hackbot

A customizable Facebook Group embetterment robot.

Installation/Usage

You'll need to set a few configuration options before using the hackbot in config.json. Add your Facebook Group ID, the refresh rate in milliseconds, and the IDs of the group's moderators to the configuration file.

To generate an access token, open up the Facebook Graph API Explorer and make sure you're using a custom application. Click "Get Access Token" and make sure the user_groups and publish_actions permissions are ticked. Click the blue "Get Access Token" in the modal. Copy the short-lived access token and navigate in your browser to the following URL:

https://graph.facebook.com/oauth/access_token?
    client_id=APP_ID&
    client_secret=APP_SECRET&
    grant_type=fb_exchange_token&
    fb_exchange_token=SHORT_LIVED_ACCESS_TOKEN

Replace APP_ID, APP_SECRET, and SHORT_LIVED_ACCESS_TOKEN with the proper values. Take the long-lived (60 day) access token and pass it as an environment variable. Then you should be good to go!

$ env ACCESS_TOKEN=[LONG_LIVED_ACCESS_TOKEN] npm start

Currently, there is no way to update the access token without restarting the hackbot.

Keep in mind that Facebook's user IDs are unique to each application, so you'll have to find some way of finding out moderator IDs using the Graph API.

Adding Filters

You can add feed filters under the lib/filters directory. An example closed thread filter is provided.

Filters are functions that receive an array of arrays of posts. Each item in the outer array represents a post/comment thread on the Facebook Group. Items of the inner arrays are Post objects, with their first items being the original post.

If you add a filter, make sure to add its exported function to the startRefreshing() call in the index file.

TODOs

Add more fun and useful filters.
Automatically update the access token through OAuth.
Remove the dependency on the fb package.
Create a simple administrative interface.
Implement a logging infrastructure for filters.
Allow for refreshing multiple groups.

Contributors

Made with ♥ and caffeine at MHacks V by Alex Kern and Eva Zheng.

License