The kit
Everything from the session, ready to copy.
claude-workshop.dwe.dev/kit
the three prompts
Create a file called hello.md in this folder that introduces yourself and lists 3 fun things we could build today.
Here is my Telegram bot token: [PASTE TOKEN] Send a test message to my phone so I know it works.
Create a scheduled routine that runs every morning at 8am and messages my Telegram bot with: 1. Today's weather in [YOUR CITY] (use wttr.in, no key needed) 2. The top 3 headlines from Hacker News, one line each 3. One interesting "on this day in history" fact Keep it short enough to read while the kettle boils. Run a test now so I can see it.
build 1 checklist
- In Telegram, message @BotFather and send
/newbot - Give it a name and a username
- Copy the token it hands you. Treat it like a password.
- Send your new bot
/start. It can't message you until you do. - Paste the hello-bot prompt into Claude, token and all
make it yours
- "Text my bot my meetings for tomorrow"
- "Summarise my unread email and send it to Telegram"
- "Check my calendar and email, and tell me what tomorrow looks like"
Connect only what you're happy for Claude to read. Connector not cooperating? Skip it: "send my phone one fact about my hometown I probably don't know".
level up: a two-way bot
Tonight your bot only talks. It can also listen: run Claude as a live channel and messages you send the bot reach your Claude, which replies. It needs the terminal once, from your project folder, and only works while the session stays open.
claude --channels plugin:telegram@claude-plugins-official
Claude will walk you through pairing the first time. Close the session and the bot goes quiet again.
level up: skills and plugins
A skill is a recipe you write once and run forever. It's a markdown file in your skills folder: what the job is, how you like it done. Type / and its name, and Claude follows the recipe.
your-folder/ └── skills/ └── brag-file/ └── SKILL.md the recipe, in plain English
You don't write the recipe yourself. Describe the job and Claude writes its own.
Create a skill called brag-file. When I run it, ask me what I got done today, then add it to brag.md with the date. Keep the questions short.
Tomorrow, type /brag-file. The recipe runs. Edit SKILL.md any time to change how it works.
Plugins are the same idea, shared. Someone bundles skills and connectors into a package anyone can install, and installing one drops its skills straight into your / menu. You've already met one: the two-way bot runs on the official Telegram plugin. Type /plugin to browse the rest.
Good habit: any prompt you've pasted three times wants to be a skill.
when it breaks
| symptom | fix |
|---|---|
| Bot staying silent | Send it /start, then check the token |
| Claude won't touch files | Open your folder as a project first |
| Routine never fires | Check the timezone, then run a test now |
| It did the wrong thing | Smaller, clearer instruction. Go again. |
| Leaked your token | Make a fresh bot with @BotFather. Don't debug the old one. |
| Chat gone long and fuzzy | /compact keeps the thread. /clear if it's a new job. |
the ideas, one more time
The machine.
Claude is a next-word guesser with a toolbox and a loop. No magic, just fast work you can watch.
The files.
Everything it knows about you is a text file you can open. Change the file, change the behaviour. Context compounds, and a CLAUDE.md in any folder scopes its rules to that project.
Two doors.
Cowork when the output is work. Claude Code when the output is a thing.
The meter.
Everything is tokens, about three quarters of a word each. Start with Sonnet, reach up for hard problems, and start a new chat for a new job.
The plugs.
Connectors wire Claude into your real apps. The standard is called MCP, and every connector you add is more tools in the loop.
The clock.
Cron is five fields that name a moment: 0 8 * * * is every morning at 8am. Say the schedule in English and Claude writes the cron; the routine runs in the cloud with your laptop shut.