matrix-docker-ansible-deploy/docs/configuring-playbook-bot-matrix-reminder-bot.md

Setting up matrix-reminder-bot (optional)

The playbook can install and configure matrix-reminder-bot for you.

It's a bot you can use to schedule one-off & recurring reminders and alarms.

See the project's documentation to learn what it does and why it might be useful to you.

Adjusting the playbook configuration

To enable the bot, add the following configuration to your inventory/host_vars/matrix.example.com/vars.yml file:

matrix_bot_matrix_reminder_bot_enabled: true

# Uncomment and adjust this part if you'd like to use a username different than the default
# matrix_bot_matrix_reminder_bot_matrix_user_id_localpart: bot.matrix-reminder-bot

# Generate a strong password for the bot. You can create one with a command like `pwgen -s 64 1`.
matrix_bot_matrix_reminder_bot_matrix_user_password: PASSWORD_FOR_THE_BOT

# Adjust this to your timezone
matrix_bot_matrix_reminder_bot_reminders_timezone: Europe/London

Extending the configuration

There are some additional things you may wish to configure about the bot.

Take a look at:

• roles/custom/matrix-bot-matrix-reminder-bot/defaults/main.yml for some variables that you can customize via your vars.yml file
• roles/custom/matrix-bot-matrix-reminder-bot/templates/config.yaml.j2 for the bot's default configuration. You can override settings (even those that don't have dedicated playbook variables) using the matrix_bot_matrix_reminder_bot_configuration_extension_yaml variable

Installing

After configuring the playbook, run it with playbook tags as below:

ansible-playbook -i inventory/hosts setup.yml --tags=setup-all,ensure-matrix-users-created,start

Notes:

• The ensure-matrix-users-created playbook tag makes the playbook automatically create the bot's user account.

• The shortcut commands with the just program are also available: just install-all or just setup-all

  just install-all is useful for maintaining your setup quickly (2x-5x faster than just setup-all) when its components remain unchanged. If you adjust your vars.yml to remove other components, you'd need to run just setup-all, or these components will still remain installed.

• If you change the bot password (matrix_bot_matrix_reminder_bot_matrix_user_password in your vars.yml file) subsequently, the bot user's credentials on the homeserver won't be updated automatically. If you'd like to change the bot user's password, use a tool like synapse-admin to change it, and then update matrix_bot_matrix_reminder_bot_matrix_user_password to let the bot know its new password.

Usage

To use the bot, start a chat with @bot.matrix-reminder-bot:example.com (where example.com is your base domain, not the matrix. domain).

You can also add the bot to any existing Matrix room (/invite @bot.matrix-reminder-bot:example.com).

Basic usage is like this: !remindme in 2 minutes; This is a test

Send !help reminders to the room to see the bot's help menu for additional commands.

You can also refer to the upstream Usage documentation.

Troubleshooting

As with all other services, you can find the logs in systemd-journald by logging in to the server with SSH and running journalctl -fu matrix-bot-matrix-reminder-bot.

Increase logging verbosity

The default logging level for this component is INFO. If you want to increase the verbosity, add the following configuration to your vars.yml file and re-run the playbook:

matrix_bot_matrix_reminder_bot_configuration_extension_yaml: |
  logging:
    # Valid values: ERROR, WARNING, INFO, DEBUG
    level: DEBUG