Telegram Post Skill

Create, preview, and send formatted Telegram posts from draft markdown files. Built for @klodkot and Gleb Kalinin's other Telegram channels.

Note: Channel configurations (footers, tags, language defaults) are specific to Gleb's channels. To use for your own channels, edit CHANNEL_CONFIG in scripts/post.py.

Configured channels: @klodkot, @mentalhealthtech, @toolbuildingape, @opytnymputem

When to Use

Use this skill when:

• User asks to create a draft for a Telegram channel
• User asks to "post to Telegram" or "send to saved messages" from a draft file
• User wants to preview a draft before sending
• Draft files in Channels/*/drafts/ need to be sent

Commands

create -- Create a new draft

# Default: klodkot channel
python3 scripts/post.py create "remotion-video-creation" --topic "Remotion Agent Skill" --source "https://example.com"

# Other channel
python3 scripts/post.py create "therapy-app-review" -c mental-health-tech --topic "Therapy apps"

# With video
python3 scripts/post.py create "demo-post" --video demo.mp4 --source "https://example.com"

Creates Channels/{channel}/drafts/YYYYMMDD-{slug}.md with proper frontmatter. Returns file path and tags reference for the channel.

Options:

• --channel, -c: Channel name (default: klodkot). Use list to see all
• --topic, -t: Topic for frontmatter
• --source, -s: Source URL
• --video, -v: Video filename (just name, not path)
• --language, -l: Override channel default (ru/en)

send -- Send a draft

# Preview first (always do this)
python3 scripts/post.py send "Channels/klodkot/drafts/20260209-post.md" --dry-run

# Send to Saved Messages (default)
python3 scripts/post.py send "Channels/klodkot/drafts/20260209-post.md"

# Send to specific chat
python3 scripts/post.py send "draft.md" --chat "@klodkot"
python3 scripts/post.py send "draft.md" -c "Tool Building Ape"

list -- List available channels

python3 scripts/post.py list

Returns: klodkot, mental-health-tech, tool-building-ape, opytnym-putem with language and tags info.

Draft File Format

---
created_date: '[[YYYYMMDD]]'
type: draft
channel: klodkot
status: draft
language: ru
topic: Topic description
source: https://example.com
video: demo.mp4
---

## Post Title

Content with **bold** and *italic* and [links](url).

---

Second part (separate message).

Video Path Resolution

The video: field should be just the filename (e.g., demo.mp4), NOT attachments/demo.mp4. Resolution order:

1. Relative to draft file directory
2. ../attachments/ (sibling to drafts folder)
3. Channels/klodkot/attachments/
4. Vault root

Markdown to Telegram HTML Conversion

Safety

• Formatting check: If stray *, **, #, or []() remain after conversion, the script refuses to send and reports formatting_warnings
• --dry-run previews without sending
• Default target is Saved Messages, not channel -- prevents accidental publishes

Typical Workflow

# 1. Create draft
python3 scripts/post.py create "remotion-skills" --topic "Remotion" --source "https://..."

# 2. Edit the draft in Obsidian (fill in content, add tags from tags reference)

# 3. Preview
python3 scripts/post.py send "Channels/klodkot/drafts/20260211-remotion-skills.md" --dry-run

# 4. Send to saved messages for final review
python3 scripts/post.py send "Channels/klodkot/drafts/20260211-remotion-skills.md"

# 5. When ready, send to channel
python3 scripts/post.py send "Channels/klodkot/drafts/20260211-remotion-skills.md" -c "@klodkot"

Post-Publish (automatic when sending to channel)

When target is a channel (@klodkot, @mentalhealthtech), after successful send:

1. Updates frontmatter: type: published, published_date, telegram_message_id
2. Moves file from drafts/ to published/
3. Adds entry to channel index (klodkot.md)

Does NOT trigger for Saved Messages (default target) -- safe for preview sends.

Key Features

• HTML formatting via parse_mode='html' (Telethon direct, not subprocess)
• Video with caption on first message (not separate reply)
• Channel footers auto-appended (klodkot, mental-health-tech)
• Multi-part splitting by --- markers, respects 4096 char limit
• Channel-aware draft creation with correct paths, language, tags reference
• Post-publish auto moves draft to published, updates frontmatter + index

Dependencies

• Uses telegram skill credentials (~/.telegram_dl/)
• Python 3.10+, telethon