# Hotline
> Telegram Bot API client and framework for Elixir.
Hotline gives you everything you need to build Telegram bots in Elixir — from quick IEx exploration to production-ready supervised bots with long-polling, webhooks, and Broadway pipelines.
---
## Features
| | |
|---|---|
| **Type-safe** | Parsed Telegram types with nested struct resolution |
| **Long-polling** | Built-in `Hotline.Poller` with offset tracking, 409/429 handling |
| **Webhooks** | `Hotline.Webhook` Plug with secret token verification |
| **Bot behaviour** | `use Hotline.Bot` for quick PubSub-driven bots |
| **Conversation flows** | Declarative DSL for multi-step conversations with validation and branching |
| **Access control** | Restrict bots to specific user IDs via `allowed_ids` |
| **Streaming** | Lazy `Stream.resource` for IEx exploration |
| **Broadway** | Optional `Hotline.BroadwayProducer` for pipeline processing |
| **Code generator** | `mix hotline.gen` generates types and methods from the official API spec |
| **Telemetry** | Request and update events out of the box |
| **Native JSON** | Uses Elixir 1.18+ built-in `JSON` module — no Jason dependency |
## Installation
Add `hotline` to your dependencies in `mix.exs`:
```elixir
def deps do
[
{:hotline, "~> 0.1.0"}
]
end
```
Requires **Elixir ~> 1.18**.
## Configuration
Three ways to configure, in priority order:
```elixir
# 1. Runtime options (highest priority)
Hotline.get_me(token: "your-bot-token")
# 2. Application environment
# config/config.exs
config :hotline,
token: "your-bot-token"
# 3. System environment variables
# export HOTLINE_TOKEN="your-bot-token"
```
## Quick Start
```sh
HOTLINE_TOKEN="your-bot-token" iex -S mix
```
```elixir
# Verify your bot
iex> {:ok, me} = Hotline.get_me()
{:ok, %Hotline.Types.User{first_name: "MyBot", ...}}
# Find your chat_id — send a message to your bot in Telegram, then:
iex> [update] = Hotline.stream() |> Enum.take(1)
iex> chat_id = update.message.chat.id
7644580464
# Send a message
iex> Hotline.send_message(%{chat_id: chat_id, text: "Hello from Hotline!"})
{:ok, %Hotline.Types.Message{...}}
```
## Building a Bot
Define a bot module with `use Hotline.Bot` and implement `handle_update/2`:
```elixir
defmodule MyBot do
use Hotline.Bot
@impl Hotline.Bot
def handle_update(%{message: %{text: "/start", chat: %{id: chat_id}}}, state) do
Hotline.send_message(%{chat_id: chat_id, text: "Welcome! Try /help"})
{:noreply, state}
end
def handle_update(%{message: %{text: "/ping", chat: %{id: chat_id}}}, state) do
Hotline.send_message(%{chat_id: chat_id, text: "Pong!"})
{:noreply, state}
end
def handle_update(_update, state) do
{:noreply, state}
end
end
```
Add the poller and bot to your supervision tree:
```elixir
children = [
{Hotline.Poller, []},
{MyBot, []}
]
Supervisor.start_link(children, strategy: :one_for_one)
```
### Restricting Access
Only accept updates from specific Telegram user IDs:
```elixir
# Single user
{MyBot, allowed_ids: [7644580464]}
# Multiple users
{MyBot, allowed_ids: [7644580464, 123456789]}
# Everyone (default)
{MyBot, []}
```
Updates from non-allowed users are silently dropped.
### Chat Registry
Hotline can automatically track all chats your bot interacts with, persisted across restarts via DETS:
```elixir
children = [
{Hotline.Poller, []},
{Hotline.ChatRegistry, dets_path: "priv/chats.dets"},
{MyBot, []}
]
```
Or configure globally:
```elixir
config :hotline,
chat_registry_path: "priv/chats.dets"
```
Then query known chats anytime:
```elixir
Hotline.ChatRegistry.list() # all known chats
Hotline.ChatRegistry.get(7644580464) # lookup by chat_id
Hotline.ChatRegistry.count() # total count
```
## Conversation Flows
Build multi-step conversations with the Flow DSL. Define steps declaratively, handle input with pattern matching, and let the Engine manage state per chat.
### Defining a Flow
```elixir
defmodule MyBot.Flows.Registration do
use Hotline.Flow
step :name, prompt: "What's your name?"
step :email, prompt: fn ctx -> "Thanks #{ctx.data.name}! What's your email?" end
step :confirm,
prompt: fn ctx -> "Confirm? Name: #{ctx.data.name}" end,
keyboard: [[%{text: "Yes", callback_data: "yes"}, %{text: "No", callback_data: "no"}]]
@impl true
def handle_input(:name, %{message: %{text: name}}, _ctx) when byte_size(name) >= 2 do
{:next, store: %{name: name}}
end
def handle_input(:name, _, _ctx), do: {:retry, "Name must be at least 2 characters."}
def handle_input(:email, %{message: %{text: email}}, _ctx) do
{:next, store: %{email: email}}
end
def handle_input(:confirm, %{callback_query: %{data: "yes"}}, _ctx), do: :done
def handle_input(:confirm, %{callback_query: %{data: "no"}}, _ctx), do: {:goto, :name, reset: true}
def handle_input(:confirm, _, _ctx), do: {:retry, "Use the buttons."}
@impl true
def on_done(ctx) do
Hotline.send_message(%{chat_id: ctx.chat_id, text: "Registered: #{ctx.data.name}"})
end
end
```
`handle_input/3` return values control the flow:
| Return | Effect |
|--------|--------|
| `{:next, store: %{k: v}}` | Merge data and advance to next step |
| `:next` | Advance without storing data |
| `{:goto, :step}` | Jump to a named step |
| `{:goto, :step, reset: true}` | Jump and clear accumulated data |
| `{:retry, "message"}` | Stay on current step, send error message |
| `:done` / `{:done, result}` | Complete the flow |
| `:cancel` | Cancel the flow |
### Running Flows
Add `Hotline.Flow.Engine` to your supervision tree and trigger flows from your bot:
```elixir
children = [
{Hotline.Poller, []},
{Hotline.Flow.Engine, []},
{MyBot, []}
]
```
```elixir
defmodule MyBot do
use Hotline.Bot
@impl Hotline.Bot
def handle_update(%{message: %{text: "/register", chat: %{id: chat_id}}}, state) do
Hotline.Flow.Engine.start_flow(chat_id, MyBot.Flows.Registration)
{:noreply, state}
end
def handle_update(%{message: %{text: "/cancel", chat: %{id: chat_id}}}, state) do
Hotline.Flow.Engine.cancel_flow(chat_id)
{:noreply, state}
end
def handle_update(%{message: %{text: text, chat: %{id: chat_id}}} = update, state)
when is_binary(text) do
unless Hotline.Flow.Engine.handles_update?(update) do
Hotline.send_message(%{chat_id: chat_id, text: "Try /register or /help"})
end
{:noreply, state}
end
def handle_update(_update, state), do: {:noreply, state}
end
```
### Inline Keyboards in Flows
Pass `keyboard:` to any step to send inline buttons with the prompt:
```elixir
step :rating,
prompt: "Rate your experience:",
keyboard: [
[%{text: "1", callback_data: "1"}, %{text: "2", callback_data: "2"},
%{text: "3", callback_data: "3"}, %{text: "4", callback_data: "4"},
%{text: "5", callback_data: "5"}]
]
def handle_input(:rating, %{callback_query: %{data: rating}}, _ctx) do
{:next, store: %{rating: String.to_integer(rating)}}
end
```
## Webhooks
Use `Hotline.Webhook` as a Plug, or deploy standalone with Bandit:
```elixir
children = [
{Bandit, plug: Hotline.Webhook.Router, port: 4000},
{MyBot, []}
]
```
With secret token verification:
```elixir
config :hotline,
webhook_secret: "your-secret-token"
```
## Sending Files
```elixir
# From a file path
Hotline.send_photo(%{chat_id: chat_id, photo: {:file, "/path/to/photo.jpg"}})
# From binary content
Hotline.send_document(%{chat_id: chat_id, document: {:file_content, pdf_binary, "report.pdf"}})
```
## Code Generator
Generate all Telegram API types and methods from the [official spec](https://github.com/PaulSonOfLars/telegram-bot-api-spec):
```sh
mix hotline.gen
mix format
```
This creates full type modules in `lib/hotline/types/` and a `Hotline.GeneratedAPI` module with every API method, complete with typespecs and docs.
## Examples
See the [`examples/`](examples/) directory:
| Example | Description |
|---------|-------------|
| [`echo_bot.exs`](examples/echo_bot.exs) | Echoes back whatever the user sends |
| [`greeter_bot.exs`](examples/greeter_bot.exs) | Handles `/start`, `/help`, `/ping`, `/whoami` commands |
| [`flow_bot.exs`](examples/flow_bot.exs) | Multi-step flows: registration, feedback, and settings |
| [`stream_logger.exs`](examples/stream_logger.exs) | Logs incoming updates to the console via streaming |
| [`broadway_pipeline.exs`](examples/broadway_pipeline.exs) | Process updates through a Broadway pipeline |
Run any example:
```sh
HOTLINE_TOKEN="your-bot-token" mix run examples/echo_bot.exs
```
## License
[MIT](LICENSE)