# Build brief — a focused alternative to TeleMinute

> **Verdict:** Partly, if you narrow it · **Buildability:** 72/100 · **Category:** No Code Apps
> **Source:** https://www.canitbevibecoded.com/teleminute
> Independent editorial assessment from Can It Be Vibe Coded? Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or derived from TeleMinute. Verify current pricing and capabilities before acting.

## Context

**TeleMinute** — No-code Telegram bot builder with commands, auto-replies, lead forms, and broadcasts. It currently costs $4.99/mo.

A single personal bot with commands, keyword replies, and a basic broadcast is a solid contained build on Telegram's friendly Bot API. What you are really buying is the hosted no-code layer: a dashboard a non-technical shop owner edits from a phone, scheduled broadcasts, lead-capture forms, analytics, and native iOS/Android apps. If you can run code you can replace your own subscription, but you cannot hand the DIY version to a client who cannot.

This brief describes a focused, single-operator replacement for the part of TeleMinute that is genuinely reproducible. It is deliberately narrower than the product it replaces, and it says so in writing. Build the useful core; do not pretend to have rebuilt the rest.

## What you are building

Register a bot with @BotFather, run a long-polling Node process that answers commands and keyword triggers from a config file, store chats and leads in SQLite, and add an owner-only broadcast command.

- Build a focused single-user workflow with real persistence, search, and export.
- A responsive interface with real empty, loading, success, and error states.

## Requirements

### Functional

- Always-on process (VPS or spare machine).
- SQLite.
- Config file for commands.

### Data and integrations

- Telegram bot token.

Each of these needs a real account, credential, or quota. Set them up before writing feature code.

### Non-functional

- Accessibility: semantic markup, labelled controls, visible focus, and reduced-motion support.
- Security: server-side secrets, validated input, and no credentials in the client bundle.
- Reliability: retries with backoff on external calls, and a clear failure state when a provider is down.
- Portability: the operator can export their data and leave without losing it.

## Implementation brief

Build me a personal Telegram bot for one business, replacing TeleMinute. Requirements:

- Node 22 + grammY + better-sqlite3, one small project, no build step; data
  lives in data/bot.db.
- Long polling, not webhooks, so it runs anywhere with just BOT_TOKEN in
  .env (create the bot with @BotFather first).
- Commands are defined in commands.yaml: name, reply text, optional image
  path, optional inline URL buttons. Hot-reload the file on change.
- Keyword auto-replies in the same file: trigger words like "price" or
  "hours" mapped to reply text.
- /start sends a greeting listing the available commands.
- Lead capture: /contact walks the user through name, phone, and message as
  a short conversation, saves it to a leads table, and notifies me
  (OWNER_CHAT_ID) immediately.
- Owner-only /broadcast <text>: send to every chat that has messaged the
  bot, throttled under Telegram rate limits, then report sent and failed
  counts.
- Owner-only /stats: total users, messages per day for the last 14 days,
  top 5 commands.
- README: BotFather setup, .env keys (BOT_TOKEN, OWNER_CHAT_ID), and how to
  keep it running with pm2.
- Out of scope: multi-bot management, a web dashboard, scheduled
  broadcasts, and mobile apps; that is what the hosted product is for.

## Delivery standard

- Inspect the repository first, then write a short implementation plan before writing code.
- Deliver the smallest complete end-to-end workflow first; every primary control must work against persisted data.
- Use real validation and storage; never substitute fake dashboards, decorative controls, hard-coded success states, or mock integrations.
- Include responsive layouts plus genuine empty, loading, success, validation, and failure states.
- Keep secrets server-side in environment variables, provide .env.example, and never commit credentials or user data.
- Add structured logs around every external call and return actionable errors without leaking sensitive details.
- Write unit tests for the core logic and one automated test of the main user journey.
- Finish with a README covering setup, architecture, data location, backups, tests, deployment, and known limitations.

## Acceptance criteria

- [ ] A clean install starts the app using only the README and .env.example.
- [ ] The primary journey works from first visit through saved result, reload, edit, export, and deletion where applicable.
- [ ] Invalid input, missing configuration, provider failure, and an empty database each have a usable state.
- [ ] The interface works at 390px and 1440px, is keyboard navigable, and shows visible focus on every control.
- [ ] Tests, type checking, linting, and a production build all pass with no ignored failures.
- [ ] No part of the interface implies a live integration, security guarantee, or scale capability that was not actually built and verified.

## Non-goals

Do not build these, and do not claim to have replaced them:

- No-code dashboard.
- Mobile apps.
- Scheduled broadcasts.
- Lead-capture form builder.
- The last 20 percent is sync, migration fidelity, speed, and edge cases.

## What you still own after launch

- Secure credentials, rotate secrets, and handle provider rate limits.
- Run migrations, backups, restores, and dependency updates.
- Test the critical journey after every model, API, or hosting change.
- Monitor failures and fix the edge cases a first prompt will miss.

## Risk

**Manageable.** A personal version is realistic if you test the critical journey and keep reliable backups.

Editorial confidence in this assessment: high. No independent one-shot implementation is linked yet.

## Prior art

Working open-source software you can read, fork, or borrow from before starting:

- [grammY](https://github.com/grammyjs/grammY) — TypeScript Telegram bot framework that makes the DIY version mostly glue code

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Generated by [Can It Be Vibe Coded?](https://www.canitbevibecoded.com) · Full report: https://www.canitbevibecoded.com/teleminute