Ed Donner：AI Agents 实战课

How to Use Telegram for Notifications (Free Alternative)

If you prefer not to use Pushover, you can use a Telegram Bot to receive notifications from your AI Agent. It is free, secure, and requires no trial periods.

Step 1: Create the Bot

1. Open Telegram and search for @BotFather.
2. Click Start (or type /start).
3. Send the command: /newbot
4. Follow the instructions:
   • Name: Give it a display name (e.g., "My AI Assistant").
   • Username: Choose a unique username ending in bot (e.g., DanielAI_CourseBot).
5. BotFather will generate a TOKEN (it looks like 123456:ABC-Def...).
   • 👉 Copy this Token.

Step 2: Get your Chat ID

To send messages to you, the bot needs your personal address (Chat ID).

1. Open Telegram and search for the username of the bot you just created.
2. Click Start and send a simple message like "Hello".
   • Important: You must message the bot first so it has permission to reply to you.
3. Open your web browser and visit this URL (replace <YOUR_TOKEN> with the token from Step 1): https://api.telegram.org/bot<YOUR_TOKEN>/getUpdates
4. You will see a text response (JSON). Look for the "chat" section and find the "id". It will be a number (e.g., 987654321).
   • 👉 Copy this Number.

Step 3: Configure Environment Variables

Open your .env file and replace the Pushover variables with these two: TELEGRAM_TOKEN=your_token_pasted_here TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID=your_chat_id_pasted_here