Telegram AI Bot Setup Guide

Overview

Telegram is the perfect interface for your personal AI assistant. Instead of switching between apps, chat with your AI directly in Telegram - the same app you use for messaging friends and family. Your VPS handles all the AI processing while Telegram provides a familiar, always-available interface.

Why Telegram?

| Feature | Benefit | |---------|---------| | Universal | Works on every device | | Fast | Instant message delivery | | Audio Messages | Send voice, get voice back | | Rich Media | Images, files, formatting | | Notifications | Never miss a response | | Private | End-to-end encryption available | | No New App | Use what you already have |

Architecture

Your Phone (Telegram App)
    ↓
[Telegram Bot API]
    ↓
[Your VPS - OpenClaw]
    ↓
[AI Provider (Claude/GPT)]
    ↓
Response back via Telegram

Setup Guide

Step 1: Create Telegram Bot

1. Open Telegram and search for @BotFather
2. Send /newbot
3. Choose a name: "My AI Assistant"
4. Choose username: myai_assistant_bot (must end in bot)
5. Save the API token provided

✅ Done! Your bot is ready.
Token: 123456789:ABCdefGHIjklMNOpqrsTUVwxyz

Step 2: VPS Configuration

# Telegram Settings
TELEGRAM_ENABLED=true
TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=123456789:ABCdefGHIjklMNOpqrsTUVwxyz

# Restrict to your user ID only (security)
TELEGRAM_ALLOWED_USERS=your_telegram_user_id

# AI Provider
AI_PROVIDER=anthropic
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your-key
AI_MODEL=claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022

Step 3: Find Your Telegram User ID

1. Search for @userinfobot on Telegram
2. Send any message to it
3. It will reply with your user ID
4. Add this to TELEGRAM_ALLOWED_USERS

Step 4: Start the Bot

cd /opt/openclaw
pm2 restart openclaw

# Verify it's running
pm2 logs openclaw

Step 5: Test Connection

Open your bot in Telegram and send:

Hello! Can you tell me who you are?

Features

Text Conversations

Standard chat works immediately:

You: What's the capital of France? Bot: The capital of France is Paris.

Voice Messages

Send voice notes and get voice responses back:

# Enable voice features
VOICE_ENABLED=true
WHISPER_API_KEY=your-groq-or-openai-key
ELEVENLABS_API_KEY=your-key  # For voice responses

You: 🎤 "Hey, what's on my calendar today?" Bot: 🎤 "You have three meetings scheduled..."

Image Understanding

Send images for analysis:

You: [Photo of a receipt] Bot: "This receipt shows a purchase of £45.99 at Tesco on January 15th. Items include milk, bread, and coffee."

Rich Formatting

Telegram supports Markdown:

**Bold text**
*Italic text*
`Code snippets`
• Bullet lists

Personalization

Give Your Bot a Personality

SYSTEM_PROMPT="You are Navi, a helpful personal assistant. You're knowledgeable, friendly, and slightly playful. You remember user preferences and past conversations. Address the user by name when appropriate."

BOT_NAME=Navi

Custom Commands

Set up slash commands via BotFather:

1. Message @BotFather
2. Send /setcommands
3. Select your bot
4. Send command list:

start - Start conversation
help - Show available commands
status - Check system status
clear - Clear conversation context
settings - View current settings

Advanced Configuration

Conversation Memory

# Remember past conversations
MEMORY_ENABLED=true
MEMORY_RETENTION_DAYS=30
MAX_CONTEXT_MESSAGES=50

Daily Briefings

Get morning reports automatically:

# Morning briefing at 7 AM
DAILY_BRIEFING_ENABLED=true
DAILY_BRIEFING_TIME=07:00
DAILY_BRIEFING_TIMEZONE=Europe/London

Bot sends at 7 AM:

☀️ Good morning! Here's your briefing:

📅 Calendar: 3 meetings today
✅ Tasks: 5 due today
🌤️ Weather: 12°C, partly cloudy

Have a great day!

Multi-User Setup

For family or team use:

# Allow multiple users
TELEGRAM_ALLOWED_USERS=123456789,987654321,456789123

# Optional: Different personas per user
MULTI_USER_PROFILES=true

Security

Essential Settings

# Only respond to authorized users
TELEGRAM_ALLOWED_USERS=your_id_here

# Rate limiting
MAX_MESSAGES_PER_MINUTE=10

# Don't respond in groups (optional)
TELEGRAM_PRIVATE_ONLY=true

Webhook vs Polling

Polling (Default): Bot checks for messages periodically

TELEGRAM_MODE=polling
TELEGRAM_POLL_INTERVAL=1000

Webhook (Better for production): Telegram sends messages to your server

TELEGRAM_MODE=webhook
TELEGRAM_WEBHOOK_URL=https://yourdomain.com/telegram/webhook

Webhook requires HTTPS. Use with nginx:

location /telegram/webhook {
    proxy_pass http://localhost:3000;
}

Integration Examples

Connect to Your Services

Your Telegram bot can access anything your VPS can:

# Home Assistant
HOME_ASSISTANT_URL=http://homeassistant:8123
HOME_ASSISTANT_TOKEN=your-token

# Notion
NOTION_API_KEY=your-key

# Todoist
TODOIST_API_KEY=your-key

You: "Add 'Buy milk' to my shopping list" Bot: "Added 'Buy milk' to your Todoist shopping list ✓"

You: "Turn off the living room lights" Bot: "Done! Living room lights are now off."

File Handling

Send and receive files:

You: [PDF document] Bot: "I've read the document. It's a 12-page report about Q4 sales. Key highlights: Revenue up 15%, new customer acquisition increased 23%..."

Troubleshooting

Bot not responding

# Check bot status
pm2 status openclaw

# View logs
pm2 logs openclaw --lines 50

# Test Telegram API
curl https://api.telegram.org/bot<YOUR_TOKEN>/getMe

"Unauthorized" errors

• Verify your user ID is in TELEGRAM_ALLOWED_USERS
• Check token is correct
• Ensure bot hasn't been banned

Slow responses

• Check AI provider status
• Verify VPS has adequate resources
• Consider Claude Haiku for faster responses

Messages not delivering

1. Check bot is running: pm2 status
2. Verify webhook URL (if using webhooks)
3. Check firewall allows Telegram IPs

Tips for Best Experience

Quick Actions

Set up keyboard shortcuts:

// In bot config
const quickReplies = [
  ['📋 Tasks', '🏠 Home', '📅 Calendar'],
  ['💡 Lights', '🎵 Music', '⚙️ Settings']
];

Pin Important Chats

Pin your bot conversation in Telegram for quick access.

Use Telegram Desktop

For longer conversations, use Telegram Desktop on your computer for easier typing.

Cost Comparison

VPS + Telegram vs Subscription Services

| Service | Monthly Cost | |---------|--------------| | ChatGPT Plus | £20/month | | Claude Pro | £18/month | | Your VPS Bot | ~£15-30/month total |

With your VPS bot:

• Unlimited conversations
• Multiple integrations
• Full customization
• No feature restrictions

Related Guides

• Install OpenClaw
• Voice messages
• Home Assistant integration
• Notion integration

Need Help?

Setting up Telegram integration is straightforward, but connecting all your services requires expertise. Our setup service includes full Telegram configuration with your preferred integrations.