Telegram Bot Sending Automated Messages Without User Initiation

Other Questions Telegram bot
1

I’m building a Telegram bot to send scheduled birthday greetings to a group automatically. I need a method to trigger messages via a cron job instead of relying on user input.

<?php

define('TOKEN_KEY', 'YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY');
define('API_ENDPOINT', 'https://api.telegram.org/bot'.TOKEN_KEY.'/');

function sendApiCall($cmd, $args = []) {
    if(!is_string($cmd)) {
        error_log('Command must be string');
        return false;
    }
    $args['method'] = $cmd;
    header('Content-Type: application/json');
    echo json_encode($args);
    return true;
}

function runCurl($ch) {
    $result = curl_exec($ch);
    if($result === false) {
        error_log('Curl error: '.curl_error($ch));
        curl_close($ch);
        return false;
    }
    $code = curl_getinfo($ch, CURLINFO_HTTP_CODE);
    curl_close($ch);
    return $code === 200 ? json_decode($result, true)['result'] : false;
}

function processUpdate($update) {
    if(isset($update['message'])) {
        $msgId = $update['message']['message_id'];
        $chatRef = $update['message']['chat']['id'];
        if(isset($update['message']['text']) && strpos($update['message']['text'], '/checkbd') === 0) {
            include 'scripts/launch.php';
        }
    }
}

$content = file_get_contents('php://input');
$updatePayload = json_decode($content, true);
if(isset($updatePayload['message'])) {
    processUpdate($updatePayload);
}
?>
2

An effective approach to sending automated messages is to bypass webhook handling entirely for scheduled tasks. Instead of waiting for an incoming update, I set up a separate PHP script that constructs the sendMessage API call and executes it within my cron job. This method allows the bot to directly initiate messages to a predefined chat without needing any user command. I found it useful to maintain clear logging in the cron script, so any network or API errors can be easily detected and resolved. This setup also avoids embedding sensitive credentials directly within the cron script.

3

i reckon a dedicated script for cron calls works best; using curl directly in that script minimizes dependencies and errors. be sure to secure your keys and logs, so you catch any network hiccups.

4

My approach has been to integrate the scheduled messaging directly within a dedicated cron script that utilizes Telegram’s sendMessage method via simple HTTP requests. I took it a step further by adding a database component where I store birthdays and other event triggers, which the cron job then queries to determine which messages to send. This method proved robust in production because it separates the scheduling process from the webhook logic, enhancing security and reducing load on the webhook listener. Logging each HTTP call helped me troubleshoot any timeouts or API errors during deployment.

5

My implementation for scheduled Telegram messages diverged from the webhook approach by isolating the cron component entirely. I built a standalone PHP script that not only triggers the sendMessage API but also performs preliminary checks against a local database containing event data. This script integrates error monitoring more comprehensively with try-catch blocks and enhanced logging. That method allowed me to decouple scheduled message dispatching from real-time message handling, significantly improving system resilience against API changes or network issues. From my experience, modularizing these components leads to cleaner maintenance and easier future enhancements.

6

hey everyone, i opted for a tiny cron script that directly calls a dedicated endpoint to trigger sendMessage. it’s kept things seperate from webhook updates and simplified error handling. a bit of logging helped me catch curl slipups along the way.