Pi Telegram

Your Pi session, wherever you are.

Step away from your terminal without leaving your coding session behind. Pi Telegram connects a running Pi coding agent to your private Telegram bot, so you can send requests, ask follow-up questions and receive replies and files from your phone.

Same session. Same project context. Another way to work with Pi.

What you can do

• Keep the conversation going. Ask about your project or give the agent its next task without returning to your desk.
• Send context from your phone. Share a screenshot or document with instructions for the agent.
• Get useful answers back. Receive formatted replies, code, files and images—not just a notification telling you to check the terminal.
• Make choices in chat. The agent can offer buttons for questions and next steps.
• See progress when it matters. Explicit progress messages, temporary answer previews and a Working indicator help the agent keep you informed. Version 0.6.4 adds native context-compaction notices on hosts exposing the corresponding hooks; early pauses may remain silent.
• Return to the same session. Resume your persistent Pi session locally and its assigned bot reconnects.

For example:

Explain how authentication works in this project. Don't change anything yet.

Here's a screenshot of the bug. Help me work out what's wrong.

Send me the report we just generated.

Pi Telegram is a frontend for a Pi session, not a hosted agent or a replacement for Pi's terminal interface. Your Pi process must stay running. Agent replies and progress use explicit Telegram tools; terminal conversations and tool output are not automatically mirrored into chat.

Get connected

You'll need Pi 0.84.4 or later with a configured model/provider, Node 22.19.0 or later (or your Pi version's higher requirement), and a Telegram account. The candidate is tested against Pi 1.3.0; the standard * Pi peer range is not a universal compatibility claim. Start in a project you trust: the agent retains its normal ability to read files and run commands.

1. Install

In your terminal:

pi install npm:@comput/pi-telegram
cd /path/to/your/project
pi

Already running Pi? Use /reload in local Pi after installation.

2. Add your bot

1. In Telegram, open verified @BotFather, send /newbot, and follow its instructions.
2. In local Pi, run /telegram-start → Add a bot… → Add BotFather bot.
3. Enter the bot's exact username and token in the local setup UI. Token entry is masked. Never paste the token into an agent conversation, Telegram chat or issue.
4. Open your bot's private Telegram chat, press Start, and send the exact one-time pairing code shown in Pi. The code expires after three minutes.
5. Check the connection in local Pi with /telegram-status. In the 0.6.2 candidate, startup is silent: send /ping in Telegram for Pong · project · vLoadedVersion without invoking the model (published 0.6.1 still sends a Connected notice).

If setup asks to remove a webhook or transfer a bot from another session, confirm only if you intend to take over that connection.

3. Say hello

Send this to your bot in Telegram:

Reply here with “Connection works.” Do not read files, change anything or run commands.

You’re ready when the agent replies. If it doesn't, check local Pi for model/provider errors and run /telegram-status. See the setup and recovery guide for help.

Pick up where you left off

A bot belongs to one persistent Pi session, not every session in a project folder. After closing Pi, return to the project and resume the original session:

pi -r

Or use pi -c to continue the most recent session in that project. Its assigned bot reconnects when the session resumes.

A new or forked session does not inherit the bot. Use /telegram-start to deliberately select or transfer one. More on sessions and transfers.

A few useful controls

Removing local credentials does not delete the bot or revoke its token at Telegram. See the full command guide and update/removal instructions.

Private by design, with clear boundaries

• Only the paired owner's private messages are accepted.
• Pairing requires a short-lived code shown in your local Pi setup.
• Agent content is sent explicitly, rather than automatically forwarding terminal output or private reasoning.
• File delivery is restricted to allowed project files, with credential and repository-internal paths blocked. These checks do not scan arbitrary file contents for secrets or malware.

Telegram bot chats are not end-to-end encrypted. Pi extensions have full system access, stored tokens are plaintext, and requested ping/status replies include project/version or host details. Protect your local settings and backups, and use a bot only with projects and information you're comfortable accessing through Telegram.

Stop is request-bound; it is not a guarantee that every worker or subprocess has terminated. Check ongoing work locally when necessary.

Learn more

• User guide — commands, files, recovery, session transfers and advanced setup.
• Agent/tool guide — explicit messaging, previews, progress and the optional usage skill.
• Upgrading from 0.5.0 — migration to the explicit Post/Draft/Edit/Activity tools.
• Changelog — release notes, including pending changes.
• Development status — validation evidence and known limitations.
• Security reporting · MIT license

This checkout prepares 0.6.2, not yet published; the public release baseline remains 0.6.1. The candidate adds silent startup, native /ping, a narrowly scoped new-Telegram-runtime /reload acknowledgement, and inert voice-note intake without transcription. Process restart and instance-following assignments are not supported. Local validation and security audits pass; see development status for evidence and remaining live-test limitations.