How I built a Telegram bot that replaced 5 apps in my morning routine

dp singh702 — Tue, 05 May 2026 11:49:46 +0000

Every morning I was doing the same thing.
Open Gmail. Scan 40 emails. Open Slack. Check mentions. Open GitHub. Check PRs. Open Notion. Check tasks. Open Calendar. Check meetings.
By 9am I was already exhausted — and I hadn't done any real work yet.
So I did what any developer would do. I automated it.
What I built
MinorClaw is a personal Telegram bot that connects to your Gmail, Slack, GitHub, Notion, Calendar and X — and lets you control everything from one chat.
Instead of switching between 5 apps, I just type:
/smart_inbox
And I get back:
🔴 URGENT: 2 emails need reply today
🟡 IMPORTANT: 1 PR waiting for review
🟢 FYI: Slack is quiet
The stack

Node.js backend on a VPS
SQLite for session management
Gmail via IMAP + Google OAuth
Slack, GitHub, Notion, Calendar APIs
GPT-4o-mini for AI summaries
Razorpay for payments
Telegram Bot API

What took the longest
Google OAuth verification. My app needed Gmail access — and Google's verification process took weeks. I'm still waiting for full approval. For now I'm adding test users manually.
Commands I shipped

/smart_inbox — AI summary of Gmail + Slack + GitHub
/daily_standup — auto standup report every morning
/email_followup — shows which emails need a reply
/gmail_check — latest emails
/github_prs — open pull requests
/calendar_today — today's meetings
/x_post — post to X directly from Telegram
/morning_brief — everything in one message

What I learned
SQLite is underrated. For a solo project with low traffic, SQLite is fast, simple and costs nothing.
Telegram bots have better retention than web apps. Users already have Telegram open. No new app to download, no new habit to build.
OAuth is a full-time job. Every platform has different scopes, different verification requirements, different callback URL rules. Budget a week just for this.
Ship early. I waited too long trying to make it perfect. The first version I shipped was embarrassing — but it got me my first real feedback.
What's next

Gmail waitlist command for beta users
Auto notifications for important emails
More integrations

Solo built. 3 months. Nights and weekends.
If you're a solo founder drowning in tabs every morning — this is for you.
Happy to answer any questions about the tech stack in the comments.

I replaced Zapier, Notion Web Clipper, and 3 other tools with a single Telegram bot

dp singh702 — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 03:23:42 +0000

Every morning I opened the same 6 tabs.
Gmail. Slack. Notion. GitHub. Calendar. Repeat.
I'm a solo developer. Context switching was costing me more time than actual work.
So I built MinorClaw — a Telegram bot you deploy in 60 seconds that connects all your tools.
How it works
You create a Telegram bot via BotFather, paste the token into MinorClaw, connect your tools, and that's it. No server. No config files. No code.
The commands I use every day
/morning_brief — pulls Gmail + Calendar + Slack and gives me an AI summary before I start work. Replaced my habit of opening 3 apps just to figure out what my day looks like.
/smart_inbox — AI summary of Gmail + Slack + GitHub together. I check this instead of opening each app separately.
/task_brain your task — AI breaks down any task, saves it to Notion, and adds it to Calendar. Replaced my manual Notion + Calendar workflow.
/launch ProductName — posts announcement to Slack + X + Notion in one command. I used this for my own launch.
/daily_standup — auto generates standup report from my activity. Saves 10 minutes every morning.
Why Telegram and not a web app
Telegram is already open on my phone and laptop all day. A web app would just be another tab. A bot lives where I already am.
What I learned building this
The hardest part wasn't the integrations — it was designing a flow simple enough that anyone could deploy in 60 seconds without touching a config file.
I'm still at 0 users but I use it myself every day and it's already saved me hours every week.
If you're drowning in tab switching, try it: https://www.minorclaw.com/
Would love feedback from anyone who tries it.

DEV Community: dp singh702

How I built a Telegram bot that replaced 5 apps in my morning routine

I replaced Zapier, Notion Web Clipper, and 3 other tools with a single Telegram bot