LIFF v2 starter app

This is a small web application that demonstrates the basic functionality of the LINE Front-end Framework (LIFF).

:earth_americas: Read this in Japanese: 日本語

Deploy methods

Depending on how you want to use LIFF, choose one of these methods for deploying the LIFF v2 starter app:

• If you merely want to try the functions LIFF offers, see Use Heroku button to deploy the app without using the terminal
• If you want to develop a LIFF app using Heroku and Node.js, see Customize the app and deploy it on Heroku via the terminal
• If you want to develop a LIFF app using a server platform of your choice, see Use any other server platform

Use Heroku button to deploy the app without using the terminal

Follow the below instructions to deploy your app using the Heroku button and Node.js without customization.

What you'll need

| Item | Description | | ---- | ----------- | | LINE Login channel | A LINE Login channel forms the connection between your app and LINE Login. Create a channel on the LINE Developers Console. | | Heroku account (optional) | Heroku is a cloud service that lets you deploy and serve web apps. You don't need a Heroku account if you're deploying the app on another platform. |

Deploy the app using 'Deploy to Heroku' button

1. Click Deploy to Heroku above.
2. On the "Create New App" page in Heroku, fill in the required information.
3. Click Deploy app.
4. Click View to confirm that your app is successfully deployed. You should see a page with the text "You have not assigned any value for LIFF ID".
5. Take a note of your app's URL (

   https://{Heroku app name}.herokuapp.com

   ). You'll need it when you add the app to LIFF.

Add the starter app to LIFF

1. Follow the instructions on the page Adding a LIFF app.
2. Take a note of your LIFF ID, because you'll need it for the next part. The LIFF ID is the final part of the LIFF URL shown in the console:

   https://liff.line.me/{liffId}

   .
3. Locate the Scope option and click the Edit button.
4. Click the View all option, enable

   chat_message.write

   . This scope is required for the LIFF app to send messages on behalf of the user.
5. If the status of the channel is "Developing", click the Developing status button and publish the channel.

Pass your LIFF ID to the app using an environment variable

1. In Heroku, go to Dashboard.
2. Select your app.
3. On the Settings tab, click Reveal Config Vars.
4. Enter a new key called

   MY_LIFF_ID

   with your LIFF ID as the value.
5. Click Add to save.
6. Browse back to your app's URL (

   https://{Heroku app name}.herokuapp.com

   ) and confirm that your app is operational. You should see a number of buttons, such as Open External Window and Close LIFF App.

For more information about how to try the app, see Trying the app.

Checking logs

To get more information, you can check your app's logs using Heroku's GUI or Heroku CLI.

Check your app's logs using Heroku's GUI

To get more information, check your app's logs online:

1. In Heroku, go to Dashboard.
2. Select the app you just created.
3. In the top-right corner, click More.
4. Click View logs.

You'll find the log under Application Logs.

Check your app's logs using Heroku CLI

1. Log in to Heroku from the command line (if you haven't already).

   $ heroku login
   

2. Check the logs.

   $ heroku logs --app {Heroku app name} --tail
   

Customize the app and deploy it on Heroku via the terminal

Follow the below instructions to deploy your customized app using Heroku and Node.js.

Install the app on your local machine

1. Make sure you have the following installed.

- [Git](https://git-scm.com/)
- [Node.js](https://nodejs.org/en/)
- Items listed [here](#what-youll-need)

1. Clone the line-liff-starter GitHub repository.

   git clone https://github.com/line/line-liff-v2-starter
   

2. cd

   into

   line-liff-v2-starter

   directory.

3. Install the dependencies by running:

   shell
   $ npm install
   

Link your local repository to Heroku

1. Log in to Heroku from the command line.

   $ heroku login
   

2. Create a named Heroku app.

   $ heroku create {Heroku app name}
   

3. Take a note of your app's URL (

   https://{Heroku app name}.herokuapp.com

   ). You'll need it when you add the app to LIFF.

4. Add a remote for Heroku to your local repository.

   $ heroku git:remote -a {Heroku app name}
   

Add the starter app to LIFF

1. Follow the instructions on the page Adding a LIFF app.
2. Take a note of your LIFF ID, because you'll need it for the next part. The LIFF ID is the final part of the LIFF URL shown in the console:

   https://liff.line.me/{liffId}

   .
3. Locate the Scope option and click the Edit button.
4. Click the View all option, enable

   chat_message.write

   . This scope is required for the LIFF app to send messages on behalf of the user.
5. If the status of the channel is "Developing", click the Developing status button and publish the channel.

Customize and deploy the app via terminal

1. Set your LIFF ID using an environment variable.

   heroku config:set MY_LIFF_ID={liffId}
   

2. Copy your environment variable into the

   .env

   file for local testing.

   Heroku recommends setting up an

   .env

   file to use an environment variable in a local environment.

   shell
   $ heroku config:get MY_LIFF_ID -s  >> .env
   

   Note: Don't commit the

   .env

   file to GitHub. To exclude it, add the

   .env

   file to your

   .gitignore

   .

3. Customize your app. For more information about available LIFF methods, see API reference.

4. Run the app locally to preview your changes:

   heroku local
   

   View the app by browsing to localhost:5000.

5. If you're happy with your changes, stage, commit, and deploy the app.

   $ git add .
   $ git commit -m "My first commit"
   $ git push heroku master
   

6. Browse to your app's URL (

   https://{Heroku app name}.herokuapp.com

   ) and confirm that your app is operational. You should see a number of buttons, such as Open External Window and Close LIFF App.

7. Lastly, check whether your channel status is Published.

For more information about how to try the app, see Trying the app.

Checking logs

To get more information, check your app's logs using Heroku's GUI or Heroku CLI. Refer to this section for more information.

Deploy the app using any other server platform

Follow the below instructions to deploy your app using the server platform of your choice.

Prerequisites

| Item | Description | | ---- | ----------- | | LINE Login channel | A LINE Login channel forms the connection between your app and LINE Login. Create a channel on the LINE Developers Console. |

Clone the repository

1. Clone the line-liff-starter repository.

   git clone https://github.com/line/line-liff-v2-starter
   

2. cd

   into

   line-liff-v2-starter

   directory.

Prepare your app and server

1. Set the

   useNodeJS

   variable to

   false

   in

   public/liff-starter.js

   .

   const useNodeJS = false;  
   

2. Remove Heroku and Node.js specific files (

   app.json

   ,

   index.js

   ,

   package.json

   , and

   Procfile

   ) from your workspace.

3. Host the files on a web server.

Add the starter app to LIFF

1. Follow the instructions on the page Adding a LIFF app.

2. Take a note of your LIFF ID, because you'll need it for the next part. The LIFF ID is the final part of the LIFF URL shown in the console:

   https://liff.line.me/{liffId}

3. Set your LIFF ID to the

   defaultLiffId

   variable in

   public/liff-starter.js

   .

   shell
   const defaultLiffId = "{liffId}"; 
   

Trying the app

Try the app in LINE

You can open your LIFF app in LINE by creating a simple link from any chat:

1. In any LINE chat, type

   https://liff.line.me/{liffId}

   and send the message. (For example, if your LIFF ID is

   123456789

   , send the message

   https://liff.line.me/123456789

   .)
2. Tap the link in your own message.
3. Agree to grant the required permissions to the LIFF app.

Try the app in your browser

To open your LIFF app in your browser, enter the app's Heroku URL:

https://{Heroku app name}.herokuapp.com

App features

You'll find the following buttons in the starter app.

ℹ️ Some buttons are available only in either LINE's in-app browser or in a regular browser. See also the API reference.

| Button | Description | LIFF browser | External browser | | ------ | ----------- | :------------: | :---------------: | | Open External Window | Opens

https://line.me

chat_message.write

For API calls associated with the buttons, see Calling the LIFF API.