How to Set Up a Telegram AI Assistant in 60 Seconds

Most AI chatbots live in a browser tab. You open them when you remember to, and close them when you’re done. But an AI assistant that lives in Telegram? That’s always in your pocket.

Here’s how to get one running with PolymathClaw in about a minute.

What you’ll have when you’re done

A Telegram bot powered by your choice of AI model (Claude, GPT, Gemini, Grok, or 300+ others via OpenRouter). It can:

• Answer questions with full context from your previous conversations
• Browse the web and pull live information
• Run code, analyze files, and generate images
• Schedule recurring tasks (daily briefings, reminders)
• Connect to 13,700+ tools via ClawHub skills

And it runs 24/7 on its own server, not just when you have a browser open.

Step 1: Create your PolymathClaw account

Go to polymathclaw.com/signup and create an account. You can try 30 free messages right away without an API key or credit card.

When you’re ready for full access, start the 7-day free trial ($19/month after that) and add an API key from any provider. Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google all offer free API key creation.

Step 2: Deploy your instance

From your dashboard, click Deploy Instance. Your dedicated OpenClaw server spins up in under two minutes at yourname.polymathclaw.com.

Step 3: Create a Telegram bot

Open Telegram and message @BotFather:

1. Send /newbot
2. Pick a name (e.g., “My AI Assistant”)
3. Pick a username (e.g., my_ai_assistant_bot)
4. BotFather gives you a token like 7123456789:AAF...

Copy that token.

Step 4: Connect it

Back on your PolymathClaw dashboard, go to the Channels tab. Paste the Telegram bot token and hit Save. That’s it.

Open your new bot in Telegram and send a message. Your AI agent responds.

What makes this different from a ChatGPT bot

This isn’t a simple prompt-response wrapper. Your agent has:

• Persistent memory across every conversation
• A real browser it can use to navigate websites
• File system access to read, write, and manage files
• Cron jobs for scheduling recurring tasks
• 13,700+ skills for connecting to external services

Ask it to “check the weather every morning at 8am and send me a summary” and it will actually do that. Every day. Without you opening an app.

Tips for getting the most out of it

• Set up your personality in the dashboard Personality tab. Tell the agent your name, preferences, and how you like responses formatted.
• Install skills for services you use: clawhub install todoist, clawhub install notion, clawhub install gmail.
• Use it in group chats too. Add the bot to a Telegram group and it’ll respond when mentioned.

Your agent remembers everything. The more you use it, the more useful it gets.