Background Messaging

Vapi SDK lets you silently update the chat history through efficient text message integration. This is particularly useful for background tasks or discreetly logging user interactions.

Scenario Overview

As a developer you may run into scenarios where a user action, such as pressing a button, needs to be logged in the chat history without overt user involvement. This could be crucial for maintaining conversation context or system logging purposes.

1

Add a Button to Trigger the Message

Add a button to your interface with an onClick event handler that will call a function to send the system message:

1<button id="log-action" onClick="logUserAction()">Log Action</button>
2

Log the Action as a System Message

When the button is clicked, the logUserAction function will silently insert a system message into the chat history:

1function logUserAction() {
2  // Function to log the user action
3  vapi.send({
4    type: "add-message",
5    message: {
6      role: "system",
7      content: "The user has pressed the button, say peanuts",
8    },
9  });
10}
  • vapi.send: The primary function to interact with your assistant, handling various requests or commands.
  • type: "add-message": Specifies the command to add a new message.
  • message: This is the actual message that you want to add to the message history.
    • role: “system” Designates the message origin as ‘system’, ensuring the addition is unobtrusive. Other possible values of role are ‘user’ | ‘assistant’ | ‘tool’ | ‘function’
    • content: The actual message text to be added.
Practical Use Cases
  • Silent logging of user activities.
  • Contextual updates in conversations triggered by background processes.
  • Non-intrusive user experience enhancements through additional information provision.