Update actions.json withouth using gactions CLI

Question

I've built an Action on Google using the Actions SDK. I want to be able to update the actions.json programmatically on my server. I don't want to have to use the Assistant CLI. Is there a REST API or some other way of updating that file?

If I get an access token from the Assistant CLI, then I can make a post request to actions.googleapis.com/v2/agents/… I'm having trouble generating a valid access token. Voiceflow seems to be able to. They direct users through an oauth2 sign in for Assistant CLI. The user gets an auth code that they give to Voiceflow. Voiceflow turns that into an access token on their server. I assume it's related to "Step 5" here. When I try it, I get a message saying my client is invalid developers.google.com/identity/protocols/oauth2/web-server — reidreid46
I'm guessing that Voiceflow has a hosted copy of gactions on their server that they use to make the requests wrapped in a REST API. — Nick Felker

Bjørson Bjørson Bjørson Bjørson · Accepted Answer · 2020-04-11T20:48:10

I was able to sniff the communication between Google and the actions cli.

Updating the action

Here is the curl request which you can use. Don't forget to add your Bearer (authorization) and after --data-binary you will include your actions.json. The last thing is, to change the endpoint URL at the end with your action id (replace testskill).

curl 
-H 'Host: actions.googleapis.com' 
-H 'content-type: application/json' 
-H 'authorization: Bearer AuthorisationKeyAsRandomStrings' 
-H 'user-agent: Gactions-CLI/2.2.4 (darwin; amd64; dev/NsZwRCulTKhlPxMfp)' 
--data-binary '{"localizedActionPackages":{"de":{"actions":[{"description":"Default welcome intent","fulfillment":{"conversationName":"testskill"},"intent":{"name":"actions.intent.MAIN","trigger":{"queryPatterns":["sprechen mit test skill"]}},"name":"MAIN"},{"description":"test intent","fulfillment":{"conversationName":"testskill"},"intent":{"name":"test_intent","parameters":[{"name":"color","type":"org.schema.type.Color"}],"trigger":{"queryPatterns":["suchen ein $org.schema.type.Color:color schuhe","kaufen ein $org.schema.type.Color:color shuhe","kaufen"]}},"name":"Test"},{"description":"ciao","fulfillment":{"conversationName":"testskill"},"intent":{"name":"ciao_intent","trigger":{"queryPatterns":["ciao","bye","pa"]}},"name":"Ciao"}],"conversations":{"testskill":{"name":"testskill","url":"https://ae8e6xx.ngrok.io/testskill"}},"locale":"de"}},"name":"agents/testskill"}' 
--compressed 'https://actions.googleapis.com/v2/agents/testskill:batchUpdateAllDraftActionPackages'

But there is no guarantee, that this will work in the future because Google can change the endpoint without notifying anybody. So I recommend to stick with actions cli.

Obtaining token without gactions CLI

You need to visit this url: https://accounts.google.com/signin/oauth/oauthchooseaccount?access_type=offline&client_id=237807841406-o6vu1tjkq8oqjub8jilj6vuc396e2d0c.apps.googleusercontent.com&redirect_uri=urn%3Aietf%3Awg%3Aoauth%3A2.0%3Aoob&response_type=code&scope=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.googleapis.com%2Fauth%2Factions.builder&state=state&o2v=1&as=ZmeGyvTUA3FLgRPS1_rd1A&flowName=GeneralOAuthFlow

After authorization you will get the token. This needs to be send with another curl request. You need to replace PlaceYourUrlEncodedTokenHere with your token, but it needs to be url encoded.

curl 
-H 'Host: accounts.google.com' 
-H 'content-type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded' 
-H 'authorization: Basic MjM3ODA3ODQxNDA2LW82dnUxdGprcThvcWp1YjhqaWxqNnZ1YzM5NmUyZDBjLmFwcHMuZ29vZ2xldXNlcmNvbnRlbnQuY29tOjZ1TlVQakZvd3pVRThTbGlWWlg2a2VZMA==' 
-H 'user-agent: Go-http-client/2.0' 
--data-binary "code=PlaceYourUrlEncodedTokenHere&grant_type=authorization_code&redirect_uri=urn%3Aietf%3Awg%3Aoauth%3A2.0%3Aoob" 
--compressed 'https://accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/token'

After that you will receive json response from google which conatins access_token. This you will add to your request as Bearer.

Update actions.json withouth using gactions CLI

2 Answers