watson-developer-cloud

Watson Developer Cloud Node.js SDK

Node client library to use the Watson Developer Cloud services, a collection of REST APIs and SDKs that use cognitive computing to solve complex problems.

Table of Contents

• Breaking Changes for v1.0
• Installation
• Usage
• Getting the Service Credentials
• Questions
• Examples
• IBM Watson Services
  • Alchemy Language
  • Alchemy Vision
  • Alchemy Data News
  • Authorization
  • Concept Expansion
  • Concept Insights
  • Dialog
  • Document Conversion
  • Language Translation
  • Natural Language Classifier
  • Personality Insights
  • Question and Answer
  • Relationship Extraction
  • Speech to Text
  • Text to Speech
  • Tradeoff Analytics
  • Visual Insights
  • Visual Recognition
• Running in Bluemix
• Debug
• Tests
• Open Source @ IBM
• License
• Contributing

Breaking Changes for v1.0

Several breaking changes were introduced with the v1.0.0 release:

• Experimental and Beta services now require the appropriate tag to be added to their version:
  • Concept Expansion v1 is now v1-beta
  • Question and Answer v1 is now v1-beta
  • Relationship Extraction v1 is now v1-beta
  • Tone Analyzer v2 is now v2-experimental
  • Visual Insights v1 is now v1-experimental
  • Visual Recognition v1 is now v1-beta
• Speech to Text gained a new createRecognizeStream() method replacing the existing live streaming methods with a simpler Read/Write stream. The older methods are still avaliable in v1.0 but each log a deprecation warning (unless {silent: true} is passed in) and will be removed from a future release. The affected methods are:
  • recognizeLive()
  • observeResult()
  • getRecognizeStatus()
• The Document Conversion API has been reduced to a single convert() method; it no longer offers batch conversion or cloud storage of files.
• Several deprecated services have been removed:
  • Message Resonance
  • Tone Analyzer v1 (replaced by v2-experimental)
  • Search (replaced by Retrieve and Rank)
• Dropped support for node.js v0.10.x (For reference: the WDC Node.js SDK now officially support the latest 0.12, LTS, and Stable releases of Node.js.)

Installation

$ npm install watson-developer-cloud --save

Usage

The examples below assume that you already have service credentials. If not, you will have to create a service in Bluemix.

If you are running your application in Bluemix, you don't need to specify the credentials; the library will get them for you by looking at the VCAP_SERVICES environment variable.

Getting the Service Credentials

You will need the username and password (api_key for AlchemyAPI) credentials for each service. Service credentials are different from your Bluemix account username and password.

To get your service credentials, follow these steps:

1. Log in to Bluemix at https://bluemix.net.

2. Create an instance of the service:

   1. In the Bluemix Catalog, select the service you want to use.
   2. Under Add Service, type a unique name for the service instance in the Service name field. For example, type my-service-name. Leave the default values for the other options.
   3. Click Create.

3. Copy your credentials:

   1. On the left side of the page, click Service Credentials to view your service credentials.
   2. Copy username and password(api_key for AlchemyAPI).

Questions

If you are having difficulties using the APIs or have a question about the IBM Watson Services, please ask a question on dW Answers or Stack Overflow.

Examples

The examples folder has basic and advanced examples.

IBM Watson Services

The Watson Developer Cloud offers a variety of services for building cognitive apps.

Alchemy Language

Alchemy Language offers 12 API functions as part of its text analysis service, each of which uses sophisticated natural language processing techniques to analyze your content and add high-level semantic information.

Use the Sentiment Analysis endpoint to identify positive/negative sentiment within a sample text document.

var watson = require('watson-developer-cloud');

var alchemy_language = watson.alchemy_language({
  api_key: '<api_key>'
});

var params = {
  text: 'IBM Watson won the Jeopardy television show hosted by Alex Trebek'
};

alchemy_language.sentiment(params, function (err, response) {
  if (err)
    console.log('error:', err);
  else
    console.log(JSON.stringify(response, null, 2));
});

Alchemy Vision

Alchemy Vision uses deep learning innovations to understand a picture's content and context. It sees complex visual scenes in their entirety —without needing any textual clues— leveraging a holistic approach to understanding the multiple objects and surroundings.

Example: Extract keywords from an image.

var watson = require('watson-developer-cloud');
var fs = require('fs');

var alchemy_vision = watson.alchemy_vision({
  api_key: '<api_key>'
});

var params = {
  image: fs.createReadStream('src/test/resources/obama.jpg')
};

alchemy_vision.getImageKeywords(params, function (err, keywords) {
  if (err)
    console.log('error:', err);
  else
    console.log(JSON.stringify(keywords, null, 2));
});

Alchemy Data News

Alchemy Data News indexes 250k to 300k English language news and blog articles every day with historical search available for the past 60 days. Example: Get the volume data from the last 7 days using 12hs of time slice.

var watson = require('watson-developer-cloud');

var alchemy_data_news = watson.alchemy_data_news({
  api_key: '<api_key>'
});

var params = {
  start: 'now-1d',
  end: 'now'
};

alchemy_data_news.getNews(params, function (err, news) {
  if (err)
    console.log('error:', err);
  else
    console.log(JSON.stringify(news, null, 2));
});

Authorization

The Authorization service can generates tokens, this are useful when it's too cumbersome to provide a username/password pair. Tokens are valid for 1 hour and need to be send using the X-Watson-Authorization-Token header.

var watson = require('watson-developer-cloud');

var authorization = watson.authorization({
  username: '<username>',
  password: '<password>',
  version: 'v1'
});

var params = {
  // URL of the resource you wish to access
  url: 'https://stream.watsonplatform.net/text-to-speech/api'
};

authorization.getToken(params, function (err, token) {
  if (!token) {
    console.log('error:', err);
  } else {
    // Use your token here
  }
});

Concept Expansion

Map euphemisms or colloquial terms to more commonly understood phrases using the Concept Expansion service.

var watson = require('watson-developer-cloud');

var concept_expansion = watson.concept_expansion({
  username: '<username>',
  password: '<password>',
  version: 'v1-beta'
});

var params = {
  seeds: ['motrin','tylenol','aspirin'],
  dataset: 'mtsamples',
  label: 'medications'
};

concept_expansion.expand(params, function (err, response) {
  if (err)
    console.log('error:', err);
  else
    console.log(JSON.stringify(response, null, 2));
});

Concept Insights

Use the Concept Insights service to identify words in the text that correspond to concepts in a Wikipedia graph.

var watson = require('watson-developer-cloud');

var concept_insights = watson.concept_insights({
  username: '<username>',
  password: '<password>',
  version: 'v2'
});

var params = {
  graph: '/graphs/wikipedia/en-20120601',
  text: 'IBM Watson won the Jeopardy television show hosted by Alex Trebek'
};

// Retrieve the concepts for input text
concept_insights.graphs.annotateText(params, function(err, res) {
  if (err)
    console.log(err);
  else {
    console.log(JSON.stringify(res, null, 2));
  }
});

Dialog

Use the Dialog service to list all the dialogs you have.

var watson = require('watson-developer-cloud');

var dialog = watson.dialog({
  username: '<username>',
  password: '<password>',
  version: 'v1'
});

dialog.getDialogs({}, function (err, dialogs) {
  if (err)
    console.log('error:', err);
  else
    console.log(JSON.stringify(dialogs, null, 2));
});

Document Conversion

var watson = require('watson-developer-cloud');
var fs = require('fs');

var document_conversion = watson.document_conversion({
  username:     '<username>',
  password:     '<password>',
  version:      'v1',
  version_date: '2015-12-01'
});

// convert a single document
document_conversion.convert({
  // (JSON) ANSWER_UNITS, NORMALIZED_HTML, or NORMALIZED_TEXT
  file: fs.createReadStream('sample-docx.docx'),
  conversion_target: document_conversion.conversion_target.ANSWER_UNITS,
  // Add custom configuration properties or omit for defaults
  word: {
    heading: {
      fonts: [
        { level: 1, min_size: 24 },
        { level: 2, min_size: 16, max_size: 24 }
      ]
    }
  }
}, function (err, response) {
  if (err) {
    console.error(err);
  } else {
    console.log(JSON.stringify(response, null, 2));
  }
});

See the Document Conversion integration example about how to integrate the Document Conversion service with the Retrieve and Rank service.

Language Translation

Translate text from one language to another or idenfity a language using the Language Translation service.

var watson = require('watson-developer-cloud');

var language_translation = watson.language_translation({
  username: '<username>',
  password: '<password>',
  version: 'v2'
});

language_translation.translate({
  text: 'A sentence must have a verb', source : 'en', target: 'es' },
  function (err, translation) {
    if (err)
      console.log('error:', err);
    else
      console.log(JSON.stringify(translation, null, 2));
});

language_translation.identify({
  text: 'The language translation service takes text input and identifies the language used.' },
  function (err, language) {
    if (err)
      console.log('error:', err);
    else
      console.log(JSON.stringify(language, null, 2));
});

Natural Language Classifier

Use Natural Language Classifier service to create a classifier instance by providing a set of representative strings and a set of one or more correct classes for each as training. Then use the trained classifier to classify your new question for best matching answers or to retrieve next actions for your application.

var watson = require('watson-developer-cloud');

var natural_language_classifier = watson.natural_language_classifier({
  url: 'https://gateway.watsonplatform.net/natural-language-classifier/api',
  username: '<username>',
  password: '<password>',
  version: 'v1'
});

natural_language_classifier.classify({
  text: 'Is it sunny?',
  classifier_id: '<classifier-id>' },
  function(err, response) {
    if (err)
      console.log('error:', err);
    else
      console.log(JSON.stringify(response, null, 2));
});

See this example to learn how to create a classifier.

Personality Insights

Analyze text in english and get a personality profile by using the Personality Insights service.

var watson = require('watson-developer-cloud');

var personality_insights = watson.personality_insights({
  username: '<username>',
  password: '<password>',
  version: 'v2'
});

personality_insights.profile({
  text: 'Enter more than 100 unique words here...',
  language: 'en' },
  function (err, response) {
    if (err)
      console.log('error:', err);
    else
      console.log(JSON.stringify(response, null, 2));
});

Note: Don't forget to update the text variable!

Question and Answer

Ask a healthcare-related question of the Question and Answer service.

var watson = require('watson-developer-cloud');

var question_and_answer_healthcare = watson.question_and_answer({
  username: '<username>',
  password: '<password>',
  version: 'v1-beta',
  dataset: 'healthcare' /* The dataset can be specified when creating
                         * the service or when calling it */
});

question_and_answer_healthcare.ask({
  text: 'What is HIV?'}, function (err, response) {
    if (err)
      console.log('error:', err);
    else
      console.log(JSON.stringify(response, null, 2));
});

Relationship Extraction

Analyze an English news article and get the relationships between sentence components (nouns, verbs, subjects, objects, etc.) by using the Relationship Extraction service.

var watson = require('watson-developer-cloud');

var relationship_extraction = watson.relationship_extraction({
  username: '<username>',
  password: '<password>',
  version: 'v1-beta'
});

relationship_extraction.extract({
  text: 'IBM Watson developer cloud',
  dataset: 'ie-en-news' },
  function (err, response) {
    if (err)
      console.log('error:', err);
    else
      console.log(JSON.stringify(response, null, 2));
});

Speech to Text

Use the Speech to Text service to recognize the text from a .wav file.

var watson = require('watson-developer-cloud');
var fs = require('fs');

var speech_to_text = watson.speech_to_text({
  username: '<username>',
  password: '<password>',
  version: 'v1'
});

var params = {
  // From file
  audio: fs.createReadStream('./resources/speech.wav'),
  content_type: 'audio/l16; rate=44100'
};

speech_to_text.recognize(params, function(err, res) {
  if (err)
    console.log(err);
  else
    console.log(JSON.stringify(res, null, 2));
});

// or streaming
fs.createReadStream('./resources/speech.wav')
  .pipe(speech_to_text.createRecognizeStream({ content_type: 'audio/l16; rate=44100' })
  .pipe(fs.createWriteStream('./transcription.txt'));

Text to Speech

Use the Text to Speech service to synthesize text into a .wav file.

var watson = require('watson-developer-cloud');
var fs = require('fs');

var text_to_speech = watson.text_to_speech({
  username: '<username>',
  password: '<password>',
  version: 'v1'
});

var params = {
  text: 'Hello from IBM Watson',
  voice: 'en-US_AllisonVoice', // Optional voice
  accept: 'audio/wav'
};

// Pipe the synthesized text to a file
text_to_speech.synthesize(params).pipe(fs.createWriteStream('output.wav'));

Tradeoff Analytics

Use the Tradeoff Analytics service to find the best phone that minimizes price and weight and maximizes screen size.

var watson = require('watson-developer-cloud');

var tradeoff_analytics = watson.tradeoff_analytics({
  username: '<username>',
  password: '<password>',
  version: 'v1'
});

// From file
var params = require('./resources/problem.json');

tradeoff_analytics.dilemmas(params, function(err, res) {
  if (err)
    console.log(err);
  else
    console.log(JSON.stringify(res, null, 2));
});

Visual Insights

Use the Visual Insights to get insight into the themes present in a collection of images based on their visual appearance/content.

var watson = require('watson-developer-cloud');
var fs = require('fs');

var visual_insights = watson.visual_insights({
  username: '<username>',
  password: '<password>',
  version: 'v1-experimental'
});

var params = {
  images_file: fs.createReadStream('./resources/images.zip')
};

visual_insights.summary(params, function(err, res) {
  if (err)
    console.log(err);
  else
    console.log(JSON.stringify(res, null, 2));
});

Visual Recognition

Use the Visual Recognition service to recognize the following picture.

var watson = require('watson-developer-cloud');
var fs = require('fs');

var visual_recognition = watson.visual_recognition({
  username: '<username>',
  password: '<password>',
  version: 'v1-beta'
});

var params = {
  // From file
  image_file: fs.createReadStream('./resources/car.png')
};

visual_recognition.recognize(params, function(err, res) {
  if (err)
    console.log(err);
  else
    console.log(JSON.stringify(res, 'labels', 2));
});

Running in Bluemix

By default, the library tries to use the Bluemix VCAP_SERVICES environment variable to get the credentials for a given service. You can avoid this by using: use_vcap_services.

var watson = require('watson-developer-cloud');

var concept_expansion = watson.concept_expansion({
  version: 'v1-beta',
  use_vcap_services: false
});

This example fails because you did not provide a username and password and the library will not look into Bluemix for these values.

Unauthenticated requests

By default, the library tries to use Basic Auth and will ask for api_key or username and password and send an Authorization: Basic XXXXXXX. You can avoid this by using:

use_unauthenticated.

var watson = require('watson-developer-cloud');

var dialog = watson.dialog({
  version: 'v1',
  use_unauthenticated: true
});

Debug

This library relies on the request npm module writted by request to call the Watson Services. To debug the apps, add 'request' to the NODE_DEBUG environment variable:

$ NODE_DEBUG='request' node app.js

where app.js is your Node.js file.

Tests

Running all the tests:

$ npm test

Running a specific test:

$ mocha -g '<test name>'

Open Source @ IBM

Find more open source projects on the IBM Github Page.

License

This library is licensed under Apache 2.0. Full license text is available in COPYING.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.