Telegram Post Skill

Create, preview, and send formatted Telegram posts from draft markdown files.

Script location: ~/.Codex/skills/telegram/scripts/telegram_fetch.py (NOT scripts/post.py -- that file does not exist)

When to Use

Use this skill when:

• User asks to create a draft for a Telegram channel
• User asks to "post to Telegram" or "send to saved messages" from a draft file
• User wants to preview a draft before sending
• Draft files in Channels/*/drafts/ need to be sent

Sending Drafts

To Saved Messages (preview)

Use the send command with --markdown flag to preserve formatting:

# Send draft content with formatting to saved messages
python3 ~/.Codex/skills/telegram/scripts/telegram_fetch.py send \
  --chat "@glebkalinin" \
  --text "DRAFT_BODY_HERE" \
  --markdown

With Image/File

# Send image with caption (first part) + follow-up text message (rest)
python3 ~/.Codex/skills/telegram/scripts/telegram_fetch.py send \
  --chat "@glebkalinin" \
  --file "/path/to/image.png" \
  --text "CAPTION_TEXT" \
  --markdown

IMPORTANT: Image caption limits

• Telegram captions are limited to 1024 characters
• If the draft body exceeds 1024 chars, split into: image + short caption, then follow-up text message(s)
• Always use --markdown when sending draft content with formatting

To Channel (publish)

Use the publish command for channel posts -- it handles markdown conversion, footer, and post-publish automation. Works with any channel in Channels/.

# Preview -- accepts slug, filename, or full path
python3 ~/.Codex/skills/telegram/scripts/telegram_fetch.py publish \
  --draft "20260413-delusional-spiraling" --dry-run

# Publish (auto-detects channel from folder or frontmatter)
python3 ~/.Codex/skills/telegram/scripts/telegram_fetch.py publish \
  --draft "20260413-delusional-spiraling"

# Schedule for later
python3 ~/.Codex/skills/telegram/scripts/telegram_fetch.py publish \
  --draft "20260413-delusional-spiraling" --schedule "2026-04-16T09:00"

# Full path also works
python3 ~/.Codex/skills/telegram/scripts/telegram_fetch.py publish \
  --draft "Channels/klodkot/drafts/20260211-post.md"

The publish command automatically:

• Resolves channel from draft folder path or frontmatter channel field
• Converts markdown to Telegram HTML
• Appends the correct channel footer if missing (reads from published posts)
• Sends with parse_mode='html'
• Updates frontmatter (published_date, telegram_message_id)
• Moves file from drafts/ to published/
• Updates the channel's index file

Supported channels: Any folder in Channels/ with a {name}/{name}.md index file containing telegram_channel in frontmatter (klodkot, mental-health-tech, opytnym-putem, tool-building-ape, etc.)

Formatting Reference

--markdown flag (for send command)

Converts markdown to Telegram HTML before sending:

Without --markdown: text is sent as-is (plain text). **bold** appears literally as **bold**.

publish command

Handles markdown conversion automatically -- no --markdown flag needed.

Draft Preparation Workflow

1. Read the draft file from Channels/{channel}/drafts/
2. Strip YAML frontmatter (everything between --- markers)
3. Strip ![[image.png]] wikilink embeds (handle images separately via --file)
4. Resolve media paths: check Attachments/, Channels/{channel}/attachments/, Channels/{channel}/videos/, vault root
5. Check text length:
   • If <= 1024 chars and has image/video: send as single message with media + caption
   • If > 1024 chars and has image/video: send media with short caption (title only), then rest as follow-up text
   • If no media: send as text message(s), split at 4096 char limit
6. Always use --markdown flag for draft content

Post-Send Workflow (when user says "move to published" or similar)

After sending a draft to saved messages or channel:

1. Move file from Channels/{channel}/drafts/ to Channels/{channel}/published/
2. Update frontmatter: change type: draft to type: published and add published_date: '[[YYYYMMDD]]' (today's date)
3. Both steps should be done automatically when the user requests moving to published

Draft File Format

---
created_date: '[[YYYYMMDD]]'
type: draft
channel: klodkot
status: draft
language: ru
topic: Topic description
source: https://example.com
---
![[optional-image.png]]

_Source attribution_

**Post Title**

Content with **bold** and _italic_ and [links](url).

#tag1@channel #tag2@channel

**[CHANNEL](https://t.me/channel)** -- footer

Common Pitfalls

• Do NOT send raw HTML via send command -- it shows as literal <b>text</b>. Use --markdown instead.
• Do NOT manually construct HTML -- the --markdown flag handles conversion.
• Image captions have a 1024 char limit in Telegram. Split long posts.
• scripts/post.py does NOT exist. Always use ~/.Codex/skills/telegram/scripts/telegram_fetch.py.

Dependencies

• Uses telegram skill credentials (~/.telegram_dl/)
• Python 3.10+, telethon, pyyaml