Create (or setup) Telegram Bot for GitHub Webhook Event Notifications

[wopox1337]

Overview

We need to develop a Telegram bot that will receive specific GitHub webhook events related to our organization’s repositories and send them as notifications in a designated Telegram chat. The bot should capture the following events:

• New releases.
• New commits.
• New comments.
• New discussions.

The bot should not send notifications when existing releases, comments (and etc.) are edited.

Currently, the project uses wopox1337/webhook for hosting the webhook handler on Deno Deploy, which is free. However, it lacks the ability to finely configure the required events without code intervention. Moreover, GitHub’s organization-level webhook settings do not provide granular control over which events are sent.

We are constrained by the fact that paid solutions are not an option for now due to the project's lack of financial backing. Therefore, we must rely on publicly accessible and free tools.

Requirements

1. Telegram Bot Development:

   • The bot must send notifications about:
     • Creation of new releases.
     • New commits pushed to any repository.
     • New comments made on issues, pull requests, or discussions.
     • Creation of new discussions.
   • The bot must ignore notifications for updates to existing releases.
   • The bot should send messages to a specified Telegram chat (to thread).

2. Webhook Configuration:

   • Implement a webhook handler capable of filtering out unwanted events.
   • Ensure the bot only processes the events specified above.
   • Use a free hosting solution (like Deno Deploy or similar) that allows us to customize event handling without paid services.

3. Testing and Deployment:

   • Test the bot in a staging Telegram chat to ensure correct event handling.
   • Ensure the bot’s response time is adequate, and messages are properly formatted.
   • Deploy the bot using free, publicly accessible hosting solutions.

Tasks

1. Set up a Telegram bot:

   • Create a new bot using the Telegram Bot API.
   • Set up a chat for receiving the event notifications.

2. Develop a webhook handler:

   • Implement a webhook handler that listens for GitHub events.
   • Ensure that the handler filters the events to match the required events (releases, commits, comments, discussions).
   • Block notifications for any edits to existing releases.

3. Host the webhook handler:

   • Choose a suitable free hosting platform (Deno Deploy or alternatives).
   • Deploy the webhook handler and link it to the Telegram bot.

4. Configure GitHub Webhook:

   • Set up a GitHub webhook to send events to the deployed webhook handler.
   • Test the webhook to ensure that only the specified events trigger notifications in the Telegram chat.

5. Testing and Debugging:

   • Test the webhook handler and bot to ensure they work as expected.
   • Debug any issues with event handling or incorrect notifications.

6. Deploy the bot:

   • Once all testing is completed, deploy the bot in the main Telegram chat for the organization.

Acceptance Criteria

• Telegram bot is created and sending notifications for new releases, commits, comments, and discussions.
• The bot does not send notifications for edits to existing releases.
• The webhook handler is deployed on a free hosting platform.
• GitHub webhooks are correctly configured to send the required events.
• The bot has been tested and deployed in the main Telegram chat.

Notes

• The solution must be free of charge as paid solutions are currently not an option for this project.
• Ensure that the bot’s notifications are clear and well-formatted for ease of use by the community.

Important

It's important to note that creating a Telegram bot from scratch might not be necessary. There could be existing solutions that meet our requirements or can be easily adapted to fit our needs. Exploring open-source GitHub webhook bots or pre-built Telegram bot frameworks could save development time and effort. Customizing an existing solution to handle specific GitHub events (releases, commits, comments, discussions) and deploying it on a free hosting platform might be a more efficient approach.

[wopox1337]

blocked by:

• Creating a Telegram Channel/Group for Community Engagement #10