📬 Automate Email Attachments to Telegram with Python + Render.com

Pavithran M — Sun, 10 Aug 2025 13:00:11 +0000

Ever wished you could automatically forward email attachments to your Telegram chat or group? Whether it's invoices, reports, or alerts—this Python script does exactly that. And the best part? You can deploy it as a scheduled cron job on Render.com with zero hassle.

Let’s walk through the features, setup, and deployment steps to get this automation running in minutes.

🚀 What This App Does

This Python application:

✅ Connects securely to Yahoo Mail via IMAP
📂 Downloads the latest attachment from a specific folder (B2b)
📤 Sends the attachment to a Telegram chat or group using the Telegram Bot API
🧾 Logs each step for easy debugging
🕒 Runs automatically on a schedule using Render.com’s cron job feature

Perfect for automating workflows that rely on email-based file delivery.

🛠️ Tech Stack

Here’s what powers the app:

Python 3
imaplib – for accessing email via IMAP
email – for parsing MIME messages
requests – for sending files to Telegram
dotenv – for managing environment variables locally

📦 Getting Started

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/your-username/email-to-telegram.git
cd email-to-telegram

2. Create a `.env` File (for local testing)

EMAIL_USER=your_yahoo_email@example.com
EMAIL_PASS=your_yahoo_app_password
TELEGRAM_TOKEN=your_telegram_bot_token
TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID=your_chat_id_or_group_id

⚠️ Use a Yahoo App Password instead of your regular password for IMAP access.

🧑‍💻 Local Testing

Run the script manually to verify everything works:

python script.py

You should see logs showing:

Connection to Yahoo Mail
Attachment download
Telegram API response

☁️ Deploying on Render.com

Render makes it super easy to automate this with a cron job.

Step 1: Create a New Cron Job

Go to Render Cron Jobs
Choose Python as the runtime
Set your schedule using cron syntax (e.g., 0 * * * * for hourly)

Step 2: Upload Your Code

Upload your script (script.py)
Include a requirements.txt with:

  requests
  python-dotenv

Step 3: Set Environment Variables

In the Environment section of the cron job setup:

EMAIL_USER
EMAIL_PASS
TELEGRAM_TOKEN
TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID

You don’t need the .env file on Render—just set the variables directly.

Step 4: Confirm and Deploy

Save and deploy the cron job
Check logs after the first scheduled run to confirm success

🧪 Troubleshooting Tips

No logs? Add print() statements to trace execution.
No attachment sent? Double-check the folder name (B2b) and email structure.
Telegram error? Make sure the bot isn’t blocked and has permission to send messages.

🧾 Final Thoughts

This setup is ideal for automating repetitive email-based workflows and keeping your Telegram feed updated with important files. You can easily extend it to support multiple folders, file types, or even filter by subject lines.

If you found this helpful, drop a ❤️ or share your own automation ideas in the comments!

Take a look at me!

🎮 Turning My GitHub into a Game — My First Step Toward Showcasing My Skills!

Pavithran M — Fri, 08 Aug 2025 17:28:12 +0000

Hey everyone 👋,

I've been working in the tech industry for almost 5 years, gaining hands-on experience in various technologies — particularly in .NET, SQL, application development, and database engineering.

But until now, I never really showcased my work, projects, or progress publicly.
Well... better late than never, right? 😄

🚀 What Sparked the Change?
Big shoutout to this amazing post by @vidakhoshpey22
It inspired me to transform my GitHub profile into a gamified contribution graph — featuring Pac-Man!

This was a fun and rewarding project that not only added visual flair to my profile but also kickstarted my journey into consistently recording and sharing my professional milestones.

🛠️ What I've Done So Far
✅ Setup a Pac-Man-themed contribution graph on my GitHub
✅ Created a dedicated Milestones repo to track all my achievements
✅ Committed to logging everything I learn or build going forward

🔗 Check out my GitHub: github.com/Pavithran-P12

✨ What’s Next?
This is just the beginning.
I'll be documenting more tasks, sharing bite-sized accomplishments, and contributing to open-source wherever I can.

If you're like me — experienced but haven't showcased much — this is your sign to start now. Share, track, and celebrate your journey 🎉

Happy coding everyone!
Happy developing! 💻🚀

DEV Community: Pavithran M