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Readme
Watson Developer Cloud Node.js Client
Wrapper 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
- Watson Developer Cloud
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.
Installation
$ npm install watson-developer-cloud --saveUsage
The examples below assume that you already have service credentials. If not, you will have to create and bind the service in Bluemix.
If you are running your application in Bluemix, you don't need to specify the
credentials; the wrapper will get them for you by looking at the VCAP_SERVICES
environment variable.
Getting the Service Credentials
The credentials for the services are stored in the VCAP_SERVICES environment variable. To get them, you need to first create and bind the service to your application.
There are two ways to get the credentials. You can use Bluemix to access your
app and view the VCAP_SERVICES there or you can run:
$ cf env <application-name>Example output:
System-Provided:
{
"VCAP_SERVICES": {
"visual_recognition": [{
"credentials": {
"password": "<password>",
"url": "<url>",
"username": "<username>"
},
"label": "visual_recognition",
"name": "visual-recognition-service",
"plan": "free"
}]
}
}You need to copy username and password.
For Alchemy you only need an api_key, you can register for one here.
Alchemy APIs
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));
});IBM Watson Services
The Watson Developer Cloud offers a variety of services for building cognitive apps.
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'
});
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: 'v1'
});
/*** Annotate Text ***/
var params = {
user: 'wikipedia',
graph: 'en-20120601',
text: 'IBM Watson won the Jeopardy television show hosted by Alex Trebek'
};
// Retrieve the concepts for input text
concept_insights.annotateText(params, function(err, res) {
if (err)
console.log(err);
else {
console.log("\n*** Annotate Text ***\n");
console.log(JSON.stringify(res, null, 2));
}
});
/*** Semantic Search ***/
var payload = {
func: 'semanticSearch',
ids: [
'/graph/wikipedia/en-20120601/Software_development_process',
'/graph/wikipedia/en-20120601/Programming_tool'
],
corpus: 'ibmresearcher',
user: 'public',
limit: 5
};
concept_insights.semanticSearch(payload, function(error, results) {
if (error)
console.log(error);
else {
console.log("\n*** Semantic Search ***\n");
console.log(JSON.stringify(results, 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));
});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_identification.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));
});Message Resonance
Get resonance information for individual words in a sentence from the Message Resonance service.
var watson = require('watson-developer-cloud');
var message_resonance = watson.message_resonance({
username: '<username>',
password: '<password>',
version:'v1'
});
message_resonance.resonance({
text: 'IBM Watson Developer Cloud', dataset: 1 },
function(err, response) {
if (err)
console.log('error:', err);
else
console.log(JSON.stringify(response, 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: '<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',
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'
});
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',
url: 'https://stream.watsonplatform.net/speech-to-text/api'
});
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));
});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',
url: 'https://stream.watsonplatform.net/text-to-speech/api'
});
var params = {
text: 'Hello from IBM Watson',
voice: 'en-US_MichaelVoice', // 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 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'
});
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 wrapper 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',
use_vcap_services: false
});This example fails because you did not provide a username and password and the wrapper will not look into Bluemix for these values.
Unauthenticated requests
By default, the wrapper 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 wrapper 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.jswhere app.js is your Node.js file.
Tests
Running all the tests:
$ npm testRunning 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.

