Telegram bot with AI

You need: a Telegram account, a fetch_... key (create one), a balance from $0.01 (top up), Python 3.10+ or Node.js 18+ (not sure — pick Python).

1. 1
   Create the bot

   In @BotFather send /newbot, pick a name and a username ending in bot (e.g. my_helper_bot). You'll get a token 123456789:AA... — never share it.

2. 2
   Create a key for the bot

   In Dashboard → API keys create a separate key. Set a limit, say $1 a day, and allow only claude-haiku-5-5 — how.

3. 3
   Install the libraries

   Create an ai-bot folder and open a terminal in it.

   Python:

   bashCopy

   python3 -m venv .venv
   source .venv/bin/activate      # Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate
   pip install "python-telegram-bot>=21,<22" openai

   Node.js:

   bashCopy

   npm init -y
   npm install grammy @grammyjs/runner openai

4. 4
   Save the code

   Copy the code from "Full code" below into bot.py (Python) or bot.mjs (Node.js) in the ai-bot folder.

5. 5
   Start it

   macOS and Linux:

   bashCopy

   export TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN="123456789:AA..."
   export ZUKKO_API_KEY="fetch_..."
   python bot.py        # or: node bot.mjs

   Windows (PowerShell):

   bashCopy

   $env:TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN="123456789:AA..."
   $env:ZUKKO_API_KEY="fetch_..."
   python bot.py

   You'll see a "bot started" line. Keep the window open: the bot answers only while the program runs.

6. 6
   Check

   Find the bot in Telegram, tap Start and ask something.

1Full code

The 10-message memory lives in RAM and is wiped on restart. /reset clears it manually.

import asyncio
import logging
import os
from collections import defaultdict, deque

from openai import APIConnectionError, APIStatusError, AsyncOpenAI
from telegram import Update
from telegram.constants import ChatAction
from telegram.ext import Application, CommandHandler, ContextTypes, MessageHandler, filters

logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO, format="%(asctime)s %(levelname)s %(message)s")
logging.getLogger("httpx").setLevel(logging.WARNING)  # otherwise the log shows URLs containing the bot token
log = logging.getLogger("bot")

2Running 24/7

Copy the ai-bot folder to a Linux VPS, install the libraries and set up autostart.

# /etc/systemd/system/ai-bot.service
[Unit]
Description=Telegram AI bot
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
User=bot
WorkingDirectory=/home/bot/ai-bot
EnvironmentFile=/home/bot/ai-bot/.env
ExecStart=/home/bot/ai-bot/.venv/bin/python bot.py
Restart=always
RestartSec=5

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

For systemd, create a .env file next to the bot with TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=... and ZUKKO_API_KEY=... (no export, no quotes), run chmod 600 .env and enable the service:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now ai-bot
journalctl -u ai-bot -f      # live bot log

3If it doesn't work

Other codes: API errors.