Telegram AI bot with memory — full setup guide

Most Telegram bots are stateless — they forget you between messages. Hermes on Karp remembers every conversation, stores key facts as long-term memories, and builds a deeper understanding of you over time. This guide shows you how to set it up in minutes.

Why Telegram?

Telegram is perfect for AI assistants: it works on every platform, has no message limits, supports file sharing, and doesn't throttle bots. You can access your agent from your phone, desktop, or watch without opening a browser.

Step 1: Create a Telegram bot token

1. Open Telegram and search for @BotFather
2. Send /newbot
3. Choose a name (e.g. "My Hermes Agent") and a username (must end in bot)
4. BotFather will give you a token like 123456:ABC-DEF…
5. Copy that token — you'll paste it into Karp in the next step

Step 2: Connect to Karp

1. Go to your agent's Settings → Channels
2. Paste your bot token in the Telegram field
3. Click Save + Bootstrap — Karp registers the webhook with Telegram automatically
4. Scan the QR code on the success screen to open your bot

Tip: Use your agent's Telegram username as your bot name for easy recall.

Step 3: Enable long-term memory

Hermes uses a two-layer memory system:

• Short-term: the last N messages in the current conversation
• Long-term: structured facts the agent extracts and stores (e.g. "user prefers Python", "current project is X")

In Settings → Agent Behavior, enable Memory. The agent will now consolidate its short-term context into long-term facts after each conversation.

Step 4: Customize the soul

The soul.md file is your agent's system prompt — it defines personality, skills, and constraints. Edit it in Settings → Soul. A good starting prompt:

You are my personal AI assistant.
You have memory of all our past conversations.
You prefer concise, actionable answers.
When I ask for code, default to TypeScript.
You help me with: planning, coding, research, writing.

What the memory looks like

After a few conversations, your agent's memory might contain facts like:

• user prefers TypeScript over JavaScript
• current project: karp — AI agent hosting platform
• user works in HKT (UTC+8), usually active 9am–11pm
• prefers concise answers, dislikes preamble

You can view and edit these in Dashboard → Memory.