How to Automate Telegram

Telegram automates through its Bot API, which will post to a group or a channel on a schedule or on command. What a bot cannot do is find anything out. Getting the number onto the phone still needs something to read the system holding it first.

Telegram reaches the people who are not at a desk

Telegram is a free messaging app with groups, channels and bots, and for a lot of businesses it is the quickest way to reach someone who is nowhere near a computer. Drivers, engineers, site managers, kitchen staff and shop owners all have it open already.

It matters most where email is not really read and a desktop chat tool would never get installed. A crew of eight has a group. The owner has a channel where the day's numbers get posted. A supplier set up a bot that nobody ever configured properly.

Delivery is the appeal. A message lands on a phone in a pocket in about a second, costs nothing, and needs no licence and no company login. For a small operator that is often the only channel that genuinely works.

The person on site finds out last

The gap is never the sending. It is the knowing.

Someone at a desk checks whether the payment cleared, then types it into the group. Someone opens the job system to see which visits are booked for tomorrow and pastes the list in at nine at night. Someone notices at four in the afternoon that a delivery never left, four hours after the courier site said exactly that.

The information already exists. It is sitting behind a login on a screen nobody had open, waiting for a person to go and look before anyone else can be told.

By the time the group is told, the fact is often hours old, and the person it mattered to has already driven to the wrong place or waited for a part that was never coming.

The telegram.org homepage, the app these three jobs run in. Telegram
Tomorrow's list, tonight The next day's jobs read out of the scheduling system and posted to the crew group before anyone goes to bed.
Only what changed The deliveries that stopped moving and the payments that failed, rather than a full report nobody scrolls through.
Reaches people without a desk Drivers, engineers and site staff get the same facts as the office, on the phone already in their pocket.

A bot only says what it is handed

Telegram gives you real building blocks, and they are more capable than most people use.

The Bot API will post into a group or a channel on demand, run scheduled messages, offer buttons and keyboards, and take commands from members. Channels broadcast to any number of subscribers. A group can be quietly automated by a bot nobody has to think about.

What a bot cannot do is find anything out. It is a mouth, not a pair of eyes. Something has to hand it the figure, and that something is either a developer wiring up an API, assuming the system you care about even has one, or a person reading a screen and typing.

For most small operators it is the second, which is why so many of these groups are a stream of forwarded screenshots.

So the bot ends up as a megaphone for whatever a human already went and read, which is useful, but it is not automation.

The group can carry the day's facts

The posting has never been the problem. The reading in front of it is, and once a browser does that reading the group changes character.

Tomorrow's jobs, posted at six the evening before, read out of the scheduling system the office uses. The payments that failed overnight, named. The three deliveries that have not moved since yesterday, checked on the courier site by reference number. The stock lines that will not last the week.

It works the same way for the things people ask about all day. Whether the part arrived. Whether the invoice got paid. Whether the customer replied. Whether tomorrow is still going ahead.

Two things are worth deciding early. Post exceptions rather than everything, because a group that pings all day gets muted and then nobody sees the one message that mattered. And keep what goes to the crew separate from what goes to a customer: the crew group can run on its own, a message to a client should not.

Something has to go and look first

A bot will happily post the figure. Getting the figure is the part that still involves a person and a browser tab.

WebRun is an AI agent that works a real Chrome browser, signed in as you. It opens the scheduling system, the bank, the courier site or the supplier portal, reads what is on the screen, and hands the result to your bot to post into the group.

It runs on your schedule in your own private environment, and you can watch a run and stop it mid-way. Anything that would reach a customer is drafted and waits.

The workflows below are already built, and each shows exactly what it opens.

Questions people ask

Do I need a developer to set up a bot?

No. Creating a bot is a short conversation with BotFather inside Telegram and takes a couple of minutes. The part that normally needs a developer, getting real data to the bot, is what the workflow handles.

Can it message customers as well as staff?

It can, and that is the case to be careful with. Messages to your own crew group run on their own. Anything going to a customer is set up to draft and wait for a person to approve.

What if the group ends up too noisy?

Post exceptions rather than everything. Each workflow decides what is worth saying, so the group speaks when a delivery stalls or a payment fails, and stays quiet the rest of the time.

1,818 ready-made Telegram workflows

Each one names the apps it touches and the exact steps it takes. Open one to read what it will do, then turn it on.

Automated Sage Intacct Budget Variance Reports
Every Monday, WebRun compares actuals against budget by department in Sage Intacct, sends the variance summary to Telegram, and drafts each department head's email in Gmail for review.
Sage IntacctTelegramGmail
Automated Insightly Lead Routing
When a lead is added in Insightly, WebRun assigns the owner from your routing rules, creates a first follow-up task, and alerts that rep in Telegram and the team in Slack.
InsightlyTelegramSlack
Automated Indeed Sponsored Spend Reporting
Every morning, WebRun reads yesterday's Indeed sponsored spend against views and applications per posting, posts the cost per applicant to Microsoft Teams, and pings you on Telegram about dead listings.
IndeedMicrosoft TeamsTelegram
Automatic HSBC Scheduled Payment Countdown
Every morning, WebRun reads the standing orders and direct debits scheduled on your HSBC account, sets them against the balance in Notion, and warns you on Telegram if a payment would run you short.
HSBCNotionTelegram
Automated Holded Low Stock Reorder Alerts
Every morning, WebRun compares Holded stock against each product's minimum, drafts a purchase order per supplier, posts the reorder list to Telegram, and diaries the delivery date.
HoldedTelegramGoogle Calendar
Automated Hetzner Backup Coverage Checks
Every night, WebRun checks each Hetzner server for a recent snapshot or backup, posts the unprotected list to Microsoft Teams, and pings you on Telegram if anything is exposed.
HetznerMicrosoft TeamsTelegram
Automated Help Scout Docs Gap Reports
Every Monday, WebRun reads a week of Help Scout conversations, ranks the repeat questions with no article behind them, and files the list to Google Sheets.
Help ScoutTelegramGoogle Sheets
Automated Gravity Forms License Renewal Alerts
Every Monday, WebRun reads your Gravity Forms license and posts the renewal date, the sites it covers, and any waiting add-on updates to Microsoft Teams and Telegram.
Gravity FormsMicrosoft TeamsTelegram
Automated Grafana Alert Coverage Checks
Every Monday, WebRun checks your Grafana alert rules against their notification policies and contact points, posts the rules routed nowhere to Telegram, and texts you about silences left switched on.
GrafanaTelegramTwilio
Automatic Grab Voucher Expiry Alerts
Every Monday, WebRun checks which Grab vouchers, promos, and reward points expire soon, posts the list to Microsoft Teams, and sends you a Telegram nudge about what to use first.
GrabMicrosoft TeamsTelegram
Automated Merchant Center Promotion Alerts
Every morning, WebRun reads your Google Merchant Center promotions, works out which offers end in the next few days, and warns you before the ad and the price disagree.
Google Merchant CenterTelegramMicrosoft Teams
Automatic Google Keep Checklist Chasing
Every night, WebRun reads your shared Google Keep checklists, works out which items are still unticked and whose list they are on, sends the gaps to Telegram, and posts the handover note to Microsoft Teams.
Google KeepTelegramMicrosoft Teams
Automated Colab Idle Runtime Sweep
Every hour, WebRun checks which Colab sessions are still holding a runtime, works out how long each has sat idle, and tells you which ones are burning compute for nothing.
Google ColabTelegramNotion
Automatic Google Chat Shared File Index
Every Monday, WebRun collects the files and links shared across your Google Chat spaces, indexes each one in Airtable with who posted it and where, and sends the weekly roundup to Telegram.
Google ChatAirtableTelegram
Automated Goodreads Reading Challenge Tracking
Every Monday, WebRun checks your Goodreads reading challenge against the calendar, sends the pace to Telegram, and blocks reading time on Google Calendar if you are behind.
GoodreadsGoogle CalendarTelegram
Automatic Gmail Receipt and Invoice Filing
Every night, WebRun searches Gmail for receipts and invoices, labels and files each one with supplier and amount, sends the day's list to Telegram, and posts the month's running total to Microsoft Teams.
GmailTelegramMicrosoft Teams
Automated Getty Images Usage Logging
Every night, WebRun reads your Getty Images download history, matches each asset to its license receipt in Gmail, and posts a running usage log to Telegram.
Getty ImagesGmailTelegram
Automated GetResponse Webinar Follow-Ups
Every morning, WebRun splits your GetResponse webinar registrants into attendees and no shows, drafts a follow up for each group, and posts the numbers to Microsoft Teams and Telegram.
GetResponseMicrosoft TeamsTelegram
Automated Clockwise New Teammate Setup Checks
When a new person is added, WebRun walks their Clockwise setup, checks meeting hours, focus time and team membership, and posts the completed checklist to Slack.
ClockwiseTelegramSlack
Automated Geico Claim Status Tracking
Every morning, WebRun checks each open Geico claim, notes what it is waiting on and how long it has sat there, texts you through Twilio, and sends the full tracker to Telegram.
GeicoTwilioTelegram
Automated G2 Buyer Intent Handoffs
Every morning, WebRun reads your G2 buyer intent report, files the named accounts and the pages they viewed in Google Drive, and sends sales the shortlist on Telegram.
G2Google DriveTelegram
Automated FullStory Funnel Drop-Off Reviews
Every Monday, WebRun reads your FullStory funnel step by step, posts the biggest drop-off with example sessions to Microsoft Teams, and pings Telegram when a step gets worse.
FullStoryMicrosoft TeamsTelegram
Automated Freshservice Contract Renewal Alerts
Every morning, WebRun reads your Freshservice contracts and licences, finds what expires or auto renews soon, and posts the watchlist to Telegram.
FreshserviceTwilioTelegram
Automated Freelancer Bid Pipeline Review
Every Monday, WebRun reviews your Freelancer.com bids by project type, works out win rate and credits remaining, posts the review to Telegram, and drafts a Gmail note with where to aim next week.
FreelancerTelegramGmail

Want one of these running on your own Telegram?

Show WebRun the process once and it will run it on schedule, in your own private browser environment.