Run a custom Telegram bot for to-dos, calendar and weather
After dropping OpenClaw over security and self-configuration crashes, the author wrote their own Telegram bot with a few manually enabled capabilities: TODO list, calendar and weather.
Done withOpenClaw
- What they did
- After running OpenClaw in a dedicated VM with tightly limited file access, the author wrote their own bot that talks to them over Telegram. They manually enabled a few capabilities: adding to a TODO list, adding to a calendar, and fetching weather in their preferred format. The plan is to add features as needed.
- How it went
- The author says they now know how the whole flow works, and found OpenClaw's soul.md, heartbeat and memory features never really worked. They are still looking for a way to let the LLM browse websites.
- Worth knowing
- OpenClaw kept trying to configure itself and then crashing, so building only the capabilities you need gives a smaller, more predictable bot.
Try it yourself with OpenClaw
Write me a small Telegram bot I can run myself that does only three things: manage a to-do list, show my calendar events from [Google Calendar or other calendar], and give the weather for [city]. Keep each capability in its own file and make it so nothing else is enabled unless I turn it on. Walk me through setup and token storage, test each command, and stop when all three work. Ask me before you install anything or connect to my accounts.
Want help getting this working? Join the Vibe Coding Academy ↗ Run by Alex Finn, who also runs this site.
Source: HN · Oct 22, 2026
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