C# 8 and .NET Core 3 Projects Using Azure - Second Edition

Channels

Before we talk about Direct Line and what it is, we should discuss what a channel is in respect to a bot. Let's look at the following image:

This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of channels, but it is an attempt to illustrate that a channel is simply an interface between an application and the bot—for example, you could link your bot up to Slack, should you wish to do so.

There are two channels here that stand out: Direct Line and Web Chat. Let's look at them briefly.