subscriber api – Chatbot Dojo

How to update a subscriber with /fb/subscriber/updateSubscriber

ninjawarrior — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 15:20:57 +0000

The curl command as displayed on the ManyChat API Swagger is:

curl -X POST "https://api.manychat.com/fb/subscriber/updateSubscriber" -H "accept: application/json" -H "Authorization: Bearer 0" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d "{ \"subscriber_id\": 0, \"first_name\": \"string\", \"last_name\": \"string\", \"phone\": \"string\", \"email\": \"string\", \"gender\": \"string\", \"has_opt_in_sms\": true, \"has_opt_in_email\": true, \"consent_phrase\": \"string\"}"

If you use cUrl, you need to replace the 0’s in the command with the appropriate data: ManyChat API key and enter all the new contact information that you want to edit.

Let’s see how we can use this using PHP.

What is a good use case for this API?

In the previous topic we read about creating a user without going into Manychat or using a growth tool of any kind. This API allows you to also edit/update the contact information remotely. Very helpful if you use a platform or dashboard of your own, without having to go to Manychat each time when you need to make changes, or when your user/contact makes changes themselves in a profile page that you have in your platform.

In this topic we are going to change the name of the demo user, so we need a form and the userId. We will get that Id from our ManyChat contacts’ dashboard in this course, but in a “real case” you will obviously have that information stored in your own system.

The Form

Let’s have a closer look at the fields we can enter, we will create a form field for each first_name and subscriber_id, where subscriber Id normally is NOT an editable form field, but a static, or hidden value (you don’t want to rename users by mistake:-)).

{
  "subscriber_id": 0,
  "first_name": "string",
  "last_name": "string",
  "phone": "string",
  "email": "string",
  "gender": "string",
  "has_opt_in_sms": true,
  "has_opt_in_email": true,
  "consent_phrase": "string"
}

Let’s copy the form from the previous topic and make a small change, adding the contact Id:

Set Custom Field HTML Sample Page

Update a Contact

ManyChat User ID

First name

Last name

Phone

Opt-In SMS

Opt-In Email

Gender

Male

Female

Other

Consent Phrase

The Scripts

This is the default response on a successful request, is, as always:

{
  "status": "success"
}

If we look at the contact information in the ManyChat contact pop-up, we see these contact details. Let’s change something, like the email address.

We can enter the information, like this:

When we submit the form we get this result:

Looks like it worked, let’s double check in ManyChat’s contact window details!

The email address changed. So that worked out fine.

Let’s write down the scripts we used to make this work. First, the added method to the class.

    /**
     * 
     * @param type $contactDataFinal
     * @param type $mc_api
     * @return type
     */
    function subscriberUpdateSubscriber($contactDataFinal, $mc_api)
    {

        $ch            = curl_init();
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, "https://api.manychat.com/fb/subscriber/updateSubscriber");
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST, 'POST');
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $contactDataFinal . PHP_EOL);
        $headers       = [
            'Authorization: Bearer ' . preg_replace("/^(\w+\s+)/", "", $mc_api),
            'Content-Type: application/json',
            'Accept: application/json'
        ];
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, $headers);
        $server_output = curl_exec($ch);
        curl_close($ch);

        $json_obj  = json_decode($server_output);
        $good_call = $json_obj->status;

        return $json_obj;
    }

Now that we have the HTML and the Class model in a script, let’s show the final PHP file to process this API request.

subscriberUpdateSubscriber($contactDataFinal, $mc_api);

if ($subscriber_updated->status == "success") {
    echo "User has been added";
} else {
    $i = 0;
    foreach ($subscriber_updated->details->messages AS $key) {
        foreach ($key AS $message) {
            if (is_array($message)) {
                echo $message[$i] . "
";
                $i++;
            } else {
                echo $message . "
";
            }
        }
    }
}

Lines 15-17 will remove all the empty Array values so we only update what was entered in the form.

In line 20 we add an extra line of code to change "true" to true, otherwise the API won’t pick up on the boolean value IF changed here.

This wraps up ALL the available ManyChat API features that are available today. You are now capable of building ANYTHING you want. Restaurant portals, job application boards, cleaning service plans etcetera.

Congratulations!

How to create a subscriber with /fb/subscriber/createSubscriber

ninjawarrior — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 11:46:48 +0000

The curl command as displayed on the ManyChat API Swagger is:

curl -X POST "https://api.manychat.com/fb/subscriber/createSubscriber" -H "accept: application/json" -H "Authorization: Bearer 0" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d "{ \"first_name\": \"string\", \"last_name\": \"string\", \"phone\": \"string\", \"email\": \"string\", \"gender\": \"string\", \"has_opt_in_sms\": true, \"has_opt_in_email\": true, \"consent_phrase\": \"string\"}"

If you use cUrl, you need to replace the 0’s in the command with the appropriate data: ManyChat API key and enter all the new contact information that you want to add.

Let’s see how we can use this using PHP.

Why would you need this?

You don’t always want to add subscribers through your ManyChat bot. There are times, when you already have a list elsewhere and you just want to add contacts to your ManyChat contact list. This API is perfect for that and it is very easy to set up.

We will create an HTML form for this topic that we use to add a user. This is an option if you – form example – want to add users to the list when you do manual phone calls and add contacts as soon as they give you their info. In other cases, you may write a piece of code that loops through an existing list, liek a CSV file, and add them automatically.

The Form

Let’s have a closer look at the fields we can enter, we will create a form field for each entry.

{
  "first_name": "string",
  "last_name": "string",
  "phone": "string",
  "email": "string",
  "gender": "string",
  "has_opt_in_sms": true,
  "has_opt_in_email": true,
  "consent_phrase": "string"
}

Now we know what fields we can create, let’s make the simple form and wrap that in a bootstrap HTML page:

Set Custom Field HTML Sample Page

Create a new Contact

First name

Last name

Phone

Opt-In SMS

Yes

Opt-In Email

Yes

Gender

Male

Female

Other

Consent Phrase

The Scripts

This is the default response on a successful request, is, as always:

{
  "status": "success"
}

Now we have a form in a web page, let’s have a look and enter some dummy data:

When we submit the form and run a test (print the JSON result, instead of sending them to the Manychat API to see if the result look good), we get this result:

Looks great! Let’s add the full scripts to this topic.

First, the added model to the class.

    /**
     * 
     * @param type $contactDataFinal
     * @param type $mc_api
     * @return boolean
     */
    function subscriberCreateSubscriber($contactDataFinal, $mc_api)
    {

        $ch            = curl_init();
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, "https://api.manychat.com/fb/subscriber/createSubscriber");
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST, 'POST');
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $contactDataFinal . PHP_EOL);
        $headers       = [
            'Authorization: Bearer ' . preg_replace("/^(\w+\s+)/", "", $mc_api),
            'Content-Type: application/json',
            'Accept: application/json'
        ];
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, $headers);
        $server_output = curl_exec($ch);
        curl_close($ch);

        $json_obj  = json_decode($server_output);
        $good_call = $json_obj->status;
        
        return $json_obj;

    }

Now that we have the HTML and the Class model in a script, let’s show the final PHP file for this API

subscriberCreateSubscriber($contactDataFinal, $mc_api);

if ($subscriber_added->status == "success") {
    echo "User has been added";
} else {
    $i = 0;
    foreach ($subscriber_added->details->messages AS $key) {
        foreach ($key AS $message) {
            if (is_array($message)) {
                echo $message[$i] . "
";
                $i++;
            } else {
                echo $message . "
";
            }
        }
    }
}

In line 15 we add an extra line of code to change "true" to true, otherwise the API won’t pick up on the boolean value.

Now let’s submit the same data without the PHP ‘check’ and see if the user is added to our ManyChat account.

We actually got an error here: has_opt_in_sms is required if phone is not empty

Let’s check that checkbox and try again.

Now the result shows this

Let’s check this dummy user in ManyChat as well:

Look at that! Isn’t that great?! Here’s the whole contact card:

That’s it! Now you know how to add users to Manychat, without actually using ManyChat :-).

The next, and final API of this course is the updateSubscriber API, we’ll use the same dummy person to update the first name.

How to set a custom field by name with /fb/subscriber/setCustomFieldByName

ninjawarrior — Wed, 13 Jan 2021 16:12:12 +0000

The curl command as displayed on the ManyChat API Swagger is:

curl -X POST "https://api.manychat.com/fb/subscriber/setCustomFieldByName" -H "accept: application/json" -H "Authorization: Bearer 0" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d "{ \"subscriber_id\": 0, \"field_name\": \"string\", \"field_value\": \"'string', 123, true, '2018-07-18', '2018-07-02T00:00:00+00:00'\"}"

If you use cUrl, you need to replace the 0’s in the command with the appropriate data: ManyChat API key, subscriber ID, field_name (string) and field_value (‘string’, 123, true, ‘2018-07-18’, ‘2018-07-02T00:00:00+00:00’).

Why would you need this?

Well, I don’t like to repeat myself 3 times, and since this is part III in the “Set Custom Field”-series, I’ll go through this one rather quick.

I will however, emphasize that this method is not very reliable when it comes to setting/updating your custom fields. At first glance you’d think that using a custom field name is attractive because of the ease of use, since there’s no need to figure out what the ID of the field is. However, many programming languages do not accept FORM names with spaces or special characters and encode those names when submitting the form.

For example:

If the form field is submitted the name my special custom field will get exncoded in the following format my_special_custom_field. As you can see this is now not the same anymore. You can write a fix for such cases in your code, or choose to do the extra work by getting the custom field ID first and use that in the forms. It will save you a lot of hassle, believe me:-)

So, now that you know, and understand why the “looks” of this being easier, is not what it seems in reality, I’ll wrap this chapter up with the scripts that show how to use the Name, instead of the Id.

The Scripts

This is the default response on a successful request, is, as always:

{
  "status": "success"
}

We are going to split this up in 2 parts again:
1. We create a webpage with a list of all custom fields and their current values, with an option to change it by adding a value in the form field. We don’t make a difference in string, number, boolean, date or datetime in this section, but you can if you want to in your system;
2. We create a PHP file to process the data.

But First, as always, let’s add a new function to our class file in classes/manychat.class.php.

    /**
     * 
     * @param type $subscriber_id
     * @param type $field_name
     * @param type $field_value
     * @param type $mc_api
     * @return boolean
     */
    function subscriberSetCustomFieldByName($subscriber_id, $field_name, $field_value, $mc_api)
    {

        $postfields_arr = [
            'subscriber_id' => $subscriber_id,
            'field_name'    => $field_name,
            'field_value'   => $field_value
        ];

        $postfields = json_encode($postfields_arr, JSON_NUMERIC_CHECK);

        $ch            = curl_init();
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, "https://api.manychat.com/fb/subscriber/setCustomFieldByName");
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST, 'POST');
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $postfields . PHP_EOL);
        $headers       = [
            'Authorization: Bearer ' . preg_replace("/^(\w+\s+)/", "", $mc_api),
            'Content-Type: application/json',
            'Accept: application/json'
        ];
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, $headers);
        $server_output = curl_exec($ch);
        curl_close($ch);

        $json_obj  = json_decode($server_output);
        $good_call = $json_obj->status;

        if ($good_call == "success") {
            return true;
        } else {
            return false;
        }
    }

After we created the new function, we will create 2 new PHP files:

subscriber_setcustomfieldbyname_form.php
subscriber_setcustomfieldbyname.php

The First file is to get the collection for the specific user, each custom field with its own form text input field

Set Custom Field HTML Sample Page getSubscriberInfo($subscriber_id, $mc_api); $subscriber_cufs = $subscriber_info->custom_fields; ?>

Let's get all Custom Fields and assign a value to it manually. When you press the button, your custom field value for the subscriber will be updated.

If you run this page in your browser, you’ll see something similar to this again:

It’s a large list with all custom fields set to your current user ID. In the “real” world, you’d of course get this user ID from your own system instead of hard-coding it in the source code.

To change a custom field, just enter the new value in the form field and submit it by using the button. On the next page, you will get a confirmation of the changed custom user field.

The PHP script we use for processing the data, is as follows:

 $customfieldvalue) {
    if (!empty($customfieldvalue)) {
        echo "$customfield_name = $customfieldvalue 
";
        $subscriber_setcustomfield = $mc->subscriberSetCustomFieldByName($subscriber_id, $customfield_name, $customfieldvalue, $mc_api);
        if ($subscriber_setcustomfield) {
            $i++;
        }
    }
}

if ($i == 1) {
    echo "$i custom field has been updated";
} elseif ($i > 1) {
    echo "$i custom fields have been updated";
} else {
    echo "No fields have been changed";
}

$subscriber_setcustomfield will return TRUE for a correct response, which we will use to increase $i for each successful change.

Let’s give it a go. Here’s what we edit:

Once we clicked the button, we will get the following result:

As you may have noticed in our list screenshot, the custom fields I use already have an underscore in the name. It is always a good thing to ONLY use az, AZ, 0-9, _ characters in your variable names. It’s never too late to start following this convention, so start doing that from now on:-)

How to set multiple custom fields with /fb/subscriber/setCustomFields

ninjawarrior — Tue, 12 Jan 2021 23:38:14 +0000

The curl command as displayed on the ManyChat API Swagger is:

curl -X POST "https://api.manychat.com/fb/subscriber/setCustomFields" -H "accept: application/json" -H "Authorization: Bearer 0" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d "{ \"subscriber_id\": 0, \"fields\": [ { \"field_id\": 0, \"field_name\": 0, \"field_value\": \"'string', 123, true, '2018-07-18', '2018-07-02T00:00:00+00:00'\" } ]}"

The JSON format for this API is slightly different than other calls, because here, you can send an update in a batch of 10 records each time, making its way to less servercalls (1 instead of 10).

The JSON format is:

{
  "subscriber_id": 0,
  "fields": [
    {
      "field_id": 0,
      "field_name": 0,
      "field_value": "'string', 123, true, '2018-07-18', '2018-07-02T00:00:00+00:00'"
    }
  ]
}

Why would you need this?

If you use custom fields for user settings for example, chances are you need to update more than one at a time. Since you can also only update 10 queries per second, this API is a life saver for large updates.

We will use a similar webpage as in the previous chapter, and will show an altered PHP file that splits the updates up in batches of max 10 fields. More about that in a bit.

This is the default response on a successful request, is, as always:

{
  "status": "success"
}

Let’s start with the scripts

As mentioned, we are going to split this up in 2 parts again:
1. We create a webpage with a list of all custom fields and their current values, with an option to change it by adding a value in the form field. We don’t make a difference in string, number, boolean, date or datetime in this section, but you can if you want to in your system;
2. We create a PHP file to process the data in batches.

Let’s add a new function to our class file in classes/manychat.class.php.

    /**
     * 
     * @param type $subscriber_id
     * @param type $fields
     * @param type $mc_api
     * @return boolean
     */
    function subscriberSetCustomFields($subscriber_id, $fields, $mc_api)
    {

        $postfields_arr = [
            'subscriber_id' => $subscriber_id,
            'fields'        => $fields
        ];

        $postfields = json_encode($postfields_arr);

        $ch            = curl_init();
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, "https://api.manychat.com/fb/subscriber/setCustomFields");
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST, 'POST');
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $postfields . PHP_EOL);
        $headers       = [
            'Authorization: Bearer ' . preg_replace("/^(\w+\s+)/", "", $mc_api),
            'Content-Type: application/json',
            'Accept: application/json'
        ];
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, $headers);
        $server_output = curl_exec($ch);
        curl_close($ch);

        $json_obj  = json_decode($server_output);
        $good_call = $json_obj->status;

        if ($good_call == "success") {
            return true;
        } else {
            return false;
        }
    }

After we created the new function, we will create 2 new PHP files:

subscriber_setcustomfields_form.php
subscriber_setcustomfields.php

The First file is to get the collection for the specific user, each custom field with its own form text input field

Set Custom Field HTML Sample Page getSubscriberInfo($subscriber_id, $mc_api); $subscriber_cufs = $subscriber_info->custom_fields; ?>

Let's get all Custom Fields and assign a value to it manually. When you press the button, your custom field value for the subscriber will be updated.

If you run this page in your browser, you’ll see something similar to this (similar to the previous chapter’s page, we changed the form POST action:

It’s a large list with all custom fields set to your current user ID. In the “real” world, you’d of course get this user ID from your own system instead of hard-coding it in the source code.

To change a custom field, just enter the new value in the form field and submit it by using the button. On the next page, you will get a confirmation of the changes custom user field.

The PHP script we use for processing the data, is as follows:

 $customfieldvalue) {
    if (!empty($customfieldvalue) && $customfield_id !== "mc_uid") {

        $customfields[] = ["field_id" => $customfield_id, "field_value" => $customfieldvalue];
        $i++;

        if ($i % 10 == 0 && $i < $number_of_non_empty_values) {
            $subscriber_setcustomfields = $mc->subscriberSetCustomFields($subscriber_id, $customfields, $mc_api);
            $customfields_arr           = [];
            sleep(1);
        } elseif ($i === $number_of_non_empty_values) {
            $subscriber_setcustomfields = $mc->subscriberSetCustomFields($subscriber_id, $customfields, $mc_api);
        }
    }
}

if ($i == 1) {
    echo "$i custom field has been updated";
} elseif ($i > 1) {
    echo "$i custom fields have been updated";
} else {
    echo "No fields have been changed";
}

There are a few highlights in the script I’d like to point out.

On line 17 we unset() the ManyChat userId, so we get a clean count of the neccessary array values. Unset removes that value from the array.

On line 32 you see we gathered 10 lines and we will export that to the API, then, on line 36 we wait for 1 second before we move on.

Let’s give it a go. Here’s what we edit:

Once we clicked the button, we will get the following result:

This is how you serve multiple records in one go. Your turn!

How to set a custom field with /fb/subscriber/setCustomField

ninjawarrior — Tue, 12 Jan 2021 12:28:59 +0000

The curl command as displayed on the ManyChat API Swagger is:

curl -X POST "https://api.manychat.com/fb/subscriber/setCustomField" -H "accept: application/json" -H "Authorization: Bearer 0" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d "{ \"subscriber_id\": 0, \"field_id\": 0, \"field_value\": \"'string', 123, true, '2018-07-18', '2018-07-02T00:00:00+00:00'\"}"

You need to replace the 0’s in the command with the appropriate data: ManyChat API key, subscriber ID, field_id, field_value (‘string’, 123, true, ‘2018-07-18’, ‘2018-07-02T00:00:00+00:00’). I’ll show you how to use this and what it does below.

Why would you need this?

Setting a custom field has a lot of use cases. Loyalty card points, progression values, user settings etcetera. In our platforms we use it to set Application settings/preferences that we use to create JSON output for our apps’functionality. Another use case is a shopping cart, you will store the cart contents in a custom field, an item price and more of these values. A custom field is used in every chatbot.

This is the default response on a successful request, is, as always:

{
  "status": "success"
}

So how can we show you how to use it?

But First, as always, let’s add a new function to our class file in classes/manychat.class.php.

    /**
     * 
     * @param type $subscriber_id
     * @param type $field_id
     * @param type $field_value
     * @param type $mc_api
     * @return boolean
     */
    function subscriberSetCustomField($subscriber_id, $field_id, $field_value, $mc_api)
    {

        $postfields_arr = [
            'subscriber_id' => $subscriber_id,
            'field_id'      => $field_id,
            'field_value'   => $field_value
        ];

        $postfields = json_encode($postfields_arr);

        $ch            = curl_init();
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, "https://api.manychat.com/fb/subscriber/setCustomField");
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST, 'POST');
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $postfields . PHP_EOL);
        $headers       = [
            'Authorization: Bearer ' . preg_replace("/^(\w+\s+)/", "", $mc_api),
            'Content-Type: application/json',
            'Accept: application/json'
        ];
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, $headers);
        $server_output = curl_exec($ch);
        curl_close($ch);

        $json_obj  = json_decode($server_output);
        $good_call = $json_obj->status;

        if ($good_call == "success") {
            return true;
        } else {
            return false;
        }
    }

After we created the new function, we will create 2 new PHP files:

subscriber_setcustomfield_form.php
subscriber_setcustomfield.php

The First file is to get the collection for the specific user, each custom field with its own form text input field

Set Custom Field HTML Sample Page getSubscriberInfo($subscriber_id, $mc_api); $subscriber_cufs = $subscriber_info->custom_fields; ?>

Let's get all Custom Fields and assign a value to it manually. When you press the button, your custom field value for the subscriber will be updated.

If you run this page in your browser, you’ll see something similar to this:

It’s a large list with all custom fields set to your current user ID. In the “real” world, you’d of course get this user ID from your own system instead of hard-coding it in the source code.

To change a custom field, just enter the new value in the form field and submit it by using the button. On the next page, you will get a confirmation of the changes custom user field.

The PHP script we use for processing the data, is as follows:

 $customfieldvalue) {
    if (!empty($customfieldvalue) && $customfield_id !== "mc_uid") {
        echo "$customfield_id = $customfieldvalue 
";
        $subscriber_setcustomfield = $mc->subscriberSetCustomField($subscriber_id, $customfield_id, $customfieldvalue, $mc_api);
        if ($subscriber_setcustomfield) {
            $i++;
        }
    }
}

if ($i == 1) {
    echo "$i custom field has been updated";
} elseif ($i > 1) {
    echo "$i custom fields have been updated";
} else {
    echo "No fields have been changed";
}

$subscriber_setcustomfield will return TRUE for a correct response, which we will use to increase $i for each successful change.

Let’s give it a go. Here’s what we edit:

Once we clicked the button, we will get the following result:

If you have tried to actually integrate this into your system now, you may have noticed a little caveat. Want to guess what?

I’ll tell you: what if you want to assign a value to a custom user field that has NOT been set earlier? It is not in this current list, since we only retrieve current custom fields that are already set and can be edited.

It is a great practice for you to learn the API system. Here’s how you can do it, go ahead and try!

get a list of all custom fields in your bot
get your user Id
match all existing user fields and show the values
create a list of new fields that can still be assigned, you could cross reference them, or use arrays to intersect

There are plenty of ways to do this though. Go crazy!

If you have questions, please let me know.

How to remove a TAG by name with /fb/subscriber/removeTagByName

ninjawarrior — Mon, 11 Jan 2021 23:00:51 +0000

The curl command as displayed on the ManyChat API Swagger is:

curl -X POST "https://api.manychat.com/fb/subscriber/removeTagByName" -H "accept: application/json" -H "Authorization: Bearer 0" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d "{ "subscriber_id": 0, "tag_name": 0}"

You need to replace the 0’s in the command with the appropriate data: ManyChat API key, subscriber ID, TagName (string). I’ll show you how to use this and what it does below.

Why would you need this?

I’ll quote the exact text from the previous chapter here:

This API is perfect for managing data in your platform or application. For example: you may have tagged your user for a certain interest or follow-up action. Once this action is marked as complete, you can remove the Tag automatically.

Because this method is mostly the same as the Remove Tag by ID, I will not just duplicate the previous chapter and rename ID with Name, but I will make a combination of both methods, in one file.

This is the default response on a successful request, is, as always:

{
  "status": "success"
}

So how do we use this in our own system?

We are going to split this up in 2 parts again:
1. We are going to get all tags by the user ID and display them in a “double” list, so we can …
2. Click a link which will remove the specified Tag from the user, either by ID, or Name, whatever is preferred. We will make 2 different links for this in this file, which could replace the file from the previous chapter.

IF you have the chance to use the TagID, I recommend using that. Although it is more obvious you know the name of a tag by hand, it is also more prone to errors. In general, programming languages don’t like anything other than aZ0-9_ in variable values.

Let’s First add a new function to our class file in classes/manychat.class.php.

    /**
     * 
     * @param type $tag_name
     * @param type $subscriber_id
     * @param type $mc_api
     * @return boolean
     */
    function subscriberRemoveTagByName($tag_name, $subscriber_id, $mc_api)
    {

        $postfields_arr = [
            'subscriber_id' => $subscriber_id,
            'tag_name'      => $tag_name
        ];

        $postfields = json_encode($postfields_arr);

        $ch            = curl_init();
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, "https://api.manychat.com/fb/subscriber/removeTagByName");
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST, 'POST');
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $postfields . PHP_EOL);
        $headers       = [
            'Authorization: Bearer ' . preg_replace("/^(\w+\s+)/", "", $mc_api),
            'Content-Type: application/json',
            'Accept: application/json'
        ];
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, $headers);
        $server_output = curl_exec($ch);
        curl_close($ch);

        $json_obj  = json_decode($server_output);
        $good_call = $json_obj->status;

        if ($good_call == "success") {
            return true;
        } else {
            return false;
        }
    }

After we created the new function, we will create 2 new PHP files:

subscriber_get_tags_by_id_and_name.php
subscriber_remove_tag_by_id_or_name.php

The First file is to get a collection for the specific user, we display those for this time in a plain text list, with a hyperlink to delete them. It looks like this:

getSubscriberInfo($subscriber_id, $mc_api);

$subscriber_tags = $subscriber_info->tags;

foreach ($subscriber_tags AS $tag) {
    echo "TAG name and ID" . $tag->name . " (" . $tag->id . ") Remove by ID -- Remove by Name
"; 
}

It you run this script in your browser, you’ll see something similar to this:

It doesn’t look nice, but if you put this little snippet of code inside a basic Bootstrap theme, it will immediately look great. Just wrap the hyperlinks in HTML Buttons instead of textlinks and add a little padding between the paragraph lines and voilá!

Now let’s create the PHP file for the links, so we can remove and cleanup the Tag. The second PHP file will look like this, note that I created a simple if<>else clause here to check what variable is sent through the link. Since the Id is most accurate, we look fo rthat First, if it is not there, we move on to the next clause and we finish with an exit routine if nothing is found:

subscriberRemoveTag($subscriber_tag_id, $mc_uid, $mc_api);
    $subscriber_tag        = $subscriber_tag_id;
} elseif (!empty($subscriber_tag_name)) {
    $subscriber_remove_tag = $mc->subscriberRemoveTagByName($subscriber_tag_name, $mc_uid, $mc_api);
    $subscriber_tag        = $subscriber_tag_name;
} else {
    exit("No Tags set to remove");
}

if ($subscriber_remove_tag) {
    echo "Bingo! You removed the following Tag : " . $subscriber_tag . " from subscriber number " . $mc_uid;
} else {
    echo "We could not remove your Tag";
}

$subscriber_remove_tag will return TRUE for a correct response, which will allow us to report back the result.

So, when we click the Remove by Name link for TAG Name and ID Language Preference is English (16205530) from the Tag list above, we get this result:

Pretty handy, right?

Next, we are going to set Custom fields, a very common and much used API.

How to remove a TAG from a subscriber with /fb/subscriber/removeTag

ninjawarrior — Mon, 11 Jan 2021 17:14:00 +0000

The curl command as displayed on the ManyChat API Swagger is:

curl -X POST "https://api.manychat.com/fb/subscriber/removeTag" -H "accept: application/json" -H "Authorization: Bearer 0" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d "{ \"subscriber_id\": 0, \"tag_id\": 0}"

You need to replace the 0’s in the command with the appropriate data: ManyChat API key, subscriber ID, TagID. I’ll show you how to use this and what it does below.

Why would you need this?

This API is perfect for managing data in your platform or application. For example: you may have tagged your user for a certain interest or follow-up action. Once this action is marked as complete, you can remove the Tag automatically.

One of the methods is removing the Tag by ID, which is what we will show you in this subject. Removing Tag by Name is reserved for the next chapter.

This is the default response on a successful request

{
  "status": "success"
}

So how do we use this in our own system?

We are going to split this up in 2 parts:
1. We are going to get all tags by the user ID and display them in a list, so we can …
2. Click a link which will remove the specified Tag from the user (in this chapter, by ID)

First we will add a new function to our class file in classes/manychat.class.php.

    /**
     * 
     * @param type $tag_id
     * @param type $subscriber_id
     * @param type $mc_api
     * @return boolean
     */
    function subscriberRemoveTag($tag_id, $subscriber_id, $mc_api)
    {

        $postfields_arr = [
            'subscriber_id' => $subscriber_id,
            'tag_id'        => $tag_id
        ];

        $postfields = json_encode($postfields_arr);

        $ch            = curl_init();
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, "https://api.manychat.com/fb/subscriber/removeTag");
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST, 'POST');
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $postfields . PHP_EOL);
        $headers       = [
            'Authorization: Bearer ' . preg_replace("/^(\w+\s+)/", "", $mc_api),
            'Content-Type: application/json',
            'Accept: application/json'
        ];
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, $headers);
        $server_output = curl_exec($ch);
        curl_close($ch);

        $json_obj  = json_decode($server_output);
        $good_call = $json_obj->status;

        if ($good_call == "success") {
            return true;
        } else {
            return false;
        }
    }

After we created the new function, we will create 2 new PHP files:

subscriber_get_tags.php
subscriber_remove_tag.php

The First file is to get a collection for the specific user, we display those for this time in a plain text list, with a hyperlink to delete them. It looks like this:

getSubscriberInfo($subscriber_id, $mc_api);

$subscriber_tags = $subscriber_info->tags;

foreach ($subscriber_tags AS $tag) {
    echo "Remove TAG " . $tag->name . " (" . $tag->id . ")
";
}

It you run this script in your browser, you’ll see something similar to this:

Now let’s create the PHP file for the clicked links, so we can remove and cleanup the Tag. The second PHP file will look like this:

subscriberRemoveTag($subscriber_tag_id, $mc_uid, $mc_api);

if ($subscriber_remove_tag) {
    echo "Removed the Tag with ID " . $subscriber_tag_id . " from subscriber number " . $mc_uid;
} else {
    echo "We could not remove your Tag ID";
}

$subscriber_remove_tag will return TRUE for a correct response, which will allow us to report back the result.

So, when we click the link Remove TAG scratchcard_has_result (15267260) from the Tag list above, we get this result:

In the next chapter, we will do this again, but with a Tag name instead of the ID.

How to assign a TAG to a subscriber with /fb/subscriber/addtagbyname

ninjawarrior — Fri, 08 Jan 2021 13:50:56 +0000

The curl command as displayed on the ManyChat API Swagger is:

curl -X POST "https://api.manychat.com/fb/subscriber/addTagByName" -H "accept: application/json" -H "Authorization: Bearer 0" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d "{ \"subscriber_id\": 0, \"tag_name\": \"string\"}"

You need to replace the 0’s and “string” in the command with the appropriate data. I’ll show you how to use this and what it does below.

The purpose of this API call is to assign a new TAG by NAME to your ManyChat subscriber. This API requires a Tag NAME which is a lot easier than the Tag ID. However the downside is if you use it via forms, the spaces or special characters in the form entry fields, may be altered by PHP. Forexample, a space might be translated into an underscore (_). If you use your own fixed code, or verification methods, you’ll fine fine!

Your Tag must pre-exist

Why would you need this?

The reasons for needing this, are obviously identical to those of the addTag via an ID. It’s just a different approach. If you want to TAG users for specific actions in your system, for example a completed step in your flow, this TAG has to pre-exist. With this API call you can create such a TAG automatically. Once your Tag is created, you can assign it to a user with this API. It’s a nice tool if you want to segment your users from your own CMS or (ecom) platform. You can document the entire path your user takes in your bot.

This is the default response on a successful request

{
  "status": "success"
}

So how do we use this in our own system?

First we will add a new function to our class file in classes/manychat.class.php.

    /**
     * 
     * @param type $subscriber_id
     * @param type $tag_name
     * @param type $mc_api
     * @return boolean
     */
    function subscriberAddTagByName($subscriber_id, $tag_name, $mc_api)
    {

        $postfields_arr = [
            'subscriber_id' => $subscriber_id,
            'tag_name'        => $tag_name
        ];

        $postfields = json_encode($postfields_arr);

        $ch            = curl_init();
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, "https://api.manychat.com/fb/subscriber/addTagByName");
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST, 'POST');
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $postfields . PHP_EOL);
        $headers       = [
            'Authorization: Bearer ' . preg_replace("/^(\w+\s+)/", "", $mc_api),
            'Content-Type: application/json',
            'Accept: application/json'
        ];
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, $headers);
        $server_output = curl_exec($ch);
        curl_close($ch);

        $json_obj  = json_decode($server_output);
        $good_call = $json_obj->status;

        if ($good_call == "success") {
            return true;
        } else {
            return false;
        }
    }

After we created the new function, we will create a new PHP file and call it subscriber_addtagbyname.php. It look like this:

subscriberAddTagByName($subscriber_id, $tag_name, $mc_api);

if ($subscriber_addtag) {
    echo "Successfully added tag ID $tag_name to user $subscriber_id";
}

$subscriber_addtag will return TRUE for a correct response, which will allow us to report back the result.

What is your use case?

How to assign a TAG to a subscriber with /fb/subscriber/addTag

ninjawarrior — Sun, 18 Oct 2020 14:41:51 +0000

The curl command as displayed on the ManyChat API Swagger is:

curl -X POST "https://api.manychat.com/fb/subscriber/addTag" -H "accept: application/json" -H "Authorization: Bearer 0" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d "{ \"subscriber_id\": 0, \"tag_id\": 0}"

You need to replace the 0’s in the command with the appropriate data. I’ll show you how to use this and what it does below.

The purpose of this API call is to assign a new TAG by ID to your ManyChat subscriber. This API requires a Tag ID which is pretty annoying if I may say so, the API after this lesson is the one you’re most likely be using, which is the Tag by Name.

In both cases, your Tag must pre-exist.

Why would you need this?

If you want to TAG users for specific actions in your system, for example a completed step in your flow, this TAG has to pre-exist. With this API call you can create such a TAG automatically. Once your Tag is created, you can assign it to a user with this API. It’s a nice tool if you want to segment your users from your own CMS or (ecom) platform. You can document the entire path your user takes in your bot.

This is the default response on a successful request

{
  "status": "success"
}

So how do we use this in our own system?

First we will add a new function to our class file in classes/manychat.class.php.

    /**
     * 
     * @param type $subscriber_id
     * @param type $tag_id
     * @param type $mc_api
     * @return boolean
     */
    function subscriberAddTag($subscriber_id, $tag_id, $mc_api)
    {

        $postfields_arr = [
            'subscriber_id' => $subscriber_id,
            'tag_id'        => $tag_id
        ];

        $postfields = json_encode($postfields_arr);

        $ch            = curl_init();
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, "https://api.manychat.com/fb/subscriber/addTag");
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST, 'POST');
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $postfields . PHP_EOL);
        $headers       = [
            'Authorization: Bearer ' . preg_replace("/^(\w+\s+)/", "", $mc_api),
            'Content-Type: application/json',
            'Accept: application/json'
        ];
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, $headers);
        $server_output = curl_exec($ch);
        curl_close($ch);

        $json_obj  = json_decode($server_output);
        $good_call = $json_obj->status;

        if ($good_call == "success") {
            return true;
        } else {
            return false;
        }
    }

After we created the new function, we will create a new PHP file and call it subscriber_addtag.php. It look like this:

subscriberAddTag($subscriber_id, $tag_id, $mc_api);

if ($subscriber_addtag) {
    echo "Successfully added tag ID $tag_id to user $subscriber_id";
}

$subscriber_addtag will return TRUE for a correct response.

The Tag ID can be looked up in your settings menu inside ManyChat, but we know that is of course a pain in the butt.

A better, cooler way which you now know how to do (because we learned that in this lesson), is to get this info with the page API. But even then, we’d rather use the next one, which is addTagByName. So let’s head on to the next lesson.