The latest articles on DEV Community by Anthony Sands (javadoc) (@sands_44). https://dev.to/sands_44 https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F1623990%2Fa4f548ee-c019-4da3-a12c-bd8d50d8ebd4.png https://dev.to/sands_44 en Anthony Sands (javadoc) Sun, 23 Jun 2024 23:15:07 +0000 https://dev.to/sands_44/building-bellyfull-a-meal-suggestion-bot-to-help-satisfy-your-cravings-2oii https://dev.to/sands_44/building-bellyfull-a-meal-suggestion-bot-to-help-satisfy-your-cravings-2oii <p><em>This is a submission for the <a href="https://dev.to/challenges/twilio">Twilio Challenge </a></em></p> <h2> What I Built </h2> <p>Ever had a craving for a particular meal, but had no idea where to find it or who sells it at a reasonable price?</p> <p>Where I'm from, it's easy to find meals such as pizza, or maybe a burger and french fries, but harder to find which restaurant serves a great T-Bone steak. </p> <p>To help to solve this issue, I created BellyFull, a simple AI powered chatbot that recommends meals from restaurants around the island of Nassau, Bahamas based off a user's input, using the <code>WhatsApp Sandbox mode</code> in <code>Twilio Programmable Messaging</code> along with the <code>Gemini AI API</code>.</p> <h3> Technologies/Frameworks used </h3> <ul> <li><p><strong>Twilio Programmable Messaging</strong> along with a <strong>Whatsapp Sandbox</strong> serves as the communication medium for the end user and chatbot.</p></li> <li><p><strong>Gemini</strong> is used to parse through restaurant menus to find meals, as well as maintain the state of the user/chatbot conversation.</p></li> <li><p><strong>Express.js</strong> serves the Twilio webhook that's triggered when a user sends a message to the chatbot.</p></li> <li><p><strong>Supabase</strong> is used to store restaurant information, menus, location and addresses.</p></li> <li><p><strong>Vercel</strong> is used to host the chatbot</p></li> </ul> <h2> Demo </h2> <h3> Here's a video of how it works </h3> <p><iframe width="710" height="399" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Wa-bLQT-lXo"> </iframe> </p> <h2> How to try it out </h2> <p>You can either whatsapp the number <code>+14155238886</code> with the message <code>join-something-season</code> or scan the QR code below to get started.</p> <p><a href="https://media.dev.to/cdn-cgi/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fhah3fyqjei1m3sv08o0l.png" class="article-body-image-wrapper"><img src="https://media.dev.to/cdn-cgi/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fhah3fyqjei1m3sv08o0l.png" alt="instructions" width="800" height="312"></a></p> <p>Once you're connected, start typing to start the conversation.</p> <p>When you're finished, type "stop" to disconnect from the sandbox.</p> <h2> Twilio and AI </h2> <p>Twilio makes it very easy to create interactive experiences through various messaging platforms. With the help of Gemini AI, I was able to create a product that can create dynamic responses on the fly, based off of a user input. Instead of having to craft specific conditional statements to answer end users, I was able to structure a prompt and let generative AI handle the rest!</p> <h2> Additional Prize Categories </h2> <p>I don't feel as if this submission meets any of the additional categories. I'd nonetheless be honoured if nominated for any of the other prizes.</p> devchallenge twiliochallenge ai twilio