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Integrations

Set up Telegram alerts.

Pingvella posts to Telegram using a bot that you create and own. You need two things: the bot’s token and the ID of the chat it should post to.

1. Create a bot

  1. Open Telegram and start a chat with @BotFather.
  2. Send /newbot.
  3. Choose a display name (for example Pingvella Alerts), then a username that ends in bot (for example my_pingvella_bot).
  4. BotFather replies with an HTTP API token that looks like 123456789:AAExampleTokenExampleTokenExample. This is the Bot token. Keep it secret: anyone with it can post as your bot.

2. Choose where alerts go

Pick one of these.

A private chat with you

  1. Search for your new bot in Telegram and press Start, or send it any message. Bots cannot message you until you have done this.
  2. Find your numeric chat ID (see finding your chat ID below).

A group

  1. Create or open the group and add your bot as a member.
  2. Send a message in the group, then find the group’s chat ID (see below). Group IDs are negative numbers, for example -123456789.

A channel

  1. Open the channel’s settings, choose Administrators and add your bot as an administrator with permission to post messages.
  2. For a public channel, use its @channelname as the Chat ID.
  3. For a private channel, use its numeric ID, which starts with -100, for example -1001234567890.

Finding your chat ID

  1. Send a message to your bot (or in the group or channel the bot belongs to).
  2. In your browser, open https://api.telegram.org/botYOUR_BOT_TOKEN/getUpdates, replacing the placeholder with your token. Keep the bot prefix in front of it.
  3. Look for "chat":{"id": …} in the result. That number is your Chat ID, including any minus sign.

If the result is empty ("result":[]), send the bot another message and reload the page.

3. Add it to Pingvella

  1. On the Integrations page, choose Add Telegram.
  2. Give the destination a name, paste the Chat ID and the Bot token, then save.
  3. Pingvella posts a confirmation message straight away. If you see it, you are done. You can also use Test on the destination at any time.

Troubleshooting

MessageLikely cause
UnauthorizedThe bot token is wrong or was revoked. Copy it again from BotFather.
Bad Request: chat not foundThe Chat ID is wrong, or (for a private chat) you have not pressed Start on the bot yet.
Forbidden: bot was blocked by the userUnblock the bot in your Telegram chat with it.
Forbidden: bot is not a member…Add the bot to the group, or make it a channel administrator.
Bad Request: not enough rights to send text messagesThe bot is in the chat but is not allowed to post. Give it permission to send messages.

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