Hubot provides the framework for a bot that responds to messages in a team's chat service. Scripts define what the bot does, while adapters connect it to the selected chat platform. It is useful for custom commands, notifications and operational workflows that should be accessible from a conversation. Any powerful action still needs its own authorization rules: the framework does not decide which users should be allowed to deploy software or access sensitive systems.
Current guidance
The current hubotio/hubot repository distributes the framework through npm and documents separate adapters for chat services. An old Hubot container or chart may bundle a very different Node.js runtime and script set.
The upstream README specifically notes that version 11 removes CoffeeScript and changes the codebase to ECMAScript modules. Inventory CoffeeScript files, CommonJS imports, external scripts and the selected adapter before upgrading. Test actual message handling and error paths instead of assuming that a successful npm install means the bot still responds correctly.
Operational permissions belong to each script as well as the chat identity. Review who can trigger a deployment, read a secret or call an external API through the bot; channel membership alone may be insufficient authorization. Keep tokens outside the image, decide whether bot memory needs a durable store, and avoid duplicate consumers when scaling replicas. A framework upgrade does not certify every community adapter or provide a safe approval policy for custom automation.
Historical upstream link check · 2026-10-09
The recorded upstream address responded successfully (HTTP 200) on 2026-10-09. Link availability does not certify the historical installation instructions or current security support.
Website availability is separate from project, chart and image support. Use the current guidance and primary sources on this page to assess the distribution.
Historical Kubedex content
Preserved for context. Commands, versions, prices and results below reflect the original research.
Hubot is your friendly robot sidekick. Install him in your company to dramatically improve employee efficiency. Hubot is a framework to build chatbots, modeled after GitHub’s Campfire bot of the same name, hubot. He’s pretty cool. He’s extendable with scripts and can work on many different chat services.
This repository provides a library that’s distributed by npm that you use for building your own bots. See the documentation for details on getting up and running with your very own robot friend.
No seriously, what is Hubot?
GitHub, Inc., wrote the first version of Hubot to automate our company chat room. Hubot knew how to deploy the site, automate a lot of tasks, and be a source of fun around the office. Eventually, he grew to become a formidable force in GitHub, but he led a private, messy life. So we rewrote him.
Today’s version of Hubot is open source, written in CoffeeScript on Node.js, and easily deployed on platforms like Heroku. More importantly, Hubot is a standardized way to share scripts between everyone’s robots.
What can Hubot do?
We ship Hubot with a small group of core scripts: things like posting images, translating languages, and integrating with Google Maps. We also maintain a repository of community Hubot scripts and an organization of community Hubot packages that you can add to your own robot.
The real fun happens when you add your own scripts. Be sure to personalize your Hubot, too; your company’s robot should be a place full of inside jokes, custom integrations, and general merriment.
Sources & further reading
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