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
Major Changes for v2
-
Breaking: user-supplied credentials are now preferred over Bluemix-supplied credentials.
The order of preference is now:
-
User-supplied credentials passed to the service constructor
-
SERVICE_NAME_USERNAME
and SERVICE_NAME_PASSWORD
environment properties (or SERVICE_NAME_API_KEY
when appropriate)
-
Bluemix-supplied credentials (via the VCAP_SERVICES
JSON-encoded environment property)
-
Client-side support via Browserify
examples/browserify/
shows an example app that generates tokens server-side and uses the SDK client-side via browserify.
Note: Not all services currently support CORS, and therefore not all services can be used client-side.
Of those that do, most require an auth token to be generated server-side via the Authorization Service
-
New recommended method for instantiating services:
var ToneAnalyzerV3 = require('watson-developer-cloud/tone-analyzer/v3');
var toneAnalyzer = new ToneAnalyzerV3({});
This was primarily done to enable smaller bundles for client-side usage, but also gives a small performance boost for server-side usage by only loading the portion of the library that is actually needed.
The following methods will also work, but cause the entire library to be loaded:
var watson = require('watson-developer-cloud');
var toneAnalyzer = new watson.ToneAnalyzerV3({});
var tone_analyzer = watson.tone_analyzer({version: 'v3', });
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.
Data collection opt-out
By default, all requests are logged. This can be disabled of by setting the X-Watson-Learning-Opt-Out
header when creating the service instance:
var myInstance = new watson.WhateverServiceV1({
headers: {
"X-Watson-Learning-Opt-Out": "1"
}
});
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:
-
Log in to Bluemix at https://bluemix.net.
-
Create an instance of the service:
- In the Bluemix Catalog, select the service you want to use.
- 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. - Click Create.
-
Copy your credentials:
- On the left side of the page, click Service Credentials to view your service credentials.
- 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: 'https://stream.watsonplatform.net/text-to-speech/api'
};
authorization.getToken(params, function (err, token) {
if (!token) {
console.log('error:', err);
} else {
}
});
Concept Insights
The Concept Insights has been deprecated, AlchemyLanguage's concept function can be used as a replacement for most Concept Insights use cases; therefore, we encourage existing Concept Insights service users to migrate to AlchemyLanguage.
Conversation
Use the Conversation service to determine the intent of a message.
Note: you must first create a workspace via Bluemix. See the documentation for details.
var watson = require('watson-developer-cloud');
var conversation = watson.conversation({
username: '<username>',
password: '<password>',
version: 'v1',
version_date: '2016-07-01'
});
conversation.message({
input: 'What\'s the weather?',
workspace_id: '<workspace id>'
}, function(err, response) {
if (err) {
console.error(err);
} else {
console.log(JSON.stringify(response, 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',
version_date: '2015-12-01'
});
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'
});
document_conversion.convert({
file: fs.createReadStream('sample-docx.docx'),
conversion_target: document_conversion.conversion_target.ANSWER_UNITS,
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 Translator
Translate text from one language to another or idenfity a language using the Language Translator service.
var watson = require('watson-developer-cloud');
var language_translator = watson.language_translator({
username: '<username>',
password: '<password>',
version: 'v2'
});
language_translator.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_translator.identify({
text: 'The language translator 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!
Relationship Extraction has been deprecated. If you want to continue using Relationship Extraction models, you can now access them with AlchemyLanguage. See the migration guide for details.
Retrieve and Rank
Use the Retrieve and Rank service to enhance search results with machine learning.
var retrieve = watson.retrieve_and_rank({
username: 'INSERT YOUR USERNAME FOR THE SERVICE HERE',
password: 'INSERT YOUR PASSWORD FOR THE SERVICE HERE',
version: 'v1',
url: 'https://gateway.watsonplatform.net/retrieve-and-rank/api'
});
var solrClient = retrieve.createSolrClient({
cluster_id: 'INSERT YOUR CLUSTER ID HERE',
collection_name: 'example_collection'
});
var doc = { id : 1234, title_t : 'Hello', text_field_s: 'some text' };
solrClient.add(doc, function(err) {
if(err) {
console.log('Error indexing document: ' + err);
} else {
console.log('Indexed a document.');
solrClient.commit(function(err) {
if(err) {
console.log('Error committing change: ' + err);
} else {
console.log('Successfully commited changes.');
}
});
}
});
var query = solrClient.createQuery();
query.q({ '*' : '*' });
solrClient.search(query, function(err, searchResponse) {
if(err) {
console.log('Error searching for documents: ' + err);
} else {
console.log('Found ' + searchResponse.response.numFound + ' document(s).');
console.log('First document: ' + JSON.stringify(searchResponse.response.docs[0], 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 = {
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));
});
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',
accept: 'audio/wav'
};
text_to_speech.synthesize(params).pipe(fs.createWriteStream('output.wav'));
Tone Analyzer
Use the Tone Analyzer service to analyze the
emotion, writing and social tones of a text.
var watson = require('watson-developer-cloud');
var tone_analyzer = watson.tone_analyzer({
username: '<username>',
password: '<password>',
version: 'v3',
version_date: '2016-05-19'
});
tone_analyzer.tone({ text: 'Greetings from Watson Developer Cloud!' },
function(err, tone) {
if (err)
console.log(err);
else
console.log(JSON.stringify(tone, null, 2));
});
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'
});
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
The Watson Visual Insights Service will be withdrawn. The Watson Visual Insights Service tile will be removed from the Bluemix catalog on July 3, 2016, after which you cannot provision new instances of this service.
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({
api_key: '<api_key>',
version: 'v3',
version_date: '2016-05-19'
});
var params = {
images_file: fs.createReadStream('./resources/car.png')
};
visual_recognition.classify(params, function(err, res) {
if (err)
console.log(err);
else
console.log(JSON.stringify(res, null, 2));
});
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.