How to use API in actions-on-google - actions-on-google

Question

I have tried the following javascript code, using a railway API in aog for getting names of trains between 2 stations.
train : function(conv,src,dst) {
const options={
method:'GET',
url : `https://api.railwayapi.com/v2/between/source/${src}/dest/${dst}/date/23-09-2018/apikey/<api_key>/`,
json : true
};
var data=[];
return rp(options)
.then(function(parseBody){
for(var i=0;i<2;i++){
data.push(parseBody.trains[i].name);
}
console.log(data);
return conv.ask(data[0] + data[1]);
}).catch(err=>{
console.log("api error" + err);
});
}
When I run it in my computer using terminal(node filename.js) it shows the data[] array with correct values. But when I try to run it from actions-on-google simulator it catches an error as follows...
api errorRequestError: Error: getaddrinfo ENOTFOUND api.railwayapi.com api.railwayapi.com:443

Answer 1

If you are trying to do this using Firebase Cloud Functions (FCF) or the Dialogflow Built-In editor (which uses FCF under the covers), the most likely cause is that you are using the free tier of FCF which does not allow calls outside Google's network.
You can upgrade to the Blaze Plan to get around this. While this does require a credit card to be on file, it includes a free tier which is quite sufficient for some basic testing and probably even some very light usage once you're in production. Once you have your Action approved, you will be eligible to receive cloud credits from Google which can be used to offset costs associated with using Cloud Functions.