Telegram Bot Setup

Set up Telegram notifications to receive real-time updates about your trading bot’s activity. This is optional but highly recommended for monitoring.

Why Use Telegram Notifications?

Telegram notifications provide:

Trade alerts: When bot opens/closes positions
Performance updates: Profit/loss summaries
Error notifications: System issues requiring attention
Remote monitoring: Check bot status from anywhere

Creating Your Telegram Bot

1. Create Bot with BotFather

Open Telegram and search for @BotFather
Start a chat and send /newbot
Follow the prompts:
- Bot name: Choose a display name (e.g., “My Trading Bot”)
- Username: Must end with “bot” (e.g., “my_trading_bot”)
Save the bot token BotFather provides

2. Get Your Chat ID

You need your Chat ID so the bot knows where to send messages.

Method 1 - Using @userinfobot:

Search for @userinfobot in Telegram
Start a chat and send any message
The bot replies with your Chat ID

Method 2 - Using @RawDataBot:

Search for @RawDataBot in Telegram
Start a chat and send any message
Look for "chat":{"id":XXXXXXXXX} in the response
The number after "id": is your Chat ID

Method 3 - Manual extraction:

Send a message to your new bot
Visit: https://api.telegram.org/botYOUR_BOT_TOKEN/getUpdates
Look for your Chat ID in the JSON response

Configuration

1. Add to Environment File

Edit your .env file:

# Telegram Configuration
TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=1234567890:ABCdefGHIjklMNOpqrSTUVwxyz
TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID=123456789

2. Verify Configuration

Your trading bot will automatically use these settings when configured in the strategy templates.

Testing Your Setup

1. Test Bot Response

Send /start to your bot. You should see:

Welcome message (if bot is running)
Or no response (if bot isn’t running yet - this is normal)

2. Launch Bot and Check Notifications

# Launch in dry-run mode
./docker-launch.sh

# Check logs for Telegram connection
docker logs freqtrade-ReinforcedAverageStrategy | grep -i telegram

You should receive a startup message in Telegram showing:

Bot status and strategy
Configuration summary
Market conditions

3. Test Commands

Send these commands to your bot:

/status - Current open trades
/profit - Performance summary
/help - Available commands

Telegram Commands

Once your bot is running, you can control it via Telegram:

Information Commands

/status - Show open trades and bot status
/profit - Display profit/loss summary
/balance - Show account balance
/daily - Daily profit statistics
/weekly - Weekly performance
/monthly - Monthly performance

Control Commands

/start - Start receiving notifications
/stop - Stop receiving notifications
/help - Show available commands

Advanced Commands

/trades - Show recent trade history
/performance - Detailed performance metrics
/reload_config - Reload bot configuration

Notification Types

Trade Notifications

Entry signals: When bot opens new positions
Exit signals: When bot closes positions
Stop-loss triggers: When trades are stopped out

Performance Updates

Daily summaries: End-of-day performance
Milestone alerts: Profit/loss thresholds
Drawdown warnings: When losses exceed limits

System Notifications

Startup/shutdown: Bot status changes
Error alerts: Technical issues
Configuration changes: Setting updates

Customizing Notifications

You can adjust notification frequency and types by modifying the strategy configuration templates in the config/ directory. Look for the telegram section:

"telegram": {
    "enabled": true,
    "token": "${TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN}",
    "chat_id": "${TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID}",
    "notification_settings": {
        "status": "on",
        "warning": "on", 
        "startup": "on",
        "buy": "on",
        "sell": "on"
    }
}

Privacy and Security

Bot Security

Bot tokens are sensitive - treat like passwords
Restrict bot access - only you should know the bot username
Monitor bot activity - check for unexpected messages

Chat Security

Use private chats - avoid group chats for trading notifications
Backup important alerts - save critical trade information elsewhere
Regular token rotation - create new bots periodically for high-value accounts

Troubleshooting

Bot Not Responding

No response to /status command

Solutions:

Check bot token in .env file
Verify trading bot is running: docker ps
Check logs: docker logs freqtrade-ReinforcedAverageStrategy

Wrong Chat ID

Bot sends messages to wrong person/group

Solutions:

Verify Chat ID in .env file
Use @userinfobot to get correct Chat ID
Restart trading bot after fixing

No Notifications

Bot responds to commands but no trade alerts

Solutions:

Check notification settings in strategy config
Verify trading activity (maybe no trades triggered)
Test in dry-run mode to see simulated trades

Rate Limiting

ERROR - Telegram rate limit exceeded

Solutions:

Reduce notification frequency in config
Combine multiple updates into single messages
Use webhook instead of polling (advanced)

Next Steps

With Telegram configured: