Client Actions

What are client actions?

A client action is an action that a Flock client takes when a user interacts with a control (e.g. buttons, slash commands, etc.) provided by your app.

Flock supports three kinds of client actions:

• Open a widget containing your app's content
• Open a URL in the system browser
• Dispatch an event to the app backend

How do I configure a client action?

Typically you setup a client action by providing a ClientActionConfig object while configuring a button or a slash command, either in the app manifest or in an attachment.

A client action can also be triggered by a widget using methods provided in flock.js, or by FlockML content using anchor tags.

Which client action is performed depends on the type attribute of this object:

• open_widget – opens a widget
• open_browser – opens the system browser
• dispatch_event – sends an event to the app backend

For example, to open a widget anytime a user presses a chat tab button, provide the open_widget object for the action attribute:

  chat_tab_button: {     description: "<button help text>",     icon: "chat-button.png",   // if missing, the app icon is used    action: { type: "open_widget", url: "<weblet url>", widget_type: "sidebar" }  }

Or to dispatch an event to the app backend when a user clicks on an attachment button, provide the action type dispatch_event when configuring the button:

{    title: "<title>",    description: "<description>",   app_id: "<app_id>",    previews: { .. },  buttons: [{ name: "<button>",              icon: "<icon url>",              action: { type: "dispatch_event" },              tag: "<tag>" }]}

For more details, see the reference doc for ClientActionConfig.

How does my app discover what triggered the client action?

An event is generated anytime a client action is triggered. The event alongwith its attributes is

• either sent to the app backend using the Events API if the configured action was to dispatch the event
• or passed as the URL query params flock_event and flock_event_attributes to the widget or browser URL

The table below explains what event is generated for each trigger:

The event name alongwith its attribute should provide sufficient context for the client action.

Can client actions be triggered for users who haven't installed the app?

Yes, there are a couple of scenarios in which a Flock client might trigger one for a user who hasn't installed the app

• An attachment that contains a widget is shared with a user or a group where atleast some users haven't installed your app
• An attachment shared with such a user contains a button that triggers a client action

In case the configured action is to open a widget or the browser, the Flock client allows it, however no user token is passed. See this section in the widgets page for more details.

In the configured action is to dispatch an event to the app backend, the Flock client doesn't allow it, and instead prompts the user to install your app.