AWS IoT Button Press Slack Notifier via Lambda Function

This project integrates the AWS IoT button with Slack to create an on-demand alert system. Designed primarily as a silent assistance request mechanism, it serves two main use-cases:

1. Guest Help: Allows guests or visitors to signal for assistance.
2. Staff Assistance: Acts as an internal signaling system, especially when staff members find themselves in situations where they might need immediate help from another adult on-site.

Depending on the button's configuration, different messages can be sent to designated Slack channels, giving both flexibility and specificity in communication.

Features

• Easily Configurable: Customize button actions and messages through a simple JSON file.
• Verbose CloudWatch Logging: Gain insights into button presses, messages, and potential errors in real-time.
• Dynamic Slack Webhook: Send notifications to different Slack channels or workspaces based on button configuration.
• Rate Limiting: Prevents button spam by enforcing a 1 minute cooldown period between messages.

Prerequisites

• AWS Account with necessary permissions for Lambda, IoT, and CloudWatch
• Slack Workspace with a configured incoming webhook
• Python installed for deployment steps
• Seeed IoT Button For AWS

Setup

1. Slack Bot Setup

• Create a new Slack App.
• Under Features, activate Incoming Webhooks.
• Add a new webhook to your workspace. Copy the webhook URL, which will be used in the config.json.

2. Configuration File

Create a configuration file (config.json) with the required settings. Expand this file to meet the number of buttons you are deploying:

{
  "WEBHOOK_URL": "https://hooks.slack.com/services/WEBHOOK_URL",
  "BUTTON_CONFIG": {
    "DEVICE_ID": {
      "LOCATION": "Front Desk Guest Assistance",
      "MAC": "MAC_ADDRESS",
      "SINGLE": "Guest needs assistance at the Front Desk",
      "WEBHOOK_URL": null
    },
    "DEVICE_ID": {
      "LOCATION": "Gallery Guest Assistance",
      "MAC": "MAC_ADDRESS",
      "SINGLE": "Guest needs assistance in the Gallery",
      "DOUBLE": "OPTIONAL_DOUBLE_MESSAGE",
      "WEBHOOK_URL": "ALT_URL",
    }
  }
}

In the example file above the following are all user-filled values:

• WEBHOOK_URL
• DEVICE_ID
• LOCATION
• MAC
• ALT_URL

3. Libraries & Packaging

This project requires the requests Python library to send messages to Slack.

To package this library with your Lambda function:

• Download lambda_function.py.
• Create a new directory for your Lambda function.
• Change into that directory using your terminal or command prompt.
• Install the required libraries into that directory:

  pip install requests -t .

• Add your Lambda function script (lambda_function.py) and configuration file (config.json) to this directory.
• Zip the contents of the directory, ensuring the libraries are included.

4. Deploying the Lambda Function

Manual Deployment

• Navigate to AWS Lambda in the AWS Console.
• Create a new function.
• Zip and upload the Lambda function code alongside the required libraries and config.json.
• Assign the necessary execution role.

IoT Button Deployment

• Set up the Seeed IoT Button For AWS using the AWS IoT 1-Click service iOS/Android app.
• For detailed configuration instructions, refer to the Seeed Studio Wiki.

Usage

After deployment, pressing the AWS IoT button will trigger the Lambda function. Depending on the type of press, a specific message from config.json will be sent to Slack.

Troubleshooting

• Check CloudWatch logs for errors or issues during execution.
• Ensure the IoT button is properly set up and triggering the Lambda function.
• Confirm that config.json contains the correct configurations.
• Verify the function isn't affected by the rate limit of 1 message per minute which is applied per-button. You can verify this in the CloudWatch logs. Please note that if you need to modify the rate limit it is presently hard-coded in lambda_function.py. Future revisions will move this option to config.json.

Contributing

If you find any bugs or have ideas for enhancements, please open an issue or submit a pull request.

Development Goals

• Migrate to Google sheets for button-specific configuration: (planned) This would allow users to dynamically change configurations without updating the Lambda function code or config files.
• User-Definable Rate Limiting: Make the rate limit user-definable in the configuration file and not hard-coded to the function.
• Slack Bot Commands: Enable a test / setup mode that disregards button presses for a user-definable period. This would prevent false alerts from being posted while the buttons are deployed.

Credits

Collaborators on this project include ChatGPT by OpenAI.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.