Actions

These docs are for version 1.x of Rasa Open Source.

User Guide

NLU

Core

Conversation Design

API Reference

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Reference

Actions

Actions are the things your bot runs in response to user input. There are four kinds of actions in Rasa:

  1. Utterance actions: start with utter_ and send a specific message to the user.
  2. Retrieval actions: start with respond_ and send a message selected by a retrieval model.
  3. Custom actions: run arbitrary code and send any number of messages (or none).
  4. Default actions: e.g. action_listen, action_restart, action_default_fallback.

Utterance Actions

To define an utterance action (ActionUtterTemplate), add a response to the domain file that starts with utter_:

responses:
  utter_my_message:
    - "this is what I want my action to say!"

Retrieval Actions

Retrieval actions make it easier to work with a large number of similar intents like chitchat and FAQs.

Custom Actions

An action can run any code you want. Custom actions can turn on the lights, add an event to a calendar, check a user’s bank balance, or anything else you can imagine.

Default Actions

The available default actions are:

Action Description
action_listen Stop predicting more actions and wait for user input.
action_restart Reset the whole conversation. Can be triggered during a conversation by entering /restart.
action_session_start Start a new conversation session.
action_default_fallback Undo the last user message and utter a message that the bot did not understand.