A Python Framework for Telegram Bots: Simplifying Development and Inviting Contributors

Hello, developers! This article introduces the Telegram Bot Framework, an open source project that aims to simplify the development of bots for the Telegram platform. The main goal of this article is to attract new contributors to the project and increase the visibility of the repository on GitHub, making the framework even more robust and complete.

Why a New Framework?

There are several libraries and modules available for creating bots on Telegram, but none of them cover the basic functionalities that are almost indispensable, such as creating a help menu, commands to manage users, and others. The proposal of the Telegram Bot Framework is to fill these gaps and provide a solid foundation so that developers can create powerful, stable, and secure bots quickly and efficiently.

How does the Framework Work?

The framework is built around a base class called TlgBotFwk, which inherits from the Application class implemented by the python-telegram-bot library (version 21 or higher). This base class implements standard commands that would otherwise have to be implemented manually, freeing the developer to focus on the specific functionality of their bot.

To use the framework, simply create a simple Python script and run the run() method of the TlgBotFwk class:

if __name__ == "__main__":
    app = TlgBotFwk()
    app.run()

The framework loads configurations, such as the bot token and admin ID, from a .env file.

Features and Functionalities

The Telegram Bot Framework already has a number of functionalities implemented, including:

• Administration commands: user management, viewing system persistence files, logs for Telegram, etc.
• User functionalities: help menu, useful commands, pagination of long messages, etc.
• Plugins: plugin system to extend the functionalities of the framework.

HostWatchBot: A Real Use Case

HostWatchBot, a bot that monitors remote hosts via ping, is the first practical example of using the framework. It demonstrates how to use the framework quickly and easily, inheriting from the base class and focusing only on the functionalities that add value. HostWatchBot allows you to monitor servers, checking if they are online via pings. The source code is available on GitHub.

HostWatchBot Features:

• Add a host for monitoring with a user-defined ping interval.
• Delete a host from the monitoring list.
• Enable/disable notifications for successful pings.
• Immediate notification to the user if a host stops responding to pings.

The HostWatchBot source code is available in the framework's GitHub repository, serving as a practical example of how to use the framework.

Invitation to Collaboration

The Telegram Bot Framework is still under development and needs your help to become even better! If you are interested in contributing to the project, access the repository on GitHub:

https://github.com/gersonfreire/telegram-bot-framework

Contributions in code, documentation, tests or even suggestions for new features are very welcome. Join the community and help build a powerful and complete framework for bot development on Telegram!