| name | bot-process-control |
| description | Start, stop, or restart the Telegram sync bot process. TRIGGERS - start bot, stop bot, restart bot, bot process, bot status, bot control. |
| allowed-tools | Read, Bash, Glob, AskUserQuestion |
Bot Process Control
Start, stop, restart, and monitor the Telegram sync bot process. Provides lifecycle management for the bun --watch bot runner with process verification and log access.
Platform: macOS (Apple Silicon)
Self-Evolving Skill: This skill improves through use. If instructions are wrong, parameters drifted, or a workaround was needed — fix this file immediately, don't defer. Only update for real, reproducible issues.
When to Use This Skill
- Start or restart the Telegram bot after configuration changes
- Stop the bot before maintenance or debugging
- Check whether the bot is running and healthy
- Tail recent bot logs to diagnose issues
- Recover from multiple-instance or zombie process scenarios
Requirements
- Bun runtime installed via mise
- Bot source at
~/.claude/automation/claude-telegram-sync/
- Secrets file at
~/.claude/.secrets/ccterrybot-telegram
- mise.toml configured in the bot source directory
Workflow Phases
Phase 1: Status Check
Show current bot process state using pgrep:
pgrep -la 'bun.*src/main.ts'
If no output, the bot is not running. If multiple lines appear, there are duplicate instances that need cleanup.
Phase 2: Ask User Intent
Use AskUserQuestion to determine the desired action:
- start - Launch the bot in background with
bun --watch
- stop - Kill the bot process cleanly
- restart - Stop then start
- logs - Tail recent log output
Phase 3: Execute Action
In production, launchd manages the bot via a compiled Swift runner binary. The runner uses bun --watch, so code changes auto-restart the service.
Restart (production — kill bun, Swift runner respawns it):
pkill -f 'bun.*src/main.ts'
sleep 2
pgrep -la 'bun.*src/main.ts'
Stop (full — kills both runner and bun):
pkill -f 'telegram-bot-runner'
pkill -f 'bun.*src/main.ts'
Start (production — via launchd):
launchctl kickstart -k gui/$(id -u)/com.terryli.telegram-bot
Start (ad-hoc — shell session, for debugging):
cd ~/.claude/automation/claude-telegram-sync && bun --watch run src/main.ts >> /private/tmp/telegram-bot.log 2>&1 &
Logs:
tail -50 /private/tmp/telegram-bot.log
tail -50 ~/.local/state/launchd-logs/telegram-bot/stderr.log
Phase 4: Verify
Confirm the process state changed as expected:
pgrep -la 'bun.*src/main.ts'
TodoWrite Task Templates
1. [Check] Show current bot process status with pgrep
2. [Action] Present start/stop/restart/logs options via AskUserQuestion
3. [Execute] Run the selected action command
4. [Verify] Confirm process state changed as expected
5. [Logs] Optionally tail recent logs for confirmation
6. [Done] Report final process status to user
Post-Change Checklist
Troubleshooting
| Issue | Cause | Solution |
|---|
| Bot not running | Process crashed or was never started | Check with pgrep, runner should auto-respawn; if runner also dead, launchctl kickstart |
| Multiple instances | Previous stop did not fully terminate | pkill -f 'telegram-bot-runner'; pkill -f 'bun.*src/main.ts', then restart via launchd |
| Code changes not picked up | Bot started without --watch | Kill bun process — runner respawns with --watch; or recompile runner if it's outdated |
--watch not reloading | File outside watch scope changed | bun --watch monitors the entry file's dependency tree; config-only changes (mise.toml) need a kill |
| Logs not writing | Log directory missing or permissions | Verify ~/.local/state/launchd-logs/telegram-bot/ exists and is writable |
| bun not found | mise shims not in PATH | Runner sets PATH explicitly; recompile runner if shims path changed |
| Bot starts but crashes immediately | Missing env vars or secrets | Check ~/.claude/.secrets/ccterrybot-telegram exists; verify mise.toml env section |
Reference Documentation
Post-Execution Reflection
After this skill completes, reflect before closing the task:
- Locate yourself. — Find this SKILL.md's canonical path (Glob for this skill's name) before editing. All corrections target THIS file and its sibling references/ — never other documentation.
- What failed? — Fix the instruction that caused it. If it could recur, add it as an anti-pattern.
- What worked better than expected? — Promote it to recommended practice. Document why.
- What drifted? — Any script, reference, or external dependency that no longer matches reality gets fixed now.
- Log it. — Every change gets an evolution-log entry with trigger, fix, and evidence.
Do NOT defer. The next invocation inherits whatever you leave behind.
