I am a Python beginner trying to create a Telegram scheduler bot using the python-telegram-bot library and some code snippets I found online. However, when I try to run the code, the bot doesn't seem to start running at all. I have double-checked that I am using the correct API token and that the bot is authorized to access my Telegram account.
Despite my efforts, I am not getting any error or exception messages. I have tried running the script on different machines, but the result is always the same.
Can anyone suggest what might be causing this issue? Are there any common mistakes I might have made as a beginner that could be preventing the bot from starting? How can I go about debugging the code to figure out what's going wrong? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
import telegram
from telegram.ext import Updater, CommandHandler, MessageHandler, Filters
from datetime import datetime, time
# replace YOUR_TOKEN_HERE with your bot's token
bot = telegram.Bot(token='[REMOVED BOT TOKEN BUT CAN CONFIRM IT'S CORRECT]')
updater = Updater(
token='[REMOVED BOT TOKEN BUT CAN CONFIRM IT'S CORRECT]', use_context=True)
dispatcher = updater.dispatcher
def start(update, context):
context.bot.send_message(chat_id=update.effective_chat.id,
text="Hi! I'm a bot that can help you schedule messages in your Telegram channel. To get started, please enter your message or attachment:")
start_handler = CommandHandler('start', start)
dispatcher.add_handler(start_handler)
def message_handler(update, context):
context.user_data['message'] = update.message.text
# or use update.message.photo or update.message.document to handle attachments
context.bot.send_message(
chat_id=update.effective_chat.id, text="Got it! Do you want to add a caption?")
message_handler_handler = MessageHandler(Filters.text, message_handler)
dispatcher.add_handler(message_handler_handler)
def caption_handler(update, context):
context.user_data['caption'] = update.message.text
context.bot.send_message(chat_id=update.effective_chat.id,
text="Great! Now, do you want to send the message every day at a specific time, or just once?")
caption_handler_handler = MessageHandler(Filters.text, caption_handler)
dispatcher.add_handler(caption_handler_handler)
def frequency_handler(update, context):
if update.message.text.lower() == "once":
# handle one-time message sending
pass
elif update.message.text.lower() == "recurring":
context.user_data['recurring'] = True
context.bot.send_message(chat_id=update.effective_chat.id,
text="Got it! What time do you want to send the message every day? (format: HH:MM)")
# add a message scheduler to send the message every day at the specified time
else:
context.bot.send_message(chat_id=update.effective_chat.id,
text="I'm sorry, I didn't understand that. Please enter 'once' or 'recurring'.")
return
frequency_handler_handler = MessageHandler(Filters.text, frequency_handler)
dispatcher.add_handler(frequency_handler_handler)
def time_handler(update, context):
try:
send_time = datetime.strptime(update.message.text, '%H:%M').time()
context.user_data['send_time'] = send_time
context.bot.send_message(chat_id=update.effective_chat.id,
text="Thanks! Lastly, please enter the channel ID where you want to send the message.")
except ValueError:
context.bot.send_message(chat_id=update.effective_chat.id,
text="Oops! That's an invalid time format. Please enter the time in HH:MM format.")
return
time_handler_handler = MessageHandler(Filters.text, time_handler)
dispatcher.add_handler(time_handler_handler)
def channel_handler(update, context):
context.user_data['channel_id'] = update.message.text
context.bot.send_message(chat_id=update.effective_chat.id,
text="Got it! Your message has been scheduled to be sent.")
# add code to schedule the message to be sent to the specified channel at the specified time
channel_handler_handler = MessageHandler(Filters.text, channel_handler)
dispatcher.add_handler(channel_handler_handler)
def view_messages(update, context):
# add code to retrieve and display stored messages
def edit_message(update, context):
# add code to retrieve and edit a specific stored message
view_messages_handler = CommandHandler('view_messages', view_messages)
edit_message_handler = CommandHandler('edit_message', edit_message)
dispatcher.add_handler(view_messages_handler)
dispatcher.add_handler(edit_message_handler)
updater.start_polling()
I have tried the following:
Despite my efforts, the bot still doesn't seem to start running. I am not getting any error or exception messages, so it's difficult to pinpoint where exactly the issue might be.
Ideally, I was expecting to see the bot start running and to be able to interact with it via the Telegram app.
You indentation looks off. Try this:
import telegram
from telegram.ext import Updater, CommandHandler, MessageHandler, Filters
from datetime import datetime, time
# replace YOUR_TOKEN_HERE with your bot's token
bot = telegram.Bot(token="[REMOVED BOT TOKEN BUT CAN CONFIRM IT'S CORRECT]")
updater = Updater(
token="[REMOVED BOT TOKEN BUT CAN CONFIRM IT'S CORRECT]", use_context=True)
dispatcher = updater.dispatcher
def start(update, context):
context.bot.send_message(chat_id=update.effective_chat.id,
text="Hi! I'm a bot that can help you schedule messages in your Telegram channel. To get started, please enter your message or attachment:")
start_handler = CommandHandler('start', start)
dispatcher.add_handler(start_handler)
# ... (keep the rest of your code the same)
def view_messages(update, context):
# add code to retrieve and display stored messages
pass
def edit_message(update, context):
# add code to retrieve and edit a specific stored message
pass
view_messages_handler = CommandHandler('view_messages', view_messages)
edit_message_handler = CommandHandler('edit_message', edit_message)
dispatcher.add_handler(view_messages_handler)
dispatcher.add_handler(edit_message_handler)
updater.start_polling()
In the code provided, updater.start_polling() will never execute, because it lives in a function body of a function that's never called.