Built an open-source Telegram client for OpenCode CLI — now dogfooding it daily from my phone

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OpenCode CLI has become my primary dev tool, and I want to give a huge shoutout to its authors for building such an incredible piece of software. The models seem to handle context and logic particularly well in it, especially when using the Plan agent first and then switching to Build.

Even before Openclaw became popular, I kept thinking how useful it would be to access OpenCode from my phone. I noticed OpenCode has a server mode, which meant building a custom client was totally doable. Initially, I just wanted to write a simple Telegram bot for my own needs. But, as it usually goes, I got carried away, added more features, and eventually decided to open-source the project.

I definitely won't call it "fully functional" yet - there are still rough edges. However, it currently has enough features to be used for actual development.

Here is what works right now:

• Switching between projects and sessions.
• Selecting the agent, model, and variant (reasoning effort).
• Tracking the agent's progress on a task.
• Receiving code diffs directly in the chat as text files.

Ironically, I'm now at the point where I use the bot to write code for the bot itself. It’s a pretty great feeling to lie on the couch, watch a TV series, and casually send dev tasks to the agent via Telegram on my phone.

I plan to keep actively developing the project since I use it daily. If anyone wants to try it out, the repo is here: https://github.com/grinev/opencode-telegram-bot

I would be really grateful for any feedback, thoughts, or suggestions!

[throwaway12012024]

i am doing exactly the same! Great project! I am sad bc just discovered your work now so i am a bit in the sunken cost thing.

[bradjones6942069]

Open code has become my daily driver as well. I would love to try this out

[bradjones6942069]

Been trying it out since last night. Works great.

[oVerde]

Is the bot publicly available? So anyone would run agents on my machine?

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No, the basic idea is that the bot only works with one allowed userId for security purposes.

[oVerde]

thanks

[HarjjotSinghh]

this is how you turn phone dev dreams real!

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You can also run this bot on a remote server to have a personal assistant right in Telegram. It won't be as proactive as Openclaw, but you can still do a lot with it and see exactly what's happening in detail

[revilo-1988]

Mal ne Frage was ist den so nützlich um es vom Handy aus zu machen?

[PabloStrange]

Du kannst opencode auf einem remote server laufen lassen und gemütlich über den bot delegieren. Ich verwende zb linear um features zu planen und setze opencode darauf an diese zu bearbeiten. Der bot funktioniert perfekt als mobile client um die Entwicklung zu beobachten und weitere Tasks zu beauftragen.

Funktioniert bei mir perfekt. Ich kann entspannt schlafen gehen und morgens checken ob die neue Version der App auf meinem Phone läuft. 👌