Doors

A door lets you reach Chief from a chat app instead of the Melta app. Message it, and Chief answers in the same chat. Telegram is the first door.

The door is a small program on your computer, next to Chief. It talks to Telegram straight from there: no server of ours sits in between, and the computer needs no open port. Doors are part of Chief v2 and need melta-chief 0.1.24 or later.

Open it from the Chief tab (the Doors row, under Connectors) or from Settings › Chief › Doors. Both need New Melta on (Settings › New Melta).

Set up Telegram

Tap Connect next to Telegram, then:

1. Open @BotFather in Telegram and send /newbot.
2. Give the bot a name. BotFather answers with a token.
3. Paste the token into Melta and tap Connect.

The row then says Connected as @your_bot. Melta never shows the token again.

Pair with your bot

Message the bot from your own Telegram. It answers once with a six-digit code, and a card Pair Telegram: your name shows up at the top of the Inbox, with a push. Check the code on the card is the one the bot sent you, then tap Allow. From then on, everything you write to the bot goes to Chief.

Anyone else who finds the bot gets one line, "This Chief isn't yours.", and then silence. Tap Deny on a card you don't recognise. For now a bot pairs with its owner only.

Talking to Chief

• Chief treats a Telegram message like a question typed in Ask Chief: it answers, or starts the work in the right session.
• While it works the bot shows typing and a 👀 on your message, then 👍 when it is done. Answers are short and plain.
• Files Chief makes for you arrive as documents or photos. Photos and files you send are saved on the computer for Chief to read.
• Voice notes are transcribed on the computer when it has a speech tool such as whisper; otherwise the bot asks you to send text.
• Approvals never happen in Telegram. When a task needs your yes, the card comes to Melta as usual and the bot says "Sent you a card in Melta".
• Tasks that came through a door say who asked, such as "asked by Ankit on Telegram", on the Chief tab.

Groups

Add the bot to a Telegram group and it answers there only when someone mentions it (@your_bot) or replies to one of its messages. On the Telegram screen, each group the bot is in has a row: tap it to choose the folder that group's questions work in, from the folders your sessions run in.

What is stored where

• The bot token stays on your computer: in the macOS keychain, in the Linux keyring when secret-tool is there, or else in a file only you can read under ~/Melta Chief/doors/secrets. The Telegram screen says which.
• Messages, files and the list of paired people and groups are under ~/Melta Chief/doors on the computer.
• Melta's servers never see the token or any message. The only thing that passes through them is the pairing push, which carries the person's name.

Telegram itself carries your messages to the bot, as with any Telegram chat.

Test and disconnect

Test makes the bot send "Chief says hi" to your Telegram. Disconnect, after you confirm, stops the bot and removes the token and the pairings from the computer. You can delete the bot itself in @BotFather with /deletebot.

Common questions

The row says "Update Chief on this computer"

Doors need melta-chief 0.1.24 or later. Tap Update Chief, or run the install command again with --update.

The row says "Stopped"

Chief's keeper starts the door again within a minute while Chief is running. If it keeps crashing it stops and says so; Connect again, or run melta-chief doors on the computer to see its state.

The row says "another service uses this bot"

Something else connected the same bot (Telegram lets one bot deliver its messages to one place). Chief steps aside rather than take it back. Make a new bot with @BotFather for Chief and Connect with its token.

The bot doesn't answer in a group

Mention it by its name or reply to one of its messages; it stays quiet otherwise. Make sure you have paired with the bot in a private chat first.

Can I set it up from the computer itself?

Yes: melta-chief doors shows the state, and melta-chief door-connect telegram asks for the token and doesn't show it as you paste. See also Connectors for what Chief can reach.