Introduction

In this guide we'll walk through the process of linking Cerb to Telegram. You'll be able to use Telegram's full Bot API for text and voice messaging in Cerb automations.

Get a Telegram Bot Token.

Open a Telegram chat with the BotFather

Type the command /newbot to create a new bot.

Give the bot a name and username (eg. Example, ExampleBot)

Copy the authorization token for use later.

Create the Telegram service in Cerb

Navigate to Search » Connected Services.
Click the (+) icon in the top right of the list.
Select Telegram.
Paste the token you copied earlier in the Bot Token field.
Click the Create button.

Set a Webhook

In order to properly use your new Telegram Bot in Cerb, you need to set up a webhook.

Navigate to Search » Webhooks
Click the (+) icon in the top right of the list.
Name the webhook.
Copy the Webhook URL.
Run the following automation (for more info see https://core.telegram.org/bots/api#setwebhook):

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start:
  http.request/setwebhook:
    output: http_response
    inputs:
      method: POST
      url: https://api.telegram.org/bot/setWebhook
      authentication: cerb:connected_account:telegram
      headers:
        Content-Type: application/json
      body:
        url: https://cerb.example/webhook/abcdef123456
        allowed_updates@csv: message
    on_success:
      set:
        response@json: {{http_response.body}}
        http_response@json: null

Use your webhook URL on Line 11 above.

The webhook will receive requests in the format outlined here: https://core.telegram.org/bots/api#update

From here you can set an automation to respond to the webhook however you want.

Examples

Test Authorization

https://core.telegram.org/bots/api#getme

start:
  http.request/test:
    output: http_response
    inputs:
      method: GET
      url: https://api.Telegram.io/bot/getMe
      authentication: cerb:connected_account:Telegram
      headers:
        Content-Type: application/json
    on_success:
      set:
        response@json: {{http_response.body}}
        http_response@json: null

Send a Message

https://core.telegram.org/bots/api#sendmessage

start:
  http.request/chat:
    output: http_response
    inputs:
      method: GET
      url: https://api.Telegram.io/bot/sendMessage
      authentication: cerb:connected_account:Telegram
      headers:
        Content-Type: application/json
      body:
        chat_id: [your chat or group ID]
        text: hello testing testing 123
    on_success:
      set:
        response@json: {{http_response.body}}
        http_response@json: null