Skip to main content
Your own Telegram bot that answers with GPT, Claude, DeepSeek and other RuAPI models. We use the open-source project ChatGPT-Telegram-Workers (MIT license): it runs on the free Cloudflare Workers plan, so you don’t need a server or a domain. By default only the owner can talk to the bot, so strangers can’t spend your balance. Instructions checked on 9 Nov 2026 against the current version of the project. No programming needed. Want to write the bot yourself in Python? See the Telegram bot recipe.

What you need

  • A RuAPI key. Console → API Keys → create an sk-... key. New users usually get a trial balance right away; it works with deepseek-flash, claude-haiku-5-5 and gpt-6-luna. For other models, top up — see Top up.
  • A Cloudflare account (free).
  • A GitHub or GitLab account. Cloudflare copies the bot’s code into it. A separate empty account is best — see below.
  • Telegram on your phone or computer.

Step 1. Create the bot and get your ID

1

Bot from @BotFather

Open @BotFather, send /newbot, pick a name and a username ending in _bot. BotFather replies with a token — save it and keep it private.
2

Your Telegram ID

Open @userinfobot and send /start. It replies with your Id, a number — that’s your ADMIN_ID.

Step 2. Deploy the bot to Cloudflare

1

Open the deploy link

deploy.workers.cloudflare.com/?url=https://github.com/TBXark/ChatGPT-Telegram-Workers — sign in to Cloudflare.
2

Connect a Git account

The deploy won’t start until you connect GitHub or GitLab (Connect a Git account to continue). Click the GitHub connection button and grant access.
On GitHub’s “Install & Authorize” screen, don’t grant access to all repositories of your main account that holds work code: Cloudflare would be able to read and change them. The safest option is a separate empty GitHub account — there you can pick All repositories without worry.
3

Fill in the form

ADMIN_PASSWORD is labelled optional, but the form won’t submit without it. Use a long random password (20+ characters) and keep it: it opens the bot’s admin panel, which stores your RuAPI key.
Leave the build and deploy commands as they are. Don’t turn on Cloudflare Access — it would block Telegram from delivering messages to the bot.
4

Start the deploy

The build takes about a minute. Wait until every stage is green.

Step 3. Turn on the workers.dev address

In new projects the *.workers.dev address can be off, and then Telegram can’t reach the bot. Open the project → the Domains tab → switch on the Production address. The Preview line may turn on with it — that’s fine. Copy the Production address — you’ll need it next. Don’t worry about “anyone with this URL can access it”: only ADMIN_ID can talk to the bot, and the admin panel is password-protected.

Step 4. Log in to the admin panel and bind the webhook

1

Log in

Open https://<your-project>.<your-subdomain>.workers.dev/admin and log in with ADMIN_PASSWORD.
2

Bind the webhook

In the same browser, open https://<your-project>.<your-subdomain>.workers.dev/init. You should see Webhook bound successfully.The /init page: Webhook bound successfullyIf you see Unauthorized. Open /admin, log in, then retry., you’re not logged in yet. Go back to the previous step, then click Retry.The /init page: Unauthorized. Open /admin, log in, then retry.

Step 5. Connect RuAPI

In the admin panel, on the Chat tab, click Add Provider: Bot admin panel: the Add Provider form with the API Format list
1

Models

Click Fetch Models to load the RuAPI model list. Click + next to the ones you want, e.g. deepseek-flash, claude-haiku-5-5, gpt-6-luna. If the list doesn’t load, add models by hand with Add Model — exact IDs are on the pricing page.Bot admin panel: Fetch Models loaded the RuAPI model list
2

Default model

Click a model in the Models list — the checkmark marks the default. deepseek-flash is a good start — one of the most affordable models, see prices.
3

Make RuAPI the default and save

Click Set as Default, then Save. RuAPI should get a checkmark in the provider list. If you have several providers, without this the bot may answer through a provider other than RuAPI.Bot admin panel: RuAPI models and the Set as Default buttonBot admin panel: RuAPI checked in the provider list

Step 6. Test it

Open your bot in Telegram:
  1. /setenv settings.language=en — the bot’s service messages are in Chinese by default, so switch them to English. To switch the / command menu to English too, open /init in your browser once more. This doesn’t affect the model: it answers in the language of your question.
  2. /start — the bot says a new conversation has started.
  3. Send “Hi, introduce yourself in one sentence” — the answer appears gradually as it’s generated.
  4. /models → RuAPI → pick another model, send /new and ask something else.
  5. Send a photo with “what’s in this picture?”. deepseek-flash can’t see images — for photos switch to, say, claude-haiku-5-5. To see which models understand images, see Image input.
Switched models? Send /new. /models changes only the model; the conversation goes on. The bot resends the whole previous chat to the new model, and it takes the earlier answers as its own. For example, after a deepseek-flash answer, Claude may introduce itself as DeepSeek and repeat the other model’s style and mistakes. The old history is also paid for again every time. /new clears the history so the new model starts fresh.
The bot’s requests show up in the RuAPI console → Usage Logs.

All bot commands

Commands in the Telegram menu (the / button next to the input field): Commands not in the menu that still work: In a private chat, /admin, /system, /setenv, /setenvs and /delenv work only for ADMIN_ID. Plain JSON sent without a command goes to the model as text — it doesn’t change settings.

Useful settings

Change them on the admin panel’s Settings tab or with /setenv: Reset a setting: /delenv settings.systemInitMessage. To let friends use the bot, add their Telegram IDs to the allowed users on the Settings tab. All their requests are charged to your RuAPI balance. Note that friends can also switch the model with /models, and it changes for everyone. Keep only affordable models in the Models list.

Costs

  • Cloudflare: the free Workers plan is usually enough for a personal bot.
  • RuAPI: you pay per token at the prices. With every message the bot resends the conversation history to the model, so each answer in a long chat costs more. Send /new when you change the topic.
  • For Claude, RuAPI automatically caches the repeated start of the conversation: if you don’t pause for more than 5 minutes, the resent history is cheaper — see Prompt caching.

Troubleshooting

Cloudflare’s deploy requires a connected GitHub or GitLab account — this step can’t be skipped. Connect a separate empty account (see step 2).
The field is effectively required. Enter a long random password.
Open /admin and log in with ADMIN_PASSWORD first, then open /init again and click Retry.
  • Check that the workers.dev address is on (step 3) and /init reported success.
  • Cloudflare Access must be off.
  • ADMIN_ID is your numeric ID from @userinfobot, not your username.
After /models the bot keeps the old conversation, and the new model sees what “it” wrote before. For example, Claude after a DeepSeek answer may call itself DeepSeek. Send /new after switching models.
Until you top up, only deepseek-flash, claude-haiku-5-5 and gpt-6-luna work. Pick one of them in /models or top up.
The admin panel and /init open via the *.workers.dev address. If it doesn’t open in your region or loads very slowly, try another network. Chatting with the bot goes through Telegram and isn’t affected.
  • API Key must be a RuAPI key sk-....
  • Base URL must be exactly https://www.ruapi.ai/v1.

Security

  • Your RuAPI key and bot token are stored in your Cloudflare account and don’t end up in the Git repository.
  • You can create a separate RuAPI key for the bot with a spending limit, so at worst the bot spends no more than that limit.
  • When you no longer need the bot: delete the Worker in Cloudflare, the bot with /deletebot in @BotFather, the key in the RuAPI console, and the created repository in GitHub. Revoke Cloudflare’s access in GitHub (Settings → Applications).