Botkit

A leading open-source chatbot development framework, now integrated into Microsoft's Bot Framework ecosystem following the 2018 acquisition of parent company XOXCO.

Botkit, now part of Microsoft Bot Framework, is an open-source toolkit that enables developers to build chatbots, messaging bots, and conversational applications across a wide range of platforms including Slack, Microsoft Teams, Facebook Messenger, Twilio, and more. Originally created by XOXCO, Botkit gained widespread adoption in the developer community for its intuitive, event-driven programming model that abstracts the complexity of messaging platform APIs into a clean, accessible framework built on Node.js. In November 2018, Microsoft acquired XOXCO — the company behind Botkit — to strengthen its conversational AI capabilities and integrate Botkit's developer community with the Microsoft Bot Framework ecosystem. The acquisition brought together two of the most prominent bot development communities, with Microsoft positioning Botkit as a complementary, open-source entry point into its broader Azure AI and Bot Framework stack. Post-acquisition, Botkit was integrated with the Microsoft Bot Framework SDK, allowing developers to leverage Azure Cognitive Services, LUIS (Language Understanding), and other Microsoft AI tools alongside Botkit's familiar programming model. While Botkit is not a traditional AdTech company, it plays a meaningful role in the conversational marketing and customer engagement space, enabling brands and developers to build automated, intelligent messaging experiences. Its open-source nature, extensive platform integrations, and backing by Microsoft make it a significant tool for enterprises and developers looking to deploy conversational interfaces at scale. The GitHub repository remains active and the framework continues to serve a large global developer community.