What you'll set up
- A Telegram bot created via BotFather — you own the token, Elido stores it encrypted.
- Your numeric chat ID, whether that's a private DM or a group (including supergroups with their
-100prefix). - Per-event configuration for threshold, scan-failure, and link-created alerts.
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
- Open Telegram and search for
@BotFather, or openhttps://t.me/BotFather. - Send
/newbot. - Follow the prompts: choose a display name, then a username (must end in
bot, e.g.AcmeElidoBot). - 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):
-
Send any message to your new bot.
-
Open this URL in a browser, replacing
TOKENwith your token:https://api.telegram.org/botTOKEN/getUpdates -
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:
- Add the bot to the group.
- Send a message in the group that @-mentions the bot (e.g.
@AcmeElidoBot hello). - Open the same
getUpdatesURL above. Group chat IDs are negative numbers (e.g.-1001234567890).
Step 3 — Configure Elido
- Go to Settings → Notifications → Telegram → Add channel.
- Paste the bot token and the chat ID.
- 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 this into a browser:
https://api.telegram.org/botTOKEN/getMe
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.