At //BUILD 2017 Microsoft announced support for Cortana Skills and connecting a Cortana Skill into a Bot Framework chatbot; given the number of chatbots out there using Microsoft Bot Framework, this is an extremely exciting move.
In this article I’ll show you how to create your first Cortana Skill from a Bot Framework chatbot and make it talk!
Cortana
If you’re not already familiar with Cortana, this is Microsoft’s “personal assistant” and is available on Windows 10 (version 1607 and above) and a couple of Windows phones (Lumia 950/950 XL), a standalone speaker – like an Amazon Echo – and a plethora of devices that can run the Cortana app, including iOS and Android and plenty of laptops.
You’re going to be seeing a lot more of this little box of tricks (“Bot” of tricks? Box of bots?.. hmm…), so you might as well get in on the act right now!