Abstract Steps to take to achieve these goal

The Bots Purpose:

1. Cooking-related Questions: The bot will be equipped to answer a wide
range of cooking-related questions, such as techniques, ingredient usage,
recipe adjustments, and cooking times.

2. Ingredient Substitutions: Users can seek guidance on ingredient

substitutions to accommodate dietary restrictions, preferences, or
ingredient availability.

3. Meal Planning: Users can receive assistance in planning meals, including

suggestions for balanced menus, recipe combinations, and portion sizes.

4. Cost-effective Cooking: The bot will recommend recipes that can be

prepared with minimal cost, utilizing ingredients readily available or
providing budget-friendly alternatives.

The Conversation Work Flow:

5. Identify user intents: Start by identifying the various intents or purposes
behind user queries. For example, intents could include recipe inquiries,
ingredient substitutions, cooking tips, meal planning, or cost-effective
cooking.

6. Create a decision tree: A decision tree is a visual representation of the

different paths a conversation can take based on user inputs. Begin by
defining the main branches of the decision tree corresponding to each
intent. For each branch, consider the specific sub-intents or variations of
queries that users may have.
 7. Determine user inputs: Within each branch of the decision tree, define the
types of user inputs that the bot can expect. These inputs can be in the
form of text messages, such as specific questions or commands related to
cooking.

8. Design bot responses: Based on the identified intents and user inputs,
create appropriate bot responses. These responses should provide helpful
and relevant information to address the user's query or guide them in the
right direction.

9. Consider NLP techniques: To enhance the bot's understanding and

response capabilities, consider incorporating natural language processing
(NLP) techniques. This could involve using pre-trained language models
like GPT-3, leveraging NLP libraries like NLTK or spaCy, or utilizing NLP APIs
such as Dialogflow or Wit.ai. These tools can help interpret user
messages, extract key information, and generate accurate and context-
aware responses.

10.Account for fallbacks and error handling: It's important to consider

scenarios where the bot may not fully understand the user's query or
encounter errors. Design a fallback mechanism that gracefully handles
such situations, providing helpful suggestions or asking clarifying
questions to ensure a smooth user experience.

Iterate and refine: Continuously test and refine the conversation flow based on
user feedback and real-world interactions. Identify any bottlenecks, user
frustrations, or gaps in the conversation flow, and make necessary adjustments
to improve the bot's performance and user satisfaction.

Remember to make the conversation flow as user-friendly and intuitive as

possible, keeping in mind the common queries and pain points users might have
when it comes to cooking. Regularly updating and expanding the conversation
flow based on user interactions will help ensure the bot's effectiveness and
responsiveness over time.
Dialogflow, developed by Google, offers a comprehensive set of tools and
features for building conversational agents. It provides a user-friendly interface
for defining intents, entities, and responses, and offers built-in support for
various messaging platforms, including WhatsApp. Dialogflow also supports
context management, entity extraction, and multi-turn conversations, allowing
for more advanced interactions.

Gathering Recipe Data:

11.Identify target websites: Determine which cooking websites or recipe

aggregators you want to scrape for recipe data. Choose platforms that
have a wide variety of recipes and align with the type of content you want
to provide through your bot.

12.Review website's terms of service: Carefully review the terms of service or

terms of use of the target websites. Look for any specific guidelines or
restrictions related to web scraping. Ensure that you comply with their
policies and respect their intellectual property rights.

13.Choose a web scraping tool or framework: Select a suitable web scraping

tool or framework to extract recipe data from the target websites. Python-
based libraries like Beautiful Soup, Scrapy, or Selenium WebDriver are
commonly used for web scraping. These tools provide functions and
methods to parse HTML content, extract specific elements, and navigate
through website structures.

14.Inspect website structure: Use browser developer tools or HTML

inspection tools to examine the structure of the web pages containing
recipes. Identify the HTML elements and attributes that contain the recipe
 information, such as ingredient lists, cooking instructions, and preparation
time.

15.Write scraping code: Utilize the chosen web scraping tool to write code
that navigates through the website, locates recipe-specific information,
and extracts the relevant data. You'll need to create logic to loop through
recipe pages, capture necessary details, and store them in a structured
format (e.g., JSON, CSV, or a database).

16.Handle pagination and dynamic content: Some websites paginate their

recipe lists or load content dynamically via JavaScript. Ensure your web
scraping code accounts for such scenarios, allowing you to navigate
multiple pages and handle any AJAX-based content loading.

17.Data cleaning and preprocessing: Once you've obtained the raw recipe
data, you may need to clean and preprocess it. This could involve
removing unnecessary HTML tags, standardizing formatting, normalizing
ingredient names, or applying any other data cleaning techniques that suit
your requirements.

18.Store the scraped data: Save the scraped recipe data in a structured
format, such as a database or a file. This will serve as your recipe
database, from which you can retrieve and serve recipes to users.

Building the Backend:

19.Choose a programming language and framework: Select a programming
language and framework that aligns with your technical expertise and
requirements. Popular choices for building backend applications include
Python (with frameworks like Flask or Django), Node.js (with frameworks
like Express.js), or Ruby (with frameworks like Ruby on Rails).

20.Set up a server: Choose a hosting provider or set up your own server to

host your backend application. Options include cloud platforms like AWS,
 Google Cloud, or Azure, or using a traditional web hosting service.

21.Handle incoming messages: Configure a webhook or API endpoint to

receive incoming messages from WhatsApp. Depending on the chosen
messaging platform or API, you might receive messages as HTTP requests
or webhooks. Implement the necessary code to handle these incoming
requests.

22.Process user requests: Once you receive a user message, process it in your
backend to extract the user's intent and any relevant information. This
step involves leveraging your NLP implementation (such as Dialogflow,
Wit.ai, or a pre-trained language model) to understand the user's query
and extract the necessary data.

23.Retrieve data from the recipe database: Use the extracted information,
such as the recipe name or ingredient, to query your recipe database.
Implement the logic to retrieve relevant recipes or other data from the
database based on the user's query.

24.Generate appropriate responses: Based on the retrieved data, generate

appropriate responses to the user's query. This could include providing
recipe instructions, ingredient substitutions, cooking tips, or other
relevant information. Format the response in a way that is suitable for the
WhatsApp messaging platform.

25.Send the response to WhatsApp: Once the appropriate response is

generated, send it back to the user on WhatsApp. This involves using the
WhatsApp API or the specific integration method provided by the
messaging platform you are using.

26.Handle additional functionalities: Implement additional functionalities as

required, such as user authentication, session management, error
handling, and any other features that enhance the user experience.

27.Testing and deployment: Test your backend application thoroughly to

ensure it functions as expected. Once testing is complete, deploy your
 application to your chosen hosting environment so that it can handle
incoming requests from WhatsApp users.

Deploying the bot on Whatsapp:

28.Review WhatsApp's guidelines and terms of service: Familiarize yourself
with WhatsApp's guidelines, terms of service, and any applicable policies
or restrictions. Ensure that your bot complies with these guidelines to
avoid any issues or violations.

29.Create a WhatsApp Business Account: Set up a WhatsApp Business

Account for your bot. Visit the WhatsApp Business website and follow the
instructions to create an account. This will provide you with the necessary
credentials to access the WhatsApp Business API.

30.Apply for WhatsApp Business API access: Apply for access to the
WhatsApp Business API. The application process typically involves
providing information about your business, use case, and agreeing to
WhatsApp's terms and conditions. Once your application is approved, you
will receive the required access to use the WhatsApp Business API.

31.Set up infrastructure for the WhatsApp Business API: Prepare the

necessary infrastructure to support the WhatsApp Business API. This
involves hosting your bot's backend application on a server that can
handle incoming and outgoing requests to and from the WhatsApp API.
You may need to set up specific webhook URLs or configure callback
routes for the API.

32.Integrate with the WhatsApp Business API: Use the WhatsApp Business
API documentation to integrate your bot's backend with the WhatsApp
platform. This typically involves using the provided API endpoints and
methods to send and receive messages, handle user interactions, and
manage bot behavior on WhatsApp.
33.Implement message processing logic: In your backend application,
implement the logic to handle incoming messages from WhatsApp.
Process the received messages, extract the necessary information, and
generate appropriate responses based on your chat bot's functionalities.

34.Test and ensure compliance: Thoroughly test your bot's integration with
the WhatsApp Business API to ensure it functions as expected and
complies with WhatsApp's guidelines. Verify that the bot responds
correctly to user queries, follows the defined conversation flow, and
handles different scenarios gracefully.

35.Deploy your bot: Once you have successfully tested your integration,
deploy your bot's backend application to your chosen hosting
environment. Ensure it is accessible and can handle incoming and
outgoing requests from the WhatsApp Business API.

36.Promote your bot and obtain user opt-ins: Promote your bot to your
target audience and encourage users to opt in to receive messages from
your bot on WhatsApp. This can involve sharing your bot's WhatsApp
number or QR code, and providing clear instructions on how users can
initiate conversations with your bot.