BotBrainstorm [FreeBSD WIKI]

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====== VimDiesel -- the (experimental) official FreeBSD IRC helper bot ======

This document is WIP.

===== Commands and actions =====

  * **!ask** -- reply with "Please don't ask to ask a question, simply ask the question, all on one line and in the channel so that others can read and follow up easily."
  * **!paste** -- reply with "For posting multi-line texts in the channel, please use https://dpaste.org"
    * install a pastebin on bsdlabs.io
    * integrate the pastebin with a callback URL post in a channel (first enumerate security issues and why that's a bad idea)
  * **!bug %%<%%number>** -- reply with a summarized link to bugzilla, eg:   "Issue %%<%%number>: https://bugs.freebsd.org/12345 -- %%<%%summary>"
    * or even better multiline response: 1. Link + title, 2. summary
    * vary on "bug" and "issue" trigger keywords
    * add autoparse-autopost capability in **#freebsd-bugs**, so whenever someone mentions "issue 12345" the bot would respond as if "!issue 12345" was called
  * **!portsmon %%<%%name>** -- give a link to portsmon, variants:
    * portsmon %%<%%name>
    * portsmon %%<%%category>/%%<%%name>
  * **!latest** -- reply with latest supported versions, eg. "Latest %%FreeBSD%% versions are 11.0-p1, 10.3-p9 and 9.3-p47"
    * Find a way to parse these automagically, from svn or something
  * **!faq %%<%%topic>** -- the FAQ command would summarize and link some frequently asked topics, for instance:
    * !faq graphics -> link to the %%FreeBSD%% graphics stack wiki
  * **!pkg %%<%%package>** -- show some quick info about a package
    * with link to freshports?
  * **!man %%<%%manpage>(%%<%%category>)** -- link to the manpage for given item, ideally parse out the title from the manpage and give something like "%%<%%title>: %%<%%link>"
  * **!news** -- list latest news via %%FreeBSD%% news RSS
  * **!ops** -- a way to summon the chanops, eg. in case of troll invasion

Ideally, many of those commands would have a way to direct the answer to a user. For example:

  * **!faq graphics | blackflow** -- this would prefix the output with "blackflow: " so the user is highlighted
  * **!faq graphics > blackflow** -- this would cause the bot to PM blackflow with that output, and in the channel it would say something like "blackflow: I just PM'd you with info"

===== Periodics and automatic behavior =====

1. Post quick links to various items of interest:

  * In **#freebsd-bugs** post latest newly submitted bugs, link to and summary
  * In **#freebsd-security** post latest newly submitted security bugs (keyword: security, TODO: Component: Security of Product: Ports&Packages)
  * In all channels, post major news only

2. Message parsing and auto-reply (plugin: %%MessageParser%%)

  * In **#freebsd-bugs** the bot listens to any appearance of //bug (\d+)// or //issue (\d+)// patterns and then posts a link to Bugzilla with parsed issue number.

===== Pre-beta testing TODO =====

  * Security audit, make sure the bot is read-only except to authenticated users
    * Some plugins are open for anyone like Alias and Factoids
    * One solution is to set anti-capabilities per channel
    * Another (find out how) is to remove all such default capabilities from users
  * Decide if **channel-specific factoids** are sufficient for **!faq** or find another solution if we want those to be available to all the channels