Build Your Own Telegram Filter Bot

Getting Started

Have you ever wanted to create your own Telegram bot that can filter messages? It's not as complicated as it sounds, and it's a great way to learn more about programming and bots. With a few simple steps, you'll have your very own Telegram filter bot up and running in no time. Excited? Let's dive in!

Requirements

Before we get started, you'll need a few things:

• A Telegram account (obviously!)
• Basic knowledge of Python
• Access to a server or a local machine to run your bot

Creating a Bot on Telegram

First, you need to create a new bot on Telegram. Follow these steps:

1. Open Telegram and search for BotFather.
2. Start a chat with BotFather and send the command /newbot.
3. Follow the instructions to set a name and username for your bot.
4. After completing the setup, BotFather will give you a token. Keep this token safe; you'll need it later.

Setting Up Your Python Environment

You'll need Python and a few libraries to get your bot running. Let's set them up:

1. Install Python from the official website if you haven't already.
2. Open your terminal or command prompt and install the python-telegram-bot library by running:

   pip install python-telegram-bot

3. Create a new Python file (e.g., bot.py) for your bot's code.

Writing the Bot Code

Now comes the fun part! Let's write the code for your Telegram filter bot. Open your bot.py file and start by importing the necessary libraries:

import logging
from telegram.ext import Updater, CommandHandler, MessageHandler, Filters

Next, set up logging to help with debugging:

logging.basicConfig(format='%(asctime)s - %(name)s - %(levelname)s - %(message)s',
                    level=logging.INFO)
logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)

Create a function to start the bot and send a welcome message:

def start(update, context):
    update.message.reply_text('Hi! I am your filter bot. Send me a message, and I will filter it.')

Create a function to handle filtered messages:

def filter_message(update, context):
    text = update.message.text.lower()
    if 'badword' in text:
        update.message.reply_text('Please avoid using bad words.')
    else:
        update.message.reply_text('Your message is clean!')

Set up the main function to connect everything:

def main():
    updater = Updater("YOUR TOKEN HERE", use_context=True)
    dp = updater.dispatcher

    dp.add_handler(CommandHandler("start", start))
    dp.add_handler(MessageHandler(Filters.text & ~Filters.command, filter_message))

    updater.start_polling()
    updater.idle()

Replace YOUR TOKEN HERE with the token you got from BotFather. Save the file and run it using:

python bot.py

Testing Your Bot

Head over to Telegram and send a message to your bot. If you followed the steps correctly, your bot should respond by filtering the message based on the criteria you set. Isn't it amazing?

Conclusion

Creating your own Telegram filter bot is not only a fun project but also a fantastic way to get hands-on experience with Python and bot development. So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and customize your bot further, add more filters, and even new features. Happy coding! 😊