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Deleting an older bot message after sending Python Telegram Bot

My bot is a 'nightmode' bot that starts at 10pm and ends at 7am, it will delete the messages in between those. I'm trying to delete the previous nightmode message sent from the bot but unsure how to go about this, I thought about storing the previous message update and then adding 1 to it and storing that, but I'm not sure how to go about this if the bot is running in multiple groups. Here's my code:
import logging
from telegram import Update, ForceReply
from telegram.ext import Updater, CommandHandler, MessageHandler, Filters, CallbackContext, Handler
import datetime as dtm
import pytz
night_hours = ['22','23','00','01','02','03','04','05','06']
allowed_groups = ['GROUP ID 1','GROUP ID 2','GROUP ID 3']
# Enable logging
logging.basicConfig(
format='%(asctime)s - %(name)s - %(levelname)s - %(message)s', level=logging.INFO
)
logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
def error(update, context):
"""Log Errors caused by Updates."""
logger.warning('Update "%s" caused error "%s"', update, context.error)
def start(context: CallbackContext):
morning_time = dtm.time(hour=7, minute=0, tzinfo=pytz.timezone('Europe/London'))
evening_time = dtm.time(hour=22, minute=0, tzinfo=pytz.timezone('Europe/London'))
context.job_queue.run_daily(morning_message, morning_time)
context.job_queue.run_daily(night_message, evening_time)
def log_channel(context: CallbackContext,name,chat_name,message):
deleted_message = ("Message Deleted from *" +name+ "* in the group *'" +chat_name+ "'*: " +message)
context.bot.send_message(chat_id="LOG CHANNEL ID", text=deleted_message,
disable_notification=True, parse_mode="MARKDOWNV2")
print(deleted_message)
def morning_message(context: CallbackContext):
context.bot.send_message(chat_id="TEST GROUP ID",text="*NIGHT MODE END:*\n\nMessage sending enabled until 10PM",
disable_notification=True,parse_mode="MARKDOWNV2")
def night_message(context: CallbackContext):
context.bot.send_message(chat_id="TEST GROUP ID", text="*NIGHT MODE START:*\n\nMessage sending disabled until 7AM",
disable_notification=True,parse_mode="MARKDOWNV2")
def during_night_mode(update: Update,context: CallbackContext):
UK = pytz.timezone('Europe/London')
uk_time = dtm.datetime.now(UK).strftime('%H:%M:%S')
hour = dtm.datetime.now(UK).strftime('%H')
chat_id = update.message.chat.id
chat_name = update.message.chat.title
message_id = update.message.message_id
print(chat_id)
print(message_id)
incoming_text = str(update.message.text)
incoming_entities = update.message.entities #images, videos, files etc... probably not gonna use.
message_sender = str(update.message.from_user.first_name)
print(hour)
if str(hour) in night_hours and str(chat_id) in allowed_groups: # and Enabled == True
print("working")
context.bot.delete_message(chat_id,message_id)
log_channel(context,message_sender,chat_name,incoming_text)
def main() -> None:
"""Start the bot."""
updater = Updater("BOT KEY")
dp = updater.dispatcher
#dp.add_handler(CommandHandler("start", start))#, pass_job_queue=True))
#dp.add_handler(CommandHandler(start))
dp.add_handler(MessageHandler(Filters.all,during_night_mode))
dp.add_error_handler(error)
# Start the Bot
updater.start_polling()
start(dp)
updater.idle()
if __name__ == '__main__':
main()
Thanks
EDIT 1:
Basically, i only want 1 instance of the night mode message in the chat at all times. So for example, when the morning message runs, it will delete the previous night time message so it does not clutter the chat with the messages.

Documentation for send_message() shows
Returns: On success, the sent message is returned.
Return type: telegram.Message
So you can run
msg = context.bot.send_message(...)
to get all information about sent Message - message_id, chat, etc. - and save all (ie. using pickle) or only needed values (ie. using text file, json, etc.) or keep on some list (if you run code all time) and later you can use it to delete message(s).

NameError: name 'startCommand' is not defined - PYTHON

from coinbase.wallet.client import Client
from telegram import ParseMode
from telegram.ext import CommandHandler, Defaults, Updater
COINBASE_KEY = 'xxxxxxxxxxxx'
COINBASE_SECRET = 'xxxxxxxxxxxx'
TELEGRAM_TOKEN = 'xxxxxxxxxxxx'
coinbase_client = Client(COINBASE_KEY, COINBASE_SECRET)
#if __name__ == '__main__':
updater = Updater(token=TELEGRAM_TOKEN, defaults=Defaults(parse_mode=ParseMode.HTML))
dispatcher = updater.dispatcher
dispatcher.add_handler('start', startCommand) # Accessed via /start
dispatcher.add_handler('alert', priceAlert) # Accessed via /alert
updater.start_polling() # Start the bot
updater.idle() # Wait for the script to be stopped, this will stop the bot
def startCommand(update, context):
context.bot.send_message(chat_id=update.effective_chat.id, text='Hello there!')
def priceAlert(update, context):
if len(context.args) > 2:
crypto = context.args[0].upper()
sign = context.args[1]
price = context.args[2]
context.job_queue.run_repeating(priceAlertCallback, interval=15, first=15, context=[crypto, sign, price, update.message.chat_id])
response = f"⏳ I will send you a message when the price of {crypto} reaches £{price}, \n"
response += f"the current price of {crypto} is £{coinbase_client.get_spot_price(currency_pair=crypto + '-GBP')['amount']}"
else:
response = '⚠️ Please provide a crypto code and a price value: \n<i>/price_alert {crypto code} {> / <} {price}</i>'
context.bot.send_message(chat_id=update.effective_chat.id, text=response)
def priceAlertCallback(context):
crypto = context.job.context[0]
sign = context.job.context[1]
price = context.job.context[2]
chat_id = context.job.context[3]
send = False
spot_price = coinbase_client.get_spot_price(currency_pair=crypto + '-GBP')['amount']
if sign == '<':
if float(price) >= float(spot_price):
send = True
else:
if float(price) <= float(spot_price):
send = True
if send:
response = f'👋 {crypto} has surpassed £{price} and has just reached <b>£{spot_price}</b>!'
context.job.schedule_removal()
context.bot.send_message(chat_id=chat_id, text=response)
enter image description here
I get this error of the code above, also I have already tried changing the position of the def but, it also shows error, How to solve this?
It is the code for telegram bot and also this keeps on showing me NameError, I have already added python3 and pip, but still not solved

Python reads files top to bottom. So when you call dispatcher.add_handler('start', startCommand), the function startCommand is not yet known. Move the part
updater = Updater(token=TELEGRAM_TOKEN, defaults=Defaults(parse_mode=ParseMode.HTML))
dispatcher = updater.dispatcher
dispatcher.add_handler('start', startCommand) # Accessed via /start
dispatcher.add_handler('alert', priceAlert) # Accessed via /alert
updater.start_polling() # Start the bot
updater.idle() # Wait for the script to be stopped, this will stop the bot
below the callback definitions.
Apart from that, add_handler needs a Handler as argument, in your case something like add_handler(CommandHanlder('start', startCommand). Please see PTB tutorial as well as the examples.
Disclaimer: I'm the current maintainer of the python-telegram-bot library.

Try
dispatcher.add_handler('start', startCommand()) # Accessed via /start
dispatcher.add_handler('alert', priceAlert()) # Accessed via /alert
You will also need to add the two arguments required by both functions.
dispatcher.add_handler('start', startCommand(update, context))
dispatcher.add_handler('alert', startCommand(update, context))
I'm not exactly sure what data the two functions take in but I'm going to guess that it is whatever the bot is returning.

Python Telegram Bot get the bot to respond to message

I am currently using python-telegram-bot library to make a telegram bot. My problem is I am trying to have my bot respond back when using the inline command. So when a user sends the bot #botname 'text', I want the to store the 'text' as a string and then have my bot send something back with that variable.
For some reason I can not get this to work. I tried the code below, but it doesn't work...I also posted the example from the github that works but not in the way i want.
My code
def inlinequery(update, context):
"""Handle the inline query."""
query = update.inline_query.query
text = query.message_text
print(text)
update.message.reply_text(text)
Example Code
#Sends message when #botname is used
def inlinequery(update, context):
"""Handle the inline query."""
query = update.inline_query.query
results = [
InlineQueryResultArticle(
id=uuid4(),
title="Caps",
input_message_content=InputTextMessageContent(
query.upper())),
InlineQueryResultArticle(
id=uuid4(),
title="Bold",
input_message_content=InputTextMessageContent(
"*{}*".format(escape_markdown(query)),
parse_mode=ParseMode.MARKDOWN)),
InlineQueryResultArticle(
id=uuid4(),
title="Italic",
input_message_content=InputTextMessageContent(
"_{}_".format(escape_markdown(query)),
parse_mode=ParseMode.MARKDOWN))]
update.inline_query.answer(results)
def main():
# Get the dispatcher to register handlers
dp = updater.dispatcher
dp.add_handler(InlineQueryHandler(inlinequery))
# Start the Bot
updater.start_polling()
if __name__ == '__main__':
main()

You can use the User object of the inline query to send them a message. Keep in mind that the user has to have started a private chat with the bot before the bot can send them messages.
I modified your attempt. It should work, but i have not tested it:
def inlinequery(update, context):
"""Handle the inline query."""
query = update.inline_query
text = query.query
print(text)
query.from_user.send_message(text)
Related docs:
InlineQuery.user
User.send_message

Best practice in sending message in python telegram bot from a 3d party listener

I have a custom code that does its routine and I want to send a message to myself in Telegram if something goes wrong. In my case I use python-telegram-bot library along with apscheduler and its listeners, where certain events could be catched.
I came up with such working code, but my question is: is it possible to make it better, namely without using global variable? This was done to overcome the problem that listeners do not accept arguments needed for bot to send a message.
from apscheduler.schedulers.background import BackgroundScheduler
from apscheduler.events import EVENT_JOB_EXECUTED, EVENT_JOB_ERROR
from telegram.ext import Updater, CommandHandler
import copy
import my_custom_library
saved_update = None
def my_listener(event): # not related with bot
if event.exception:
if saved_update is not None:
alert(saved_update, 'Scheduler threw event.exception.') # should have bot related args
else:
record = event.retval # get returned value from my_custom_library.repetitive_function
try:
processed_record = my_custom_library.my_unsafe_business_logic(record) # something might go wrong here
my_custom_library.add_to_db(processed_record) # and here
except Exception as e:
if saved_update is not None:
alert(saved_update, e) # should have bot related args
def start(update, context):
global saved_update
saved_update = copy.deepcopy(update) # this is what I don't like
update.message.reply_text('You have subscribed for notifications.')
def alert(update, reason):
update.message.reply_text('Something went wrong: {}'.format(reason))
def main():
scheduler = BackgroundScheduler()
scheduler.add_listener(my_listener, EVENT_JOB_EXECUTED | EVENT_JOB_ERROR)
scheduler.add_job(my_custom_library.repetitive_function, args=(my_args,), trigger='interval', minutes=1)
scheduler.start()
# bot
updater = Updater(TOKEN, use_context=True)
dp = updater.dispatcher
dp.add_handler(CommandHandler("start", callback=start))
updater.start_polling()
updater.idle()
if __name__ == '__main__':
main()

The Telegram Bot API is fairly simple, you just ned to send an HTTP GET Request to this URL:
https://api.telegram.org/bot_token_/sendMessage?chat_id=123&text=Hello%20World!
Just create a bot with Botfather and send the Bot a message.
With the specified Token from Botfather and this URL:
https://api.telegram.org/bot_token_/getUpdates
You can get the messages which were sent to the Bot and the chat_id.
The simplest way would be to use the requests module and send the output of the updater to the first URL as the text parameter.

In my scripts I often use callbacks. It's a clean solution that provides separation between the two scripts. The send_message function can accept kwargs, so you can essentially create a dictionary, and update it when sending the message. The first part (channel ID) is something you know on the bot-side, and the second part (the text itself) is something you know one the third-party side.
In your third-party, provide a set_cb function that accepts a callback and a dictionary. Like so:
def set_cb(self, callback, params):
self.callback = callback
self.callback_params = params
In your bot script, set the callback before updater.idle()
# Start the Bot
updater = Updater("TOKEN")
updater.start_polling()
# Set the callback
r.set_cb(updater.bot.send_message, {"chat_id": 123456})
Then, in your third-party, once you want to send a message, simply add the message text call the following:
self.callback_params.update({"text": text})
self.callback(**self.callback_params) # converts the dict to kwargs

How can I download the chat history of a group in Telegram?

I would like to download the chat history (all messages) that were posted in a public group on Telegram. How can I do this with python?
I've found this method in the API https://core.telegram.org/method/messages.getHistory which I think looks like what I'm trying to do. But how do I actually call it? It seems there's no python examples for the MTproto protocol they use.
I also looked at the Bot API, but it doesn't seem to have a method to download messages.

You can use Telethon. Telegram API is fairly complicated and with the telethon, you can start using telegram API in a very short time without any pre-knowledge about the API.
pip install telethon
Then register your app (taken from telethon):
the link is: https://my.telegram.org/
Then to obtain message history of a group (assuming you have the group id):
chat_id = YOUR_CHAT_ID
api_id=YOUR_API_ID
api_hash = 'YOUR_API_HASH'
from telethon import TelegramClient
from telethon.tl.types.input_peer_chat import InputPeerChat
client = TelegramClient('session_id', api_id=api_id, api_hash=api_hash)
client.connect()
chat = InputPeerChat(chat_id)
total_count, messages, senders = client.get_message_history(
chat, limit=10)
for msg in reversed(messages):
# Format the message content
if getattr(msg, 'media', None):
content = '<{}> {}'.format( # The media may or may not have a caption
msg.media.__class__.__name__,
getattr(msg.media, 'caption', ''))
elif hasattr(msg, 'message'):
content = msg.message
elif hasattr(msg, 'action'):
content = str(msg.action)
else:
# Unknown message, simply print its class name
content = msg.__class__.__name__
text = '[{}:{}] (ID={}) {}: {} type: {}'.format(
msg.date.hour, msg.date.minute, msg.id, "no name",
content)
print (text)
The example is taken and simplified from telethon example.

With an update (August 2018) now Telegram Desktop application supports saving chat history very conveniently.
You can store it as json or html formatted.
To use this feature, make sure you have the latest version of Telegram Desktop installed on your computer, then click Settings > Export Telegram data.
https://telegram.org/blog/export-and-more

The currently accepted answer is for very old versions of Telethon. With Telethon 1.0, the code can and should be simplified to the following:
# chat can be:
# * int id (-12345)
# * str username (#chat)
# * str phone number (+12 3456)
# * Peer (types.PeerChat(12345))
# * InputPeer (types.InputPeerChat(12345))
# * Chat object (types.Chat)
# * ...and many more types
chat = ...
api_id = ...
api_hash = ...
from telethon.sync import TelegramClient
client = TelegramClient('session_id', api_id, api_hash)
with client:
# 10 is the limit on how many messages to fetch. Remove or change for more.
for msg in client.iter_messages(chat, 10):
print(msg.sender.first_name, ':', msg.text)
Applying any formatting is still possible but hasattr is no longer needed. if msg.media for example would be enough to check if the message has media.
A note, if you're using Jupyter, you need to use async directly:
from telethon import TelegramClient
client = TelegramClient('session_id', api_id, api_hash)
# Note `async with` and `async for`
async with client:
async for msg in client.iter_messages(chat, 10):
print(msg.sender.first_name, ':', msg.text)

Now, you can use TDesktop to export chats.
Here is the blog post about Aug 2018 update.
Original Answer:
Telegram MTProto is hard to use to newbies, so I recommend telegram-cli.
You can use third-party tg-export script, but still not easy to newbies too.

You can use the Telethon library. for this you need to register your app and connect your client code to it (look at this).
Then to obtain message history of a entry (such as channel, group or chat):
from telethon.sync import TelegramClient
from telethon.errors import SessionPasswordNeededError
client = TelegramClient(username, api_id, api_hash, proxy=("socks5", proxy_ip, proxy_port)) # if in your country telegram is banned, you can use the proxy, otherwise remove it.
client.start()
# for login
if not client.is_user_authorized():
client.send_code_request(phone)
try:
client.sign_in(phone, input('Enter the code: '))
except SessionPasswordNeededError:
client.sign_in(password=input('Password: '))
async for message in client.iter_messages(chat_id, wait_time=0):
messages.append(Message(message))
# write your code