Connect Telegram to Elido

Elido sends Telegram notifications via a bot you create. The bot sends messages to a specific chat — either a private DM with yourself or a group. You own the bot token; Elido only stores it encrypted.

Step 1 — Create a bot with BotFather#

1. Open Telegram and search for @BotFather, or open https://t.me/BotFather.
2. Send /newbot.
3. Follow the prompts: choose a display name, then a username (must end in bot, e.g. AcmeElidoBot).
4. BotFather replies with your API token. It looks like 123456789:AABBccDD.... Copy it now — you can retrieve it later from /mybots, but it's faster to copy upfront.

Step 2 — Find your chat ID#

You need the numeric chat ID of where you want messages sent.

For DMs (just yourself):

1. Send any message to your new bot.
2. Open this URL in a browser, replacing TOKEN with your token: https://api.telegram.org/botTOKEN/getUpdates
3. Find "chat":{"id":...} in the response. That number is your chat ID. It's usually a positive 9-digit integer for personal chats.

For a group:

1. Add the bot to the group.
2. Send a message in the group that @-mentions the bot (e.g. @AcmeElidoBot hello).
3. Open the same getUpdates URL above. Group chat IDs are negative numbers (e.g. -1001234567890).

Group supergroups have a -100 prefix before the ID. Use the full number including the prefix.

Step 3 — Configure Elido#

1. Go to Settings → Notifications → Telegram → Add channel.
2. Paste the bot token and the chat ID.
3. Click Save. Elido sends a test message. Expect it in Telegram within 2 seconds.

Choose events#

Once connected, click Configure events to select which events trigger a message:

• threshold.exceeded — recommended starting point.
• scan.failed — immediately useful for any link you don't control the destination of.
• link.created — useful for shared workspaces where you want visibility on new links.

Remove the integration#

Go to Settings → Notifications → Telegram → Remove. This deletes the bot token from Elido's database. Optionally, revoke the bot itself in BotFather with /revoke.

Troubleshooting#

"Unauthorized" in the delivery log — The token is wrong. Double-check by pasting https://api.telegram.org/botTOKEN/getMe into a browser. If it returns {"ok":false,...}, the token is invalid.

"Chat not found" — The chat ID is wrong, or the bot was never added to the group. For groups, confirm the bot is a member and send a message mentioning it before calling getUpdates.

No message after clicking Test — Check getUpdates to confirm the bot received any interaction. If the response is empty, Telegram hasn't recorded any contact between the user/group and the bot yet.

Messages in the group are invisible — Some Telegram groups have "slow mode" or admin-only posting. Make the bot an admin with "Post messages" permission.