# Quick start

In this quick start guide, we will build a bot server in Python and then integrate it with Poe. Once you have created a Poe bot powered by your server, any Poe user can interact with it. The following diagram might be useful in visualizing how your bot server fits into Poe.

<figure><img src="https://435547813-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FTcfB81SirqQZbLYjoxuW%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-5e95b1c13bf1c3670feb2d3521622b1aeba4d69b%2Fimage%20(14).png?alt=media" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

{% hint style="info" %}
For more information on Poe server bots, check out the [poe-protocol-specification](https://poe-developers.gitbook.io/documentation/server-bots/poe-protocol-specification "mention").
{% endhint %}

## Deploying your bot

We recommend using [Modal](https://modal.com/?utm_source=poe) to deploy your bot, but you can also use any cloud provider of your choice; all you need to do is to make the bot server available at a publicly available URL and once you have that, you can skip to [integrating it with Poe](#integrating-with-poe). In order to use Modal to deploy your bot, do the following.

#### Step 1: Install the Modal client

Make sure you have Python installed. Open a terminal and run `pip install modal-client`

{% hint style="info" %}
You might have to use pip3 instead of pip depending on your version of Python.
{% endhint %}

#### Step 2: Setup your Modal token

This step involves setting up access to modal from your terminal. You only need to do this once for your computer. In the terminal, run `modal token new --source poe`. If you run into a "command not found" error, try [this](https://modal.com/docs/guide/troubleshooting#command-not-found-errors).

If that command runs successfully, you will taken to your web browser where you will be asked to log into modal using your Github account.

<figure><img src="https://435547813-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FTcfB81SirqQZbLYjoxuW%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-d063b975ddc06a413e2a173f8664de1f6c81720e%2Flogin.png?alt=media" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

After you login, click on "create token". You will be prompted to close the browser window after that.

<figure><img src="https://435547813-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FTcfB81SirqQZbLYjoxuW%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-b07c55b69c728d46f817c6d036a2df4525d57bd3%2Fcreate_token.png?alt=media" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

#### Step 3: Clone the starter code and deploy to Modal

In your terminal, run:

* `git clone https://github.com/poe-platform/server-bot-quick-start`
* `cd server-bot-quick-start`
* `pip install -r requirements.txt`
* `modal deploy echobot.py`

Modal will now deploy your app and output two urls: a) the endpoint at which your app is hosted b) an internal page where you can monitor your app. You will be using the former to integrate your bot into Poe.

## Integrating with Poe

Once you have a bot running under a publicly accessible URL, it is time to connect it to Poe. You can do that on your desktop by going to the bot creation [form](https://poe.com/create_bot?server=1). You can customize how your bot looks by providing a picture, name and description. After you fill out the server URL and click "create bot", your bot should be ready for use on all Poe clients.

## Iterating on your bot

* For faster iteration on your bot, we recommend using Modal's serve command (as in `modal serve echobot.py`). On running that command, Modal will deploy an ephemeral version of your app which live updates in response to any code change. In addition, any print/debug statements will output to your terminal.
* The README provides a brief description of the other example bots included in the repo. Feel free to iterate upon and/or deploy them.

## Where to go from here

* One of the advantages of building a bot on Poe is the ability to invoke other Poe bots. In order to learn how to do that check out: [accessing-other-bots-on-poe](https://poe-developers.gitbook.io/documentation/server-bots/accessing-other-bots-on-poe "mention").
* Check out other detailed guides that show you how to enable specific features:
  * [rendering-an-image-in-the-response](https://poe-developers.gitbook.io/documentation/server-bots/rendering-an-image-in-the-response "mention")
  * [enabling-file-upload-for-your-bot](https://poe-developers.gitbook.io/documentation/server-bots/enabling-file-upload-for-your-bot "mention")
  * [setting-an-introduction-message](https://poe-developers.gitbook.io/documentation/server-bots/setting-an-introduction-message "mention")
* Refer to the [specification](https://poe-developers.gitbook.io/documentation/server-bots/poe-protocol-specification) to understand the full capabilities offered by Poe server bots.
* Check out the [fastapi-poe](https://pypi.org/project/fastapi-poe/) library, which you can use as a base for creating Poe bots.


---

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