Telegram Bot Message Sender

This Python script allows you to send a message to a personal chat or channel using a Telegram bot. It utilizes the python-telegram-bot library to interact with Telegram's API asynchronously.

Features

• Sends custom messages to a personal chat or Telegram channel
• Uses the Telegram Bot API to interact with Telegram
• Scheduled message sending capabilities

Requirements

• Python 3.7+
• Telegram Bot Token
• Python Libraries:
  • python-telegram-bot
  • python-dotenv
  • asyncio

GitHub Actions Workflows

This repository includes several automated workflows:

📅 Scheduled Message Sender (scheduled-message.yml)

• Triggers: Daily at 9:00 AM UTC (configurable), Manual dispatch
• Features:
  • Automated daily message sending
  • Custom message input via workflow dispatch
  • Secure environment variable handling
  • Execution logging

Setup and Usage

Local Development

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/cambridgeitcollege/TelegramBot
   cd TelegramBotCode

2. Set up a virtual environment (optional but recommended):

   python3 -m venv venv
   source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: venv\Scripts\activate

3. Install dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

4. Set up the environment variables:

   • Create a .env file in the root of the project:

   cp .env.example .env

   • Edit the .env file and add your credentials:
     • BOTAPIKEY: Get this by creating a bot via @BotFather on Telegram
     • CHATID: Your personal chat ID or channel ID

5. Run the Script:

   python3 main.py

GitHub Actions Setup

To use the automated workflows, you need to set up repository secrets:

1. Rename the Folder:

   • Rename the folder .github.example/workflows to .github/workflows

2. Go to your GitHub repository → Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions

3. Add the following secrets:

   • BOTAPIKEY: Your Telegram bot API key
   • CHATID: Your chat or channel ID

4. Available Workflows:

   • Manual Message Sending: Go to Actions → "Scheduled Message Sender" → "Run workflow"
   • Automated Daily Messages: Runs automatically at 9:00 AM UTC

Customizing Messages

You can customize the message by:

1. Direct code modification: Edit the message variable in main.py

2. GitHub Actions manual trigger: Use the workflow dispatch feature to send custom messages

3. Scheduled messages: Modify the cron schedule in .github/workflows/scheduled-message.yml

Project Structure

TelegramBotCode/
├── .github/
│   └── workflows/
│       ├── scheduled-message.yml     # Scheduled Message Sender
├── .env.example                     # Environment variables template
├── .gitignore                       # Git ignore file
├── main.py                          # Main bot script
├── requirements.txt                 # Python dependencies
├── README.md                        # Project documentation
├── LICENSE                          # MIT License
├── CodeOfConduct.md                 # Code of conduct
├── Contribution.md                  # Contribution guidelines

Contributing

We welcome contributions! If you'd like to contribute to this Telegram Bot project, please check out our Contribution Guidelines.

Code of Conduct

Please review our Code of Conduct before participating in this project.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

Acknowledgments

• python-telegram-bot - Python wrapper for Telegram Bot API
• GitHub Actions - For automation and CI/CD