?"
- "What's the CLI command for...?"
- "How do I use the Context API?"
- "How do I call integration actions?"
- "How do I use Zai for [extract/check/label/etc]?"
- "What are the best practices for...?"
- "How do I avoid common mistakes?"
- "How do I handle ticket assignment/escalation?"

## How to Answer ADK Questions

ADK questions fall into two categories: **CLI queries** and **documentation lookups**.

### Option 1: Direct CLI Commands (FAST - Use First!)

For integration discovery and CLI queries, use the Bash tool to run commands directly:

**Integration Discovery:**

```bash
# Search for integrations
adk search <query>

# List all available integrations
adk list --available

# Get detailed integration info (actions, channels, events)
adk info <integration-name>

# Check installed integrations (must be in ADK project)
adk list
```

**Project Info:**

```bash
# Check CLI version
adk --version

# Show project status
adk

# Get help
adk --help
```

**When to use CLI commands:**

- "What integrations are available?"
- "Search for Slack integration"
- "Show me details about the Linear integration"
- "What actions does the Slack integration have?"
- "What version of ADK am I using?"
- "How do I add an integration?"

**Response pattern:**

1. Use Bash tool to run the appropriate `adk` command
2. Parse and present the output to the user
3. Optionally suggest next steps (e.g., "Run `adk add slack@3.0.0` to install")

### Option 2: Documentation Questions (For Conceptual Questions)

For documentation, patterns, and how-to questions, search and reference the documentation files directly:

**When to use documentation:**

- "How do I create a workflow?"
- "What's the difference between Actions and Tools?"
- "Show me an example of using Zai"
- "What are best practices for state management?"
- "How do I fix this error?"
- "What's the pattern for X?"

**How to answer documentation questions:**

1. **Find relevant files** - Use Glob to discover documentation:

   ```
   pattern: **/references/*.md
   ```

2. **Search for keywords** - Use Grep to find relevant content:

   ```
   pattern: <keyword from user question>
   path: <path to references directory from step 1>
   output_mode: files_with_matches
   ```

3. **Read the files** - Use Read to load relevant documentation

4. **Provide answer** with:
   - Concise explanation
   - Code examples from the references
   - File references with line numbers (e.g., "From references/actions.md:215")
   - Common pitfalls if relevant
   - Related topics for further reading

## Available Documentation

Documentation should be located in `./references/` directory relative to this skill. When answering questions, search for these topics:

### Core Concepts

- **actions.md** - Actions with strong typing and validation
- **tools.md** - AI-callable tools and Autonomous namespace
- **workflows.md** - Workflows and step-based execution
- **conversations.md** - Conversation handlers and message routing
- **triggers.md** - Event-driven automation
- **messages.md** - Sending messages and events

### Data & Content

- **tables.md** - Data storage with semantic search
- **files.md** - File storage and management
- **knowledge-bases.md** - RAG implementation
- **zai-complete-guide.md** - Complete ZAI developer guide
- **zai-agent-reference.md** - Quick ZAI reference

### Configuration & Integration

- **agent-config.md** - Bot configuration and state management
- **model-configuration.md** - AI model configuration reference
- **context-api.md** - Runtime context access
- **integration-actions.md** - Using integration actions
- **tags.md** - Entity tags for bot, user, conversation, and workflow
- **cli.md** - Complete CLI command reference
- **mcp-server.md** - MCP server for AI assistants

### Frontend Integration

- **frontend/botpress-client.md** - Using @botpress/client in frontends
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