[BeetleB]

If you look at my comment history, you'll see what seems to be someone defending OpenClaw (even though I stopped using it).

I have some issues with the article, but I agree with some of the conclusions: It's great tinkering with it if you have time to spare, but not worth using weeks of your time trying to get a perfect setup. It's just not that reliable to use up so much of your time.

I will say, it's still amongst the best tools to do a variety of tasks. Yes, each one of those could be done with just a coding agent, but I found it's less effort to get OpenClaw to do it than you writing something for each use case.

Very honest question: One of the use cases I had with OpenClaw that I'm missing now that I don't use it: I could tell it (via Telegram) to add something to my TODO list at home while I'm in the office. It would call a custom API I had set up that adds items to my TODO list.

How can I replicate this without the hassle of setting up OpenClaw? How would you do it?

(My TODO list is strictly on a home PC - no syncing with phone - by design).

(BTW, the reason I stopped using OpenClaw is boring: My QEMU SW stopped working and I haven't had time to debug).

[fg137]

> I could tell it (via Telegram) to add something to my TODO list at home while I'm in the office. It would call a custom API I had set up that adds items to my TODO list.

All the existing, commodity todo list apps on the market can't address your use cases?

At least I can't tell there is anything you can't do on your personal phone.

[BeetleB]

> All the existing, commodity todo list apps on the market can't address your use cases?

Nope. I've custom honed my TODO system since 2009. I'm not switching for some one else's app.

And I don't use phones.

[thepasch]

Basically all modern models can do that, in _any_ conversation. Write a skill that teaches it how to use your API and where the endpoints are. Local models will need a harness (look up pi), but any frontier model can do this out of the box.

Writing a script to make a POST request is something assistants have been able to do for quite a while now.

And if you have a Claude subscription, you can use Dispatch to directly write to your PC's drive, no API needed.

[SyneRyder]

> I could tell it (via Telegram) to add something to my TODO list at home while I'm in the office. It would call a custom API I had set up that adds items to my TODO list. How can I replicate this without the hassle of setting up OpenClaw?

The general idea is make a simple deterministic program that runs on your PC at home in a never ending loop. Every minute or so, check Telegram for a new message. If a message is received, then the program runs "claude -p" with a prompt, whatever MCP tools or CLI permissions it needs, and the contents of your Telegram message. Just leave the program running on your home computer while you're out, and you're done.

I don't use Telegram, so coding the part to check Telegram would be the hard part. I use email instead, and have the program check every minute for new mail (I leave my email program running and check the local inbox file). I'd already coded up a local MCP server to manage my ToDo list (Toodledo) so Claude just calls the MCP tools to add the task.

[BeetleB]

For things like TODO, I guess an email will suffice.

However, it was really nice being able to use Telegram and get quick validation. I also had a flow set up where I could send a voice memo. It would take the audio file (ogg), run Whisper, and then pass through an LLM for cleanup, and follow the instructions in my message. Really handy to use while I'm walking around.

I guess I want to create my own OpenClaw like agent, but not with its crazy broad access: Just limited to the functionality I allow, and with the convenience of using Telegram. I don't care about memory, soul, etc.

[SyneRyder]

I did the exact same voice memo thing too, except I had Claude make an Android app to record the file and send it to Whisper. In the end I had the app just email the transcription & trigger Claude that way (ie receiving the email triggers my PC to wake up Claude), rather than sending Claude the audio file directly.

My reverse audio reply loop is convoluted - I have Claude generate its TTS file from Whisper/Mistral, and upload them to a server with an RSS file it updates, so I can play them in my podcast app (AntennaPod), then send me a notification via Pushover that the reply is waiting. I ended up building out an MCP tool for that workflow, so Claude really just calls the MCP tool with the text of what it wants to say, everything else is a deterministic program doing the work.

Memory is really useful to have - it can just be a bucket of searchable Markdown files. It's also useful to have a "reminders to self" Markdown file that Claude reads each time, and that Claude can update. I don't continue the same context window, and that "reminders to self" plus the ability to read previous emails in the conversation seems to be enough to keep the context going for me.

You'll feel better if you know exactly how your Claw is locked down. Mine doesn't have the open email access others are granting, not at all. Claude gets a bit grumpy about that and keeps begging for more access :)

[andai]

>telegram bot that runs claude -p

https://github.com/a-n-d-a-i/ULTRON

It also supports Codex :)

I felt pretty clever until (1) I found a repo where they used this trick to create a full OpenAI compatible API endpoint[0] (lmao, the VC money distortion field spawning truly comical Rube Goldberg machines), and (2) they started banning "unauthorized" usage of the Claude sub, which trend unfortunately seems to be accelerating recently as their lower value consumers have grown in both number and usage.

I think shoving claude -p in your bash script / cronjob / messaging app bot of choice counts as "unathorized 3rd party harness", but your guess is as good as mine...

(claude -p with per-token billing (i.e. paying 7x more) is allowed though, of course)

-- There's also an Agents SDK (formerly Claude Code SDK?) which is basically just claude -p but with more typing, as far as I could tell.

[0] https://github.com/router-for-me/CLIProxyAPI

[0b] Honorable mention https://github.com/kronael/claude-serve

[lucw]

> Very honest question: One of the use cases I had with OpenClaw that I'm missing now that I don't use it: I could tell it (via Telegram) to add something to my TODO list at home while I'm in the office. It would call a custom API I had set up that adds items to my TODO list. How can I replicate this without the hassle of setting up OpenClaw? How would you do it?

What you are looking for is an orchestration platform such as n8n or windmill.dev. You can still have a telegram bot and still use LLM for natural language interaction, but it's much more controlled than OpenClaw. I do exactly what you describe, add todos to my todoist account from telegram.

[andai]

I'd use Obsidian with the sync. Or you can vibe code a telegram bot that calls that API for you in like 50 lines or something.

You can do anything if you believe!

Re: QEMU: For the sandboxing I realized what I actually wanted was "it can't read/nuke my files", so I made a non-privileged linux user and added myself to its group. So I can read/write its files, but not the reverse.

[tecoholic]

> It would call a custom API I had set up that adds items to my TODO list

You can use anything to call this API right? I have multiple iPhone shortcut that does this. Heck, I think you can even use Siri to trigger the shortcut and make it a voice command (a bit unsure, it’s been a while since I played with voice)

[BeetleB]

> You can use anything to call this API right?

The API is on my home PC and not exposed to the outside world. Only OpenClaw via Telegram was. So my question is about the infrastructure:

How do I communicate with something at home (it could be the API directly) using a messaging app like Telegram? I definitely want an LLM in the mix. I want to casually tell it what my TODO is, and have it:

- Craft it into a concise TODO headline

- Craft a detailed summary

- Call the API with the above two.

I'm not asking in the abstract. What specific tools/technologies should I use?

[lucw]

Expose the API to the outside world using tailscale. Run your telegram bot on n8n or windmill.dev. You can absolutely use an LLM, both n8n and windmill.dev support AI agentic workflows. google "n8n LLM telegram bot" and you'll find tons of examples.

[dia80]

Tailscale on your PC and phone. Free (as in beer). I run vikunja.io in docker at home and simply web browse to it over the tailnet.

[piva00]

Just leave the bot running on your home PC, a Telegram bot can be programmed in any language of your choice that can communicate via a network.

If you aren't a programmer it's also the kind of small project that LLMs are great at, there are many examples ingested in their training data.

[vrighter]

i would just enterit in the todo app on my phone.

[nprateem]

MS todo app, or any number of others. Added benefit of not needing telegram

[BeetleB]

I've been using my TODO program since 2009. It's heavily customized for my needs. I'm not going to change it.