How to set up mining alerts on Telegram? (Bot Configuration)

Creating a Telegram Bot for Mining Notifications

1. Visit the BotFather account on Telegram and send the command /newbot to initiate bot creation.

2. Provide a name and username for your bot; the username must end with bot, such as miningalertbot.
3. After confirmation, BotFather returns an API token — this is essential for integrating with mining software or scripts.
4. Store the token securely; it grants full control over your bot’s messaging capabilities and cannot be retrieved again if lost.
5. Verify the bot is active by sending it a message like /start — it should respond if correctly registered.

Connecting the Bot to Your Mining Rig

1. Identify your mining software: common platforms include PhoenixMiner, T-Rex, and GMiner, each supporting custom notification hooks.

2. Locate the configuration file (e.g., miner.conf or start.bat) used to launch your miner.
3. Add a script trigger that executes on specific events — such as hash rate drops below 90% of baseline, pool disconnects, or GPU temperature exceeding 85°C.
4. Use cURL or Python-based HTTP POST requests to send formatted messages to Telegram’s API endpoint: https://api.telegram.org/bot{YOUR_TOKEN}/sendMessage.
5. Include the chat ID in the payload — obtain it by messaging your bot and checking https://api.telegram.org/bot{YOUR_TOKEN}/getUpdates.

Formatting Alert Messages Effectively

1. Structure alerts with clear identifiers: include rig name, timestamp, GPU model, current hashrate, and deviation percentage.

2. Use Unicode symbols like ⚠️ for warnings, 📈 for performance spikes, and ❌ for failures to improve visual scanning.
3. Limit message length to under 4096 characters — longer payloads require splitting or truncation logic.
4. Encode special characters properly using URL encoding — spaces become %20, newlines become %0A.
5. Apply bold formatting selectively via parse_mode=HTML and wrap critical values like Hashrate: 87.3 MH/s.

Securing Bot Communication and Access

1. Restrict bot access to only authorized chat IDs — ignore messages from unknown users by validating incoming chat_id against a whitelist.

2. Avoid embedding the API token directly in shell scripts exposed to system logs or version control repositories.
3. Rotate tokens periodically using BotFather’s /revoke command if suspicious activity is detected.
4. Disable inline mode and group permissions unless explicitly needed — bots in groups can be abused for spam or phishing.
5. Monitor bot usage through Telegram’s Bot Analytics dashboard, accessible via BotFather’s /stats command.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can I receive alerts without running a local script?A: Yes — some mining pools like 2Miners and F2Pool offer native Telegram alert integrations via dashboard settings. Enable them by linking your bot token and specifying wallet addresses.

Q: Why does my bot not respond to /start but accepts API messages?A: Telegram bots do not auto-reply to commands unless programmed to do so. The /start message appears in getUpdates output but requires a backend service to process and reply.

Q: Is it safe to expose my bot token inside a Docker container?A: Not inherently — containers may leak environment variables via logs or inspection. Pass tokens via Docker secrets or mount them as read-only files instead of injecting them as plaintext ENV vars.

Q: Can I send screenshots of mining dashboards via Telegram bot?A: Yes — use tools like scrot or ffmpeg to capture terminal output or web UIs, then upload images via sendPhoto endpoint with multipart/form-data encoding.