NLP.js NLU Integration

Turn raw text into structured meaning with the Jovo Framework integration for the open source natural language understanding service NLP.js.

NLP.js is an open source natural language understanding (NLU) library with features like entity extraction, sentiment analysis, and language detection.

Since it is an open source service, you can host NLP.js on your own servers without any external API calls.

You can use the Jovo NLP.js integration for projects where you receive raw text input that needs to be translated into structured meaning to work with the Jovo intent structure. Learn more in the NLU integration docs.

Smaller NLP.js language models are fast to train and can even be used on serverless infrastructure like AWS Lambda without having to use any additional server infrastructure. We recommend taking a close look at the execution times though, as larger models can take quite some time to build.

You can install the plugin like this:

$ npm install @jovotech/nlu-nlpjs

NLU plugins can be added to Jovo platform integrations. Here is an example how it can be added to the Jovo Core Platform in your app.ts app configuration:

import { CorePlatform } from '@jovotech/platform-core';
import { NlpjsNlu } from '@jovotech/nlu-nlpjs';

// ...

app.configure({
  plugins: [
    new CorePlatform({
      plugins: [new NlpjsNlu()],
    }),
    // ...
  ],
});

The following configurations can be added:

new NlpjsNlu({
  languageMap: { /* ... */ },
  preTrainedModelFilePath: './model.nlp',
  useModel: false,
  modelsPath: './models',
  setupModelCallback: (platform: Platform, nlpjs) => { /* ... */ },
}),

• languageMap: Maps locales to NLP.js language packages. The default is an empty object. See language configuration for more information.
• useModel and preTrainedModelFilePath: NLP.js can take a pre-trained model if useModel is set to true. It looks for the model in the preTrainedModelFilePath. The default is ./model.nlp.
• setupModelCallback: A function that can be passed to set up NLP.js. The first parameter is the current Platform and the second parameter is the Nlp-instance of NLP.js.

Depending on the configuration, NlpjsNlu will try to use the setupModelCallback if it exists. Otherwise, the integration will check if useModel is set to true, if that's the case, the model is getting loaded from preTrainedModelFilePath. If setupModelCallback does not exist and useModel is falsy, the integration will attempt to build a model based on the local models and train it.

For each language you want to use with NLP.js, you need to download the respective language package. Here is an example for en (English):

$ npm install @nlpjs/lang-en

You can then add this to your languageMap:

import { LangEn } from '@nlpjs/lang-en';
// ...

new NlpjsNlu({
  languageMap: {
    en: LangEn,
    // ...
  },
  // ...
}),

Each key (in the above case en) represents a locale that can be found in your Jovo Model.

You can find more information about supported languages and available packages in the official NLP.js docs.

You can access NLP.js entities by using the $entities property. You can learn more in the Jovo Model and the $entities documentation.

The NLP.js entity values are translated into the following Jovo entity properties:

{
  value: utteranceText, // what the user said
  resolved: option, // the resolved value
  id: option, // same as resolved, since NLP.js doesn't support IDs
  native: { /* raw API response for this entity */ }
}

You can use the Jovo Model to turn the language model files in your models folder into an NLP.js model. Learn more about the NLP.js Jovo Model integration here.

NLP.js does not support multiple entities of the same type in the same phrase, for example fly from {fromCity} to {toCity}. In that example, it is possible that the input fly from Berlin to Amsterdam is mapped to two toCity entities.

If you need to use a pattern like this, we recommend taking a look at other NLU integrations like Snips NLU.