Query patterns (Dialogflow)

A query pattern defines an example phrase a user might say. The Assistant can match user spoken phrases that are semantically similar using natural language processing.

Query patterns can contain a literal string, conditionals, and arguments using Schema.org types.

Literal string

A query pattern can contain a literal string.

Example: "Start the guess the number game."

Conditionals

Portions of a query pattern can be considered optional. To indicate conditional query patterns, wrap the portion of the phrase in parenthesis and end it with a question mark. The following example defines Start the as optional:

Example: "(Start the)? Guess the number game"

Arguments

A query pattern can collect a portion of the user's input through the use of named arguments (this can also be considered variables). Arguments are specified using the syntax: $Type:argument_name.

Example: "$org.schema.type.Number:number" describes a query pattern that expects an input of a Schema.org number, and that the actual number the user says will be captured in an argument named "number".

Schema.org types

Following is the list of supported Schema.org types used for query patterns:

Custom types

The customTypes object allows you to specify your own types. You can define the name of a custom type and include the following fields in items:

• key: The value of the custom type that corresponds to the strings in synonyms
• synonyms: The possible ways that users may refer to key

The following example defines a custom type for the different ways a person might say "6am".

"customTypes": [
    {
      "name": "$MorningOptions",
      "items": [
        {
          "key": "6am",
          "synonyms": [
            "6 am",
            "6 o clock",
            "oh six hundred",
            "6 in the morning"
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ]