WeCom bot: advanced
After connecting a WeCom bot: @mention it in groups, control it with /stop and /clear, exchange files, handle long replies, and have it post to groups.
Most of what this page covers happens in WeCom; the related settings are in Halo under Settings › Message Channels.
Before you start
- The bot is connected as in WeCom Intelligent Bot, and you're its owner.
Use it in groups
- Add the bot to a group and @mention it when you talk to it. WeCom forwards only messages that @mention the bot; it never sees the others.
- Each group message carries who sent it, so the Digital Human knows who said what.
- By default replies quote your message (Quote Reply (Group)). Turning that off sends replies without the quote and also turns off Streaming.
- People in the group are owners or guests: guests can by default only chat and use memory, and when messages from owners and guests are handled together, they run with guest permissions. See Owner and guest permissions.
- By default a group shows up in Halo as an ID; with name resolution set up, it shows the group name. You can also Rename it under the Digital Human's Capabilities and settings › Messages & Notifications › Reachable Contacts, for example to "Sales group", and "post it to the sales group" then finds it.
Commands in the chat
| Send | What it does | The bot replies |
|---|---|---|
/stop (or /halo-stop, /halo-cancel) | Stops what it's doing | Generation stopped. (No active generation to stop. if nothing is running) |
/clear (or /halo-clear, /halo-reset) | Clears this chat's context and starts over | Context cleared. Starting a fresh conversation. |
- Commands aren't case-sensitive, and in a group they work after an @mention of the bot.
/clearonly clears the chat context; the Digital Human's memory and reminders stay.
Sending more while it's busy
Messages you send while it's replying aren't lost:
- Ones it can use right away get "✏️ 已加入正在进行的处理" (added to the work in progress), and it sees them in the current round.
- The rest get "✏️ 已收到补充消息" (follow-up received; later ones get "✏️ 又收到补充", more follow-ups received). When the round ends, it first posts "（上一轮回应已结束）" (the previous reply has ended) and then handles them together.
Images and files
- It receives text, images, mixed text and images, voice (as WeCom's transcript), files and video. If you quote a message with an image or file and @mention the bot, the quoted image or file comes along too.
- To get a file from it, just ask, for example "Send me the report". Images go out as images, everything else as files.
- Images can be up to 10 MB (larger ones are sent as files) and files up to 20 MB; above that the send fails, and it tries compressing or splitting the file before sending again.
- It can send only files inside its own workspace or the temporary folder.
Long replies and progress
- One WeCom message holds about 20,000 bytes. Longer replies are split into several messages numbered like (1/3), up to 10; anything beyond ends with "（内容过长，其余部分请在 Halo 里查看）" (the rest can be read in Halo).
- Streaming (off by default): when on, the reply is written into one message as it's produced; in groups, Quote Reply (Group) must be on too. WeCom limits one streamed message to 10 minutes; after that the message notes that the task is still running and further progress comes as new messages, at most one every 2 minutes.
- Processing Notice (on by default): if there's no reply within 5 seconds, it first sends "已收到，正在处理…" ("Received, working on it…"); with Streaming on, the line appears right away inside the reply being written instead of as a separate message.
- Within 24 hours of the person's last message, replies quote the original message; after that, replies and files are sent as plain messages without the quote. In a group with Quote Reply (Group) off, replies never quote.
Have the Digital Human post to groups
People and groups who have messaged the bot become this Digital Human's contacts, and it can message them on its own; see Push to contacts.
Common uses:
- A daily report on schedule: give the Digital Human a schedule, and write in its System Prompt "after each run, post the conclusion to the sales group".
- Results synced automatically: turn on Auto-sync run result for the group under Reachable Contacts, and the final reply goes to the group after each successful run.
- Another Digital Human posting to the same group: in that Digital Human's Reachable Contacts, click Add from existing chats; see Use another Digital Human's bot.
If the network drops briefly, replies are queued for up to 2 minutes and sent once it's back; a proactive push fails meanwhile (the Digital Human is told the channel is disconnected), and Auto-sync run result skips that run.
Put it to work from your phone
As the owner, you can have the Digital Human work on the computer running Halo from WeCom at any time: write and run a script, use the browser, tidy files, and send the results back.
The owner's instructions run with full permissions
The Digital Human runs commands and changes or deletes files directly, without step-by-step confirmation. Do this only in a direct chat, make sure Permission Control is on and Owner User IDs lists only you, and write what it must not do into its System Prompt.
Troubleshooting
It doesn't react in a group
- Make sure you @mentioned the bot.
- Reply Scope isn't Direct messages only.
- The bot has an owner. If not, message it directly first.
For more, see Bot not replying.
Asking for a file gives "File export denied"
The file isn't in its workspace or the temporary folder. Have it save the file into its own workspace first, then send it.
A reply stopped halfway
Send /stop, then send the request again; you can also open the Digital Human's IM sessions in Halo to see how far it got.
Next steps
- Owner and guest permissions: decide what others in a group can have it do.
- WeCom: show real names: show contacts' real names instead of IDs.
- Notifications and proactive push: more ways to have it send messages.