How to Create an AI Companion Telegram Bot

AI models like Llama are powerful tools for building conversational applications. In this tutorial, I'll show you how to set up and deploy an AI-powered Telegram bot using Ollama (a self-hosted Llama model) and Node.js, running entirely on a virtual machine (VM) without a GPU.

You’ll learn how to:

1. Install and run Llama3.2 model.


2. Set up a Node.js application with PM2 for process management.


3. Build a Telegram bot that interacts with the self-hosted AI instance.
   The full code is available in my
   
   
   
   
   
   

   
   
   
   2️⃣ Step 2: Setting Up Node.js and PM2
   

   
   
   

   We'll use Node.js to create a backend application that interacts with both Ollama and Telegram.

   
   
   

   
   
   
   Install Node.js and PM2
   

   
   
   
   
   
   
   

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   sudo apt update
   
   sudo apt install -y nodejs npm
   
   sudo npm install -g pm2
   
   

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

   
   
   
   Initialize the Project
   

   
   
   

   Create a folder for your project and initialize a Node.js application:
   
   

   
   
   
   
   

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   mkdir ai-telegram-bot
   
   cd ai-telegram-bot
   
   npm init -y
   
   

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

   
   
   
   Install Dependencies
   

   
   
   
   
   
   
   

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   npm install dotenv node-telegram-bot-api
   
   

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

   
   
   
   Create the Folder Structure
   

   
   
   

   Organize your project as follows:
   
   

   
   
   
   
   

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   📁 src/
   
   ├── 📁 services/
   
   │   ├── 📄 ollamaService.js   # Handles interactions with the local Ollama API
   
   │   └── 📄 telegramBotService.js # Telegram bot logic and API integration
   
   

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

   
   
   
   3️⃣ Step 3: Writing the Code
   

   
   
   

   
   
   
   Create ollamaService.js
   

   
   
   

   This file handles interactions with the Ollama API. The function below sends a string to the API and returns a response, which can be forwarded to the Telegram user.
   
   Refer to the
   
   

   
   
   
   
   

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   require("dotenv").config();
   
   const TelegramBot = require("node-telegram-bot-api");
   
   const { queryOllama } = require("./ollamaService");
   
   
   
   const token = process.env.TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN;
   
   
   
   const bot = new TelegramBot(token, { polling: true });
   
   
   
   bot.on("message", async (msg) => {
   
     const chatId = msg.chat.id;
   
     switch (msg.text) {
   
       case "/start":
   
         bot.sendMessage(
   
           chatId,
   
           "Welcome to Ollama Bot! Send me a message and I will translate it to Ollama language."
   
         );
   
         break;
   
       case "/help":
   
         bot.sendMessage(
   
           chatId,
   
           "Send me a message and I will translate it to Ollama language using the llama3.2 model with 1 billion parameters. I can make mistakes, double check important infos."
   
         );
   
         break;
   
       default:
   
         bot.sendChatAction(chatId, "typing");
   
         try {
   
           const response = await queryOllama(msg.text);
   
           bot.sendMessage(chatId, response);
   
         } catch (error) {
   
           bot.sendMessage(
   
             chatId,
   
             "Oops, something went wrong. Please try again."
   
           );
   
         }
   
     }
   
   });
   
   

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

   Future improvement: Adding more commands or integrating additional services.

   
   
   
   
   
   

   
   
   
   4️⃣ Step 4: Create a Telegram Bot
   

   
   
   

   
   
   
   Create your bot:
   

   
   
   
   
   
   1. Open Telegram and search for the user BotFather.
   
   
   2. Start a chat with BotFather and send the command /newbot.
   
   
   3. Follow the instructions, providing a name and username for your bot.
   
   
   4. Once completed, BotFather will send you a token. This token is used to authenticate your bot.
      Save this token in your .env file:
      
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

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   TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=your_telegram_bot_token
   
   

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

   
   
   
   5️⃣ Step 5: Running the Bot
   

   
   
   

   
   
   
   Start the Application
   

   
   
   

   Start the bot using PM2 for process management:
   
   

   
   
   
   
   

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   pm2 start src/services/telegramBotService.js --name ai-telegram-bot
   
   pm2 save
   
   

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

   
   
   
   Check Logs
   

   
   
   

   Ensure the bot is running correctly by checking the logs:
   
   

   
   
   
   
   

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   pm2 logs ai-telegram-bot
   
   

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

   Now, your bot is live and ready to interact with users on Telegram!
   
   
   
   
   If your bot doesn’t respond, wake it up with this endpoint:
   
   

   
   
   
   
   

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   curl --location --request POST 'https://api.telegram.org/bot{your-token-here}/getMe'
   
   

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

   
   
   
   6️⃣ How It Works
   

   
   
   
   
   
   1. Users send a message to the Telegram bot.
   
   
   2. The message is forwarded to the Ollama API for processing.
   
   
   3. Ollama generates a response using the Llama model.
   
   
   4. The bot sends the response back to the user in Telegram.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

   
   
   
   📢 Final Thoughts
   

   
   
   

   Congratulations! You've successfully built and deployed an AI-powered Telegram bot using a self-hosted Llama model.

   
   
   

   Feel free to experiment with more advanced models or customize the bot further. If you encounter issues, leave a comment or fork the GitHub repository for more examples and enhancements.

   
   
   

   Happy coding! 🚀

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