Actions

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

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Glossary

Actions

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

Utterance actions: start with utter_ and send a specific message to the user.
Retrieval actions: start with respond_ and send a message selected by a retrieval model.
Custom actions: run arbitrary code and send any number of messages (or none).
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!"

It is conventional to start the name of an utterance action with utter_. If this prefix is missing, you can still use the response in your custom actions, but the response cannot be directly predicted as its own action.

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.

To specify your action server use the endpoints.yml:

action_endpoint:
  url: "http://localhost:5055/webhook"

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.
`action_deactivate_form`	Deactivate the active form and reset the requested slot.
`action_revert_fallback_events`	Revert events that occurred during the TwoStageFallbackPolicy.
`action_default_ask_affirmation`	Ask the user to affirm their intent.
`action_default_ask_rephrase`	Ask the user to rephrase their intent.
`action_back`	Undo the last user message. Can be triggered during a conversation by entering `/back`.

All the default actions can be overridden. To do so, add the action name to the list of actions in your domain:

actions:
- action_default_ask_affirmation