Content Collection Bot Setup

Interactive setup wizard for the content-collection Telegram bot. Guides users through API keys, Notion database creation, Railway deployment, and verification.

Repository: https://github.com/ccccccarachen/content-collection

Overview

The bot receives URLs/text via Telegram, uses Claude AI to generate titles and auto-categorize, then saves to a Notion database with columns: Title, Category, Added Time, Content. Users can change categories via number replies.

Setup Flow

digraph setup {
    rankdir=TB;
    node [shape=box];

    start [label="Start Setup" shape=doublecircle];
    check [label="Check: which steps completed?" shape=diamond];
    phase1 [label="Phase 1: API Keys\n~15 min"];
    phase2 [label="Phase 2: Railway Deploy\n~10 min"];
    phase3 [label="Phase 3: Test & Verify\n~5 min"];
    done [label="Setup Complete" shape=doublecircle];

    start -> check;
    check -> phase1 [label="needs keys"];
    check -> phase2 [label="has keys"];
    check -> phase3 [label="deployed"];
    phase1 -> phase2;
    phase2 -> phase3;
    phase3 -> done;
}

Interactive Wizard

IMPORTANT: Run this as a conversation. Ask one question at a time. Validate each answer before proceeding. Celebrate wins.

Step 0: Resume Check

Ask the user:

Which of these have you already completed?

1. •Anthropic API key
2. •Notion integration + database
3. •Telegram bot token
4. •Railway deployment

Reply with numbers (e.g., "1,3") or "none" to start fresh.

Skip completed steps.

Phase 1: API Keys (~15 min)

1A. Anthropic API Key

Ask:

Do you have an Anthropic API key? If not, get one at: https://console.anthropic.com/settings/keys It should start with sk-ant-. Save it somewhere safe — you'll paste it into Railway later.

Confirm once you have it. (yes/no)

On success: "Great, Anthropic API key ready. You'll add it to Railway in Phase 2."

1B. Notion Setup (Most Complex)

This is the longest step. Follow references/notion_setup.md for detailed instructions. Summary:

1B-i. Create Notion Integration:

Ask:

Go to https://www.notion.so/profile/integrations and click "New integration".

• •Name it "Content Collection Bot"
• •Select your workspace
• •Click Submit

Copy the "Internal Integration Secret" and save it somewhere safe — you'll paste it into Railway later. It starts with ntn_ or secret_.

Confirm once you have it. (yes/no)

On success: "Notion integration token ready. You'll add it to Railway in Phase 2."

1B-ii. Create Database:

Ask:

Create a new full-page database in Notion with these exact columns:

Column	Type	Notes
Title	Title	Default first column
Category	Select	Add your category options
Added Time	Date
Content	Rich Text

What categories do you want? (comma-separated) Example: Article, Video, Tweet, Tutorial, Resource, Personal, Other

Store their category choices. Instruct them to add each as a Select option in the Category column.

1B-iii. Connect Integration to Database:

Ask:

On your database page, click "..." (top right) > "Connections" > find "Content Collection Bot" > confirm. Done? (yes/no)

1B-iv. Get Database ID:

Ask:

Open your database as a full page. Copy the URL. It looks like: https://www.notion.so/workspace/DATABASE_ID?v=VIEW_ID The database ID is the 32-character string in the URL before the ?v= part. Save it somewhere safe — you'll paste it into Railway later.

Confirm once you have it. (yes/no)

On success: "Database ID ready. You'll add it to Railway in Phase 2."

1C. Telegram Bot Token

Ask:

Open Telegram, message @BotFather, send /newbot. Follow the prompts to name your bot. Copy the token and save it somewhere safe — you'll paste it into Railway later. It looks like 123456789:ABCdefGHI....

Token guide: https://core.telegram.org/bots#how-do-i-create-a-bot

Confirm once you have it. (yes/no)

On success: "Telegram bot token ready. All API keys collected!"

Phase 1 Complete

Show summary:

Phase 1 Complete! You have all 4 credentials ready:

• •Anthropic API key
• •Notion integration token
• •Notion database ID
• •Telegram bot token

You'll paste these into Railway as environment variables in Phase 2. Ready for deployment?

Phase 2: Railway Deployment (~10 min)

2A. Railway Account

Ask:

Do you have a Railway account? If not:

1. •Go to https://railway.com
2. •Sign up (GitHub login recommended)
3. •Free trial includes $5 credit

Ready to deploy? (yes/no)

2B. Deploy from GitHub

Ask:

In Railway:

1. •Click "New Project"
2. •Select "Deploy from GitHub repo"
3. •Connect your GitHub and select content-collection
4. •Railway will auto-detect the Procfile

Done? (yes/no)

2C. Configure Environment Variables

Tell user:

In Railway, go to your service > "Variables" tab. Add these 4 variables:

Then use the scripts/create_railway_config.py script to generate the config, OR instruct manually:

TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN = {their_token}
NOTION_TOKEN = {their_notion_token}
NOTION_DATABASE_ID = {their_db_id}
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY = {their_api_key}

Ask:

All 4 variables added in Railway? (yes/no)

2D. Verify Deployment

Ask:

Go to your Railway service's "Deployments" tab. Click the latest deployment, then "View Logs". Do you see: Bot started with AI-powered content summarization?

If yes: "Deployment successful!"

If no: Check references/troubleshooting.md for common errors:

• •Missing environment variables - variable names wrong or missing
• •401 Unauthorized - invalid Notion token
• •Could not validate credentials - invalid Anthropic key
• •Build failures - check Python version

Phase 3: Testing (~5 min)

3A. Send Test Message

Ask:

Open Telegram and find your bot (search for its username). Send it a URL, e.g.: https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code Did you get a response with a title and category?

3B. Check Notion

Ask:

Open your Notion database. Do you see a new entry with Title, Category, Added Time, and Content filled in?

3C. Test Category Change

Ask:

In Telegram, reply with a number from the category list shown after saving. Did the category update in both Telegram and Notion?

3D. Test Pure Text

Ask:

Send a plain text message (no URL) to the bot. E.g.: "Learn about vector databases for RAG applications" Did it generate a title and categorize it?

Setup Complete

Your content collection bot is live!

Quick reference:

• •Send any URL -> auto-titled, categorized, saved to Notion
• •Send text before URL -> uses your text as the title
• •Send plain text -> AI generates title from your text
• •Reply with a number -> changes the category

Troubleshooting: See references/troubleshooting.md Notion details: See references/notion_setup.md

Validation

Run scripts/validate_setup.py to verify all connections:

python scripts/validate_setup.py

This checks: env var presence, API key formats, Notion connection, Notion DB structure, Anthropic API connectivity.

Common Issues Quick Reference

See references/troubleshooting.md for full troubleshooting guide.