GitHub PR Reviews via Fax

What I built

An integration that allows reviewing and commenting on a GitHub Pull Request via Fax

Category Submission:

COVID-19 Communications, Interesting Integrations, Exciting X-Factors

Demo Link

Link to Code

amykapernick / github_fax_pr

GitHub Fax PR Reviews

And integration to allow reviewing and commenting on pull requests via fax.

Demo

https://vimeo.com/413450595

Requirements

• Must have a Twilio Account, and a fax capable phone number (instructions available as part of fax quickstart)
• Must have a Microsoft Cognitive Services Computer Vision resource set up (can be done as part of the Azure free tier)
• Must have a semi recent version of Node installed (built on v13.9.0)
• Must have a GitHub account and at least one repository

To Use

• Download repository
• Run npm install or yarn install
• Run cp .env.example .env to create new .env file
• Fill in env variables in .env file from your Twilio account
• Use npm start to run locally
• Use ngrok to expose the page
• In your Twilio Console, edit the fax capable number you're using to send
  • Change it to Accept Incoming Faxes (will likely be Voice Calls by default)
  • …

View on GitHub

How I built it (what's the stack? did I run into issues or discover something new along the way?)

Built on Express using Node JS, using the Twilio Fax API, Microsoft's Cognitive Services Computer Vision API and GitHub's API

When a pull request is opened on GitHub, it triggers a webhook to fire. That webhook generates a PDF with information about the PR and sends it via fax.

Comments can be written on the fax, and faxed back, which when received, sends the fax PDF to Microsoft's Cognitive Services Computer Vision to read the text in the PDF. Using the information taken from the fax, a comment is added to the pull request on GitHub.

Additional Resources/Info

Built on Twitch stream over a few different sessions
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/604972244
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/605863096
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/606613991

Live Demo also available on request (not hosted, running locally on my computer, but can be set up to demo)