add-telegram

name	add-telegram
description	Add Telegram as a channel. Can replace WhatsApp entirely or run alongside it. Also configurable as a control-only channel (triggers actions) or passive channel (receives notifications only).
disable-model-invocation	true

Add Telegram Channel

This skill adds Telegram support to Deus, then walks through interactive setup.

IMPORTANT: Do NOT add git remotes, fetch from external repos, or install npm packages from the public registry during this skill. All channel code is already in the repo under packages/ and src/channels/.

Phase 1: Pre-flight

Check if already applied

Check if Telegram is already configured. If TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN exists in .env, skip to Phase 4 (Registration) or Phase 5 (Verify).

Ask the user

Use AskUserQuestion to collect configuration:

AskUserQuestion: Do you have a Telegram bot token, or do you need to create one?

If they have one, collect it now. If not, we'll create one in Phase 3.

Phase 2: Build Local Packages

The Telegram channel is a local MCP server in packages/. Build the packages in order (core first, then telegram):

cd packages/mcp-channel-core && npm install && npm run build && cd ../..
cd packages/mcp-telegram && npm install && npm run build && cd ../..

Validate

npm run build

Build must be clean before proceeding.

Phase 3: Setup

Create Telegram Bot (if needed)

If the user doesn't have a bot token, tell them:

I need you to create a Telegram bot:

1. Open Telegram and search for @BotFather
2. Send /newbot and follow prompts:
   • Bot name: Something friendly (e.g., "Deus Assistant")
   • Bot username: Must end with "bot" (e.g., "andy_ai_bot")
3. Copy the bot token (looks like 123456:ABC-DEF1234ghIkl-zyx57W2v1u123ew11)

Wait for the user to provide the token.

Configure environment

Add to .env:

TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=<their-token>

Channels auto-enable when their credentials are present — no extra configuration needed.

Sync to container environment:

mkdir -p data/env && cp .env data/env/env

The container reads environment from data/env/env, not .env directly.

Disable Group Privacy (for group chats)

Tell the user:

Important for group chats: By default, Telegram bots only see @mentions and commands in groups. To let the bot see all messages:

1. Open Telegram and search for @BotFather
2. Send /mybots and select your bot
3. Go to Bot Settings > Group Privacy > Turn off

This is optional if you only want trigger-based responses via @mentioning the bot.

Build and restart

npm run build

Restart the service (platform-specific):

• macOS: launchctl kickstart -k gui/$(id -u)/com.deus
• Linux: systemctl --user restart deus
• Windows: nssm restart deus or servy-cli restart --name=deus

Phase 4: Registration

Get Chat ID

Tell the user:

1. Open your bot in Telegram (search for its username)
2. Send /chatid — it will reply with the chat ID
3. For groups: add the bot to the group first, then send /chatid in the group

Wait for the user to provide the chat ID (format: tg:123456789 or tg:-1001234567890).

Register the chat

The chat ID, name, and folder name are needed. Use npx tsx setup/index.ts --step register with the appropriate flags.

For a main chat (responds to all messages):

npx tsx setup/index.ts --step register -- --jid "tg:<chat-id>" --name "<chat-name>" --folder "telegram_main" --trigger "@${ASSISTANT_NAME}" --channel telegram --no-trigger-required --is-main

For additional chats (trigger-only):

npx tsx setup/index.ts --step register -- --jid "tg:<chat-id>" --name "<chat-name>" --folder "telegram_<group-name>" --trigger "@${ASSISTANT_NAME}" --channel telegram

Phase 5: Verify

Test the connection

Tell the user:

Send a message to your registered Telegram chat:

• For main chat: Any message works
• For non-main: @Deus hello or @mention the bot

The bot should respond within a few seconds.

Smoke test

Run the automated smoke test to verify service, DB, and channel connection:

npx tsx setup/index.ts --step smoke-test -- --channel telegram

The smoke test checks: service running, registered group exists, DB write/read works, and channel connection appears in logs.

If the smoke test passes, tell the user "Telegram channel is working."

If it fails, check the STATUS output for the specific failure (service down, no registered group, DB error, or no log connection). Guide the user to fix the issue before proceeding.

After the automated check, also ask the user to send a test message to verify real-time delivery:

Send a message to your registered Telegram chat to confirm real-time delivery.

• For main chat: Any message works
• For non-main: @Deus hello or @mention the bot

Check logs if needed

tail -f logs/deus.log

Troubleshooting

Bot not responding

Check:

1. TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN is set in .env AND synced to data/env/env
2. Chat is registered in SQLite (check with: sqlite3 store/messages.db "SELECT * FROM registered_groups WHERE jid LIKE 'tg:%'")
3. For non-main chats: message includes trigger pattern
4. Service is running: launchctl list | grep deus (macOS) or systemctl --user status deus (Linux)

Bot only responds to @mentions in groups

Group Privacy is enabled (default). Fix:

1. @BotFather > /mybots > select bot > Bot Settings > Group Privacy > Turn off
2. Remove and re-add the bot to the group (required for the change to take effect)

Getting chat ID

If /chatid doesn't work:

• Verify token: curl -s "https://api.telegram.org/bot${TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN}/getMe"
• Check bot is started: tail -f logs/deus.log

After Setup

If running npm run dev while the service is active:

# macOS:
launchctl unload ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.deus.plist
npm run dev
# When done testing:
launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.deus.plist
# Linux:
# systemctl --user stop deus
# npm run dev
# systemctl --user start deus

Agent Swarms (Teams)

After completing the Telegram setup, use AskUserQuestion:

AskUserQuestion: Would you like to add Agent Swarm support? Without it, Agent Teams still work — they just operate behind the scenes. With Swarm support, each subagent appears as a different bot in the Telegram group so you can see who's saying what and have interactive team sessions.

If they say yes, tell the user to run the /add-telegram-swarm skill themselves (it is a user-invoked setup skill and cannot be triggered automatically).

Troubleshooting: Re-authentication

If the bot stops responding or the token becomes invalid:

1. Verify the token is still valid:

   curl -s "https://api.telegram.org/bot${TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN}/getMe" | grep -q '"ok":true' && echo "Token valid" || echo "Token invalid"
   

2. If the token is invalid, generate a new one via @BotFather > /mybots > select bot > API Token > Revoke current token
3. Update the token in .env and sync: mkdir -p data/env && cp .env data/env/env
4. Restart the service — no re-registration needed (the chat ID stays the same)

Common causes of bot failure:

• Token was revoked via BotFather
• Bot was deleted and recreated (new token needed, chat IDs may change for private chats)
• Telegram API rate limiting (wait a few minutes and retry)

Removal

To remove Telegram integration:

1. Remove import from src/channels/index.ts
2. Remove TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN from .env
3. Remove Telegram registrations: sqlite3 store/messages.db "DELETE FROM registered_groups WHERE jid LIKE 'tg:%'"
4. Rebuild and restart