How does Hubot run a function regularly without any command?

Question

I am trying to make a function for hubot to send a message every 5 minutes to a room without any command, only by myself.

module.exports = (robot, scripts) ->
  setTimeout () ->
    setInterval () ->
      msg.send "foo"
    , 5 * 60 * 1000
  , 5 * 60 * 1000

What do i need to change?

Answer 1

Use node-cron.

$ npm install --save cron time

And your script should look like this:

# Description:
#   Defines periodic executions

module.exports = (robot) ->
  cronJob = require('cron').CronJob
  tz = 'America/Los_Angeles'
  new cronJob('0 0 9 * * 1-5', workdaysNineAm, null, true, tz)
  new cronJob('0 */5 * * * *', everyFiveMinutes, null, true, tz)

  room = 12345678

  workdaysNineAm = ->
    robot.emit 'slave:command', 'wake everyone up', room

  everyFiveMinutes = ->
    robot.messageRoom room, 'I will nag you every 5 minutes'

More details: https://leanpub.com/automation-and-monitoring-with-hubot/read#leanpub-auto-periodic-task-execution

Answer 2

In fact, the hubot documentation shows the use of setInterval()and setTimeout()without the use of additional modules.

You can even do this inline by binding to the msg object. For instance:

module.exports = (robot) ->
  updateId = null

  robot.respond /start/i, (msg) ->
      msg.update = () ->                        # this is your update
          console.log "updating"                # function

      if not this.updateId                      # and here it
          this.updateId = setInterval () ->     # gets
             msg.update()                       # periodically
          , 60*1000                             # triggered minutely
          msg.send("starting")

Answer 3

, msg.send . robot.messageRoom ( , ).