Building a Task Update Bot with Dialogflow ES in Record Time! 🚀

Building a Task Update Bot with Dialogflow ES in Record Time! 🚀

Recently, I had the opportunity to dive into Dialogflow ES and build a guided conversation bot that updates task progress—all within a few hours! Here’s a breakdown of the process:

🎯 Objective

The goal was to enable task progress updates directly from the chatbot, with the bot guiding users through the required details and handling backend updates seamlessly.

💡 Key Inputs

To make the bot work effectively, I set it up to capture five critical inputs from the user before triggering the backend:

1. Task ID – Identifies the specific task to update.

2. Task Update – The new status or progress description for the task.

3. Task Effort – Estimated or actual time spent on the task.

4. Username – To verify user identity.

5. Password – For secure authentication.

🔄 Guided Conversation

Using Dialogflow ES, I crafted a guided flow to prompt users for these inputs in a specific order.

🔗 Webhook Integration

Once all inputs are provided, the bot triggers a webhook, where the real magic happens! I wrote a Python script for the webhook that:

• Authenticates using the username and password.

• Updates the backend with the task ID, task update, and effort.

🚀 Key Takeaways

Dialogflow ES made it easy to deploy a functional bot rapidly, and the API/webhook integration allowed for powerful backend interactions.

Excited to share this journey and looking forward to exploring more with Dialogflow!

What is Dialogflow?

Dialogflow is a tool that helps you create chatbots or virtual assistants.

How i build this bot

I started by creating an intent called task_progress_update_intent to handle task updates. Next, I defined the necessary entities: task ID, task update, effort, username, and password. The bot was designed to ensure that users provided all these details before proceeding. Once these inputs were validated, the bot triggered a Python script via a web hook to update the task on the backend. Finally, I integrated the webhook into the fulfilment settings, and just like that, my bot was ready to go!

Screenshots of how it works

1.This is how my intent training phrases looks like

2.I have defined entities which are required

3.You can try and test your bot directly on right side of dialogflow console it contains of what user says is what you enter in try it now field and response which is the response of bot

User enter can you update task AB-03437 here AB-03437 is task id

4.After that user need to enter task update

5.After that user need to enter task effort in no of hours

6.After that user need to enter username & after that password

7.After that if task is updated bot gives response that task xyz updated successfully

8.Below is Screenshot of Task Updated in Backend

What Next 

Things We can try for Task Management and Updates

• Task Progress Tracking: Allow users to check the status of their tasks (e.g., "What is the status of Task ID 123?").

• Deadline Reminders: Send reminders for approaching deadlines.

• Priority Sorting: Suggest prioritisation of tasks based on deadlines or importance.

• Task Updates: Enable users to update task status or effort using simple commands (e.g., "Mark Task ID 123 as completed").

• Summarise Task Progress: When user types can you summarize task id 123 it gives summary of task progress

• Quick Tips: Share daily productivity tips or best practices.

Written by - Mohit Yadav

Designation - Software Development Engineer