AIML Chatbot

An OVOS question solver plugin that answers with an AIML chatbot. It uses the Alice chatbot brain to hold open-ended conversation. It answers utterances that no other skill or solver handles, so most utterances get some response.

Examples

• "Do you like ice cream"
• "Do you like dogs"
• "I have a jump rope"

Install

pip install ovos-solver-aiml-plugin

Usage

from ovos_solver_aiml_plugin import AIMLChatEngine
from ovos_plugin_manager.templates.agents import AgentMessage, MessageRole

engine = AIMLChatEngine({"lang": "en-us"})
reply = engine.continue_chat([AgentMessage(role=MessageRole.USER, content="hello")])
print(reply.content)
# Hi there!

Language support

The bundled AIML brain is English. Brain files live under ovos_solver_aiml_plugin/aiml_data/<lang>/ (bundled) or ~/.local/share/aiml/<lang>/ (user-supplied).

Opt-in query translation (enable_tx)

Set enable_tx: true in the plugin config to answer non-English queries. The plugin translates the user utterance into the brain language (English), answers it, then translates the answer back.

This is off by default, so a plain install needs no translate plugin and English deployments pay no extra cost.

{
  "ovos-solver-aiml-plugin": {
    "lang": "pt-pt",
    "enable_tx": true,
    "translate_plugin": "ovos-translate-plugin-server"
  }
}

The plugin loads the translator lazily, on the first non-English turn. If the translator fails to load, or a translation fails, the plugin answers in the original text instead of raising an error.

Translator plugin note: translation agents tend to be instantiated repeatedly, so a local model-based translate plugin pays its full model-load cost each time. Use a remote translate service, such as ovos-translate-plugin-server.

Converter scripts

The bundled aiml_data/<lang>/*.aiml files are the brain. The helper scripts in scripts/ are an optional convenience for authoring or inspecting content in OVOS notation. They are not part of the runtime and not wired into CI:

• brain_to_locale.py: exports the cleanly-mappable subset of an AIML or RiveScript brain to paired .intent / .dialog files ({query} slot for wildcards).
• locale_to_brain.py: the reverse. It regenerates a brain from such files.

The conversion is deliberately partial. Entries that rely on constructs with no direct OVOS equivalent (<srai>, <condition>, <star>, topic state, and so on) are skipped, and exports never emit residual <…> markup. See docs/converters.md.

Related projects

• OpenVoiceOS/ovos-plugin-manager: loads this plugin through the opm.agents.chat entry point.
• OpenVoiceOS/ovos-translate-plugin-server: recommended remote translate plugin for enable_tx.

License

Apache License 2.0