Particle Telegram Bot

This write-up will show how a Particle device can send Telegram messages.

Create a Telegram bot

Step 1: create your bot

Follow the instructions here.

You can name your bot Particle and the username MyParticleBot.

In my case, I entered: /start, /newbot, Particle, and MyParticleBot:

Step 2: save the HTTP API Token

BotFather will give you an HTTP API token with a pattern like 123456789:AABBCCDD_abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz. Save it since you need it to send messages.

Step 3: get your Telegram user ID

I- Click on the t.me/MyParticleBot link displayed by FatherBot after creating your bot. This will open the bot chat.

II- Send any message to your new bot (from that bot chat).

III- Open https://api.telegram.org/bot<HTTP API token>/getUpdates. You got the HTTP API token in step 2.

Example:

https://api.telegram.org/bot123456789:AABBCCDD_abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz/getUpdates

IV- Look for a field called id, for example, 1234562301, and write it down. This is your Telegram user ID.

Step 4: test it from the command line

curl -X POST \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{"chat_id": "<Telegram User ID>", "text": "test 123" }' \
https://api.telegram.org/bot<HTTP API token>/sendMessage

Replace <Telegram User ID> and <HTTP API token> with yours. Example:

curl -X POST \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{"chat_id": "1234562301", "text": "test 123" }' \
https://api.telegram.org/bot123456789:AABBCCDD_abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz/sendMessage

You should receive the message in your Telegram Bot:

Create a Particle webhook

Open the Integrations section of your Particle console and create a new Webhook (here's the link).

Name it telegramWebhook and enter the info so it looks like the picture below.

Replace <HTTP API token> on the URL and <Telegram User ID> on the custom body with yours (see red boxes):

Code the firmware

The firmware has to trigger the webhook with the message you want to send.

On a Particle device, this can be done as follows:

Particle.publish("telegramWebhook", "the button was clicked!", PRIVATE | WITH_ACK);

You can add that publish command above to any of your projects.

I am providing an example firmware here to test everything works fine. It will send a message every time you tap on the MODE button of your Particle device. You will receive this message on your Bot:

That's all!

Need help?

If you require professional help with your projects, don't hesitate to write me at gusgonnet@gmail.com. Thank you!

You can check all my projects here.