Note: This project is here as an archive. PIMB is no longer actively maintained or supported, yet you are free to use and extend it in any way you see fit. Please refer to the included PDF file for full instructions.
PIMB, PHP Instant Messaging Bots, is a PHP-based chat bot framework that allows you to write, run and manage bots from a web-based panel. The framework uses the open standard Jabber protocol for IM communication, yet completely hides this complexity for bot developers. PIMB is all about lowering the barrier for you to create your own bots.
####Why?
The capabilities of bots are amazing. They are increasingy used as efficient text-based interfaces on desktops and mobile devices. Imagine a few services that you could implement using PIMB:
- A calculator, you send it what to calculate, the bot will reply with the outcome.
- A weather service, you send it the city name, the bot replies to forecast
- A bookmark service, where your bot is linked to your own bookmark database, and you can query the bot to add and retrieve bookmarks.
- An AI bot, where your bot tries to mimic a human user
- And...anything else PHP can do
####How?
Running PIMB exists out of a number of ingredients:
- Hosting. You need to be able to host PHP5. It's dirt cheap nowadays, or you can run it on your server at home
- Bots. PIMB comes with a number of bots installed, yet the most fun is creating your own bot. Even with basic PHP skills you will be able to do this
- Bot accounts. You need to create a bot account for each bot at one of the hundreds of open jabber servers out there, and you are free to pick the server. This choice gives you the flexibility to define the accessibility capabilities of your bot. Some jabber services provide bridges to other protocols, such as MSN, AIM, etc.
It's that simple and cheap. Yet, pretty soon your bot will be available to millions of users worlwide!