TG Channel Manager

Universal config-driven content pipeline engine for any Telegram channel: news search via SearXNG, drafts, scheduled publishing, deduplication. All channel specifics are defined in config — one skill for any channel.

Pipeline: scout → draft → human approves → publisher.

Execution

python3 and curl are available in your environment (declared in requires.bins). Run all commands yourself using exec/bash tool. NEVER ask the user to run commands for you.

Startup

When you load this skill, run the preflight check FIRST:

bash

python3 {baseDir}/scripts/tgcm.py --workspace {workspace} check

After check — act on results, don't ask:

• All [ok] → proceed with the user's task silently
• [fail] Bot token → ask the user for the token, then save it: tgcm.py config set bot-token <token>. Do NOT ask where the token is or offer choices
• [warn] SEARXNG_URL → ask the user for the URL, then save it: tgcm.py config set searxng-url <url>. Proceed without it — scout won't work but other commands will
• [fail] Channel → report which channel failed and why, include the fix from the output
• [warn] No channels → mention it, but proceed — the user may want to init one

Settings saved via config set persist in tgcm/.config.json and are used by all subsequent commands.

NEVER ask follow-up questions about check results. Report what's wrong and the fix from the output. If the user hasn't specified a task — just report the check status, nothing else.

CLI Reference (FULL list — NO other commands exist)

All commands: python3 {baseDir}/scripts/tgcm.py --workspace {workspace} <cmd>

Command	What it does
init <name>	Create a channel
list	Show all channels
bind <name> --channel-id ID	Bind channel to Telegram
info <name> [--chat] [--subscribers] [--permissions] [--admins] [--all]	Channel status
get-id <@username|ID>	Resolve @username or numeric ID → full channel info (id, type, title)
check	Preflight: verify bot token, channels, env vars
config set <key> <value>	Save setting locally (keys: bot-token, searxng-url)
config get <key>	Read a saved setting
config list	Show all saved settings
fetch-posts <name> [--limit N] [--dry-run]	Load channel posts into dedup index (requires public channel with @username)
connect --channel-id ID [--channel-title T]	Handle #tgcm connect event

Bot token is auto-resolved: --bot-token arg → $BOT_TOKEN env → openclaw.json (auto-search) → tgcm/.config.json. Just call tgcm.py get-id @username without --bot-token — the script finds the token itself. If auto-detection fails, save it once: tgcm.py config set bot-token <token>.

Channel name validation: ^[a-z0-9][a-z0-9_-]{0,62}$.

Quick Reference

User says	Do this
«узнай/определи channel-id»	tgcm.py get-id @username
«подключи канал»	Recipe: Connect a channel (ниже)
«какие каналы / список»	tgcm.py list
«статус канала X»	tgcm.py info X
«что в очереди»	cat tgcm/<name>/content-queue.md
«загрузи посты / rebuild index»	tgcm.py fetch-posts <name>

Recipes

Look up channel ID

python3 {baseDir}/scripts/tgcm.py get-id @username

Token is found automatically. Returns channel id, type, and title.

Connect a channel

1. Get ID: python3 {baseDir}/scripts/tgcm.py get-id @username
2. python3 {baseDir}/scripts/tgcm.py --workspace {workspace} init <name>
3. python3 {baseDir}/scripts/tgcm.py --workspace {workspace} bind <name> --channel-id <id>
4. Configure skills.entries["tg-channel-manager"].config in openclaw.json
5. Add crons (see {baseDir}/references/cron-setup.md)

Load channel posts (rebuild dedup index)

python3 {baseDir}/scripts/tgcm.py --workspace {workspace} fetch-posts <name>

Fetches posts from the channel's public page (t.me/s/) and adds them to content-index.json. Options: --limit N (max pages, default 5), --dry-run (preview only). Requires: channel must be public (have a @username).

View channels / status

• tgcm.py list
• tgcm.py info <name>
• Queue: cat tgcm/<name>/content-queue.md

Do NOT

• Invent commands — the table above is the FULL list
• Publish posts directly — only cron Publisher does this
• Change draft → pending — only the human does this
• Skip dedup-check before drafting
• Ask the user to run commands — python3 and curl are available, use exec/bash yourself
• Ask the user for bot token or env vars — token is auto-resolved, check shows what's wrong
• Ask the user follow-up questions after check — report errors and the fix commands, don't offer choices
• Ask whether it's a channel or group — get-id returns the type field, this skill is for channels only

Data Layout

text

tgcm/
  channels.json            <- [{"name", "channelId", "status", "createdAt"}, ...]
  {channel-name}/
    channel.json           <- per-channel metadata
    content-index.json     <- dedup index
    content-queue.md       <- post queue

A channel is bound when channelId is set and status is "connected".

Configuration

Parameters are read from openclaw.json → skills.entries["tg-channel-manager"]:

Telegram

Parameter	Type	Description
config.channelId	string	Telegram channel ID for publishing
config.chatId	string	Channel community chat ID (optional)

Limits & Schedule

Parameter	Type	Description
config.maxPostsPerDay	number	Maximum posts per day
config.maxDraftsPerRun	number	Maximum drafts per scout run
config.timezone	string	Schedule timezone (IANA format)
config.language	string	Post language (ru, en, ...)
config.cronScoutTimes	string[]	Scout schedules (cron format)
config.cronPublisherTimes	string[]	Publisher schedules (cron format)

Content

Parameter	Type	Description
config.rubrics	array	Rubrics: [{id, emoji, name}, ...]
config.searchQueries	string[]	Search queries for SearXNG
config.searchInclude	string	What to look for (filter description)
config.searchExclude	string	What to discard (filter description)
config.evergreen	string[]	Topics for articles when there are no news

Post Style

Parameter	Type	Description
config.postStyle.minChars	number	Minimum characters per post
config.postStyle.maxChars	number	Maximum characters per post
config.postStyle.emojiTitle	boolean	Emoji before the title
config.postStyle.boldTitle	boolean	Bold title
config.postStyle.signature	string	Post signature
config.postStyle.newsFooter	string	Extra text for news posts (empty = none)
config.postStyle.articleFooter	string	Extra text for articles (empty = none)

Environment

Parameter	Type	Description
env.SEARXNG_URL	string	SearXNG instance URL

Path Resolution

Variable	How to resolve
{workspace}	Your CWD. Run pwd or use --workspace .
{baseDir}	{workspace}/skills/tg-channel-manager

In sandbox mode (workspaceAccess: "none"), the workspace is under ~/.openclaw/sandboxes, not ~/.openclaw/workspace. Always use CWD-relative paths.

Cron setup: see {baseDir}/references/cron-setup.md.

Queue Format

Entry Format in content-queue.md

markdown

### <number>
- **Status:** draft | pending
- **Rubric:** <emoji> <name> (from config.rubrics)
- **Topic:** <topic>
- **Source:** <url> (for news)
- **Text:**

<post text>

Statuses:

• draft — awaiting approval
• pending — approved, ready for publishing

After publishing, the entry is removed from content-queue.md.

Deduplication

Before every draft — mandatory check:

bash

python3 {baseDir}/scripts/dedup-check.py --base-dir <workspace> --topic "topic" --links "url1" "url2"

After publishing — add to index:

bash

python3 {baseDir}/scripts/dedup-check.py --base-dir <workspace> --add <msgId> --topic "topic" --links "url"

Rebuild index (via Telegram search):

bash

python3 {baseDir}/scripts/dedup-check.py --base-dir <workspace> --rebuild --channel-id <config.channelId>

Index is stored in <workspace>/content-index.json (or per-channel: tgcm/<name>/content-index.json).