A messenger bot to provide alternative links to Twitter, YouTube, and other services.

Currently, it is a Telegram bot that replies to messages containing Twitter or YouTube links with the exact copy of that message modified with alternative links.

This bot uses Farside, a redirecting service for FOSS alternative frontends. Farside already provides a reliable way of monitoring, load balancing, and redirecting alternative frontends.

Use @AltLinkerBot in groups to encourage the usage of these privacy-friendly options.

Install requirements

$ python -m venv .venv
$ source .venv/bin/activate
$ pip install poetry
$ poetry install

Instructions for setting up telegram bot

with webhook

1 - submit webhook on telegram api

$ export BOT_TOKEN=bot-token-rstuvwxyz
$ export WEBHOOK_URL=https://yourdomain.com/telegram/hook
$ make webhook-set
{"ok":true,"result":true,"description":"Webhook was set"}

2 - run server

$ export TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=bot-token-rstuvwxyz
$ export PORT=8000
$ sh scripts/server.sh

3 - setup nginx to forward requests to port $PORT (8000)

telegram webhook url must be https

server {
        listen 443 ssl;
        listen [::]:443 ssl;

        server_name altlinker.folan;

        location / {
                proxy_pass http://localhost:8000/;
        }

        ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/altlinker.folan/fullchain.pem;
        ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/altlinker.folan/privkey.pem;
}

with long polling

1 - delete webhook on telegram api

$ export BOT_TOKEN=bot-token-rstuvwxyz
$ make webhook-delete
{"ok":true,"result":true,"description":"Webhook was deleted"}

2 - run server

$ export TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=bot-token-rstuvwxyz
$ sh scripts/polling.sh