How to Setup a Telegram Bot

Phalcon can message the alerts into Telegram. The basic idea is first to create a Telegram Bot and then send the messages on behalf of this Telegram Bot. Users can add this Telegram Bot to any Telegram group or directly communicate it with a Telegram user.

Note that, in both cases, Phalcon will send messages on behalf of the Telegram Bot. We require two pieces of information.

• API Token: the token used to send messages on behalf of the bot.

• Chat ID: the chat ID. This information denotes the destination of the alerts, which can be a telegram group (which the Telegram bot joins) or a telegram user (with a direct conversation with the Bot).

Related Resources:

https://core.telegram.org/bots/features

How to Create and Get a Bot's API Token?

Creating a bot is streamlined by Telegram’s Bot API, which gives the tools and framework required to integrate your code. You can also use BotFatther to create a bot.

Search "BotFather" on your Telegram, message @BotFather on Telegram to register a name for your bot, and receive its API token.

Your bot token is its unique identifier – store it in a secure place and only share it with people who need direct access to the bot. Everyone who has your token will have complete control over your bot.

How to Get the Chat ID

The Chat ID of a Telegram Group

If you have added the bot to a Telegram group, we need to know the chat ID of the group since Phalcon's alerts will be sent to the group.

Option 1: Use a @getmyid_bot

Invite a bot named https://t.me/getmyid_bot into the Telegram group, and the Chat ID will be automatically returned by the bot (remember to remove the bot after obtaining the Chat ID).

Note that, there are other similar bots available, use the one you are familiar with.

Option 2: Use Telegram API

• Step 1: Invite the bot you created to a designated Telegram group, and then send a message in that Telegram chat.

• Step 2: Enter https://api.telegram.org/botToken/getUpdates in your browser. Replace the red text with the API token provided by @BotFather, and you will receive the following JSON.

"my_chat_member": {
    "chat": {
        "id": -41XXXXXXXX,
        "title": "XXXXXXX",   <--- This is the Telegram group name you created
        "type": "group", 
        "all_members_are_administrators": false
    },
}   

• Step 3: Find the Chat ID from "chat:" id":-41XXXXXXXX.

The Chat ID of a Direct Telegram Conversation

The message can also be sent to a direct telegram conversation with a user. Let's say the user is @TESTUSER, and he/she can directly communicate with this bot.

• Step 1: Send a message to the Telegram Bot, e.g., hello.

• Step 2: Enter https://api.telegram.org/botToken/getUpdates in your browser. Replace the red text with the API token provided by @BotFather, and you will receive the following JSON. Find the hello message you just sent in the returned JSON.

"message": {
    "message_id": 9,
    "from": {
        "id": 14xxxxxxxx,    <--- The chat ID of TESTUSER
        "is_bot": false,
        "first_name": "TEST",  
        "last_name": "USER",
        "username": "XXXXX",
        "language_code": "en"
    },
    "date": 1707293332,
    "text": "hello"          <-- The hello message
}

Step 3: Find the Chat ID that matches the message hello.