# balinyaar-telegram-otp-bot

A **standalone** Telegram relay. It is not part of `client/` or `server/` — it is its own tiny Node
project with **zero dependencies** (Node 18+ built-ins only: `node:http` + global `fetch`).

Its whole job: expose an HTTP endpoint that the .NET API calls, and forward the message to a fixed
list of Telegram chat ids. That replaces "read the OTP out of the server log" — you get the code on
your phone instead, without an Iranian SMS gateway contract.

> **Broadcast, not routing.** *Every* configured recipient receives *every* OTP, regardless of which
> phone number requested it. That makes this a shared inbox for a small trusted group, not an SMS
> gateway. It is the OTP rail for local development **and** for the pre-launch `balinyaar.ir` demo
> deployment — it must be swapped for `Seams:Sms:Provider = kavenegar` before anyone outside that
> trusted group can request a code.

---

## Setup

1. **Create the bot.** Message [@BotFather](https://t.me/BotFather) → `/newbot` → follow the prompts →
   copy the token (`1234567890:AAH...`).

2. **Configure.**
   ```bash
   cd telegram-otp-bot
   cp .env.example .env      # PowerShell: Copy-Item .env.example .env
   node -e "console.log(require('crypto').randomBytes(24).toString('hex'))"
   ```
   Paste the token into `TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN` and the generated secret into `API_KEY`
   (**required** — the process refuses to start without it). Leave `TELEGRAM_CHAT_IDS` empty for now.

3. **Run it.**
   ```bash
   npm start
   ```
   No `npm install` needed — there are no dependencies. On boot it prints the bot's `@username`, which
   confirms the token works.

4. **Discover the chat ids.** Each recipient opens the bot in Telegram and presses **Start** (a bot
   cannot open a conversation — the user must message it first). Then:
   ```bash
   curl -H "X-Api-Key: $API_KEY" http://localhost:5010/chat_ids
   ```
   Copy the returned `chat_id` values into `TELEGRAM_CHAT_IDS` (comma-separated) and restart.

5. **Test it.**
   ```bash
   curl -X POST http://localhost:5010/send_otp \
     -H "X-Api-Key: $API_KEY" \
     -H 'content-type: application/json' \
     -d '{"phone":"09120000001","code":"123456"}'
   ```

---

## HTTP API

Base URL: `http://127.0.0.1:5010` (configurable via `HOST`/`PORT`).

**Every route except `GET /health` requires the `X-Api-Key` header**, compared against `API_KEY` in
constant time. There is no way to disable it: `API_KEY` is mandatory (min 16 chars) and the process
exits at boot without one, so the relay is never reachable unauthenticated. A rejected request is
logged with the caller's address.

| Route | Auth | Body | Purpose |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `GET /health` | — | — | Liveness only; echoes no configuration. |
| `GET /chat_ids` | `X-Api-Key` | — | Chat ids that recently messaged the bot (setup helper). |
| `POST /send_otp` | `X-Api-Key` | `{ "phone": "...", "code": "..." }` | Broadcast a login code. |
| `POST /send` | `X-Api-Key` | `{ "phone": "...", "message": "..." }` | Broadcast a free-form transactional message. |

The two POST routes mirror the server's `ISmsSender` (`SendOtpAsync` / `SendAsync`) one-for-one, so a
`TelegramSmsSender` adapter is a thin HTTP call per method.

**Response**

```json
{ "ok": true, "delivered": ["11111111"], "failed": [{ "chatId": "22222222", "error": "chat not found" }] }
```

- `200` — at least one recipient received it (partial delivery still counts; one reachable reader is
  enough to complete a login).
- `502` — **no** recipient received it. The caller should treat this as a delivery failure so the OTP
  command fails loudly rather than pretending an undeliverable code was sent.
- `503` — `TELEGRAM_CHAT_IDS` is empty.
- `400` / `401` — bad body / missing-or-wrong `X-Api-Key`.

---

## Configuration

| Variable | Default | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN` | — | **Required.** From @BotFather. Process exits without it. |
| `API_KEY` | — | **Required**, min 16 chars. Shared secret expected in `X-Api-Key`. Process exits without it. |
| `TELEGRAM_CHAT_IDS` | — | Comma-separated recipient chat ids. Empty ⇒ every send returns `503`. |
| `PORT` | `5010` | HTTP port. |
| `HOST` | `127.0.0.1` | Bind address. Loopback locally; the Dockerfile sets `0.0.0.0` so the API container can reach it. |
| `REDACT_CODE_IN_LOGS` | `false` | Keep the code out of *this process's* stdout (still delivered). |
| `TELEGRAM_PROXY_URL` | — | Optional outbound proxy for the Telegram hop — see below. |

The API key is the only access control — there is no IP allow-list and no TLS. Keep `HOST` on
loopback when the API runs on the same machine; if you must expose it, put it behind something that
terminates TLS, or the key travels in clear text.

Values come from `.env` (git-ignored) or from real environment variables, which take precedence. In the
deployed stack there is no `.env` at all — the root `docker-compose.yml` supplies every variable directly
(and `.dockerignore` keeps a local `.env` out of the image, so it can't silently win).

## Running in Docker

The [`Dockerfile`](Dockerfile) here is built by the root [`docker-compose.yml`](../docker-compose.yml) as
the `otp-relay` service. Nothing is published to the host: the API reaches it as
`http://balinyaar-otp-relay:5010` over the shared `caddy_net` network, and its own hop to Telegram goes
through the proxy container on that same network. See [DEPLOY.md](../DEPLOY.md).

## Troubleshooting

| Symptom | Cause |
| --- | --- |
| `chat not found` in `failed[]` | That user never messaged the bot. Press **Start** in Telegram. |
| `GET /chat_ids` returns nothing | No message in the last 24h, or a webhook is set on the bot (`getUpdates` returns nothing while a webhook is registered — call `deleteWebhook`). |
| `token check FAILED` / `fetch failed` | Wrong/revoked token, or no outbound access to `api.telegram.org` — see below. |
| `401` on every call | The caller isn't sending `X-Api-Key`, or its value differs from `API_KEY`. |

### Reaching Telegram from Iran — the proxy option

`api.telegram.org` is filtered, so the machine running this usually needs a proxy for **its own** hop to
Telegram. (The API → relay hop is loopback/LAN and never proxied.) Set one URL in `.env`:

```
TELEGRAM_PROXY_URL=http://127.0.0.1:10809      # or socks5://127.0.0.1:10808
```

- **Opt-in.** Unset ⇒ the relay connects directly, byte-for-byte as before. The boot banner prints which
  it is (`proxy: socks5://127.0.0.1:10808` or `proxy: (none — direct to api.telegram.org)`).
- **Schemes:** `http`/`https` (an HTTP `CONNECT` tunnel) and `socks5`/`socks5h`. Credentials go in the URL
  (`socks5://user:pass@host:1080`) and are never logged.
- **Local machine with a VPN client** → point it at that client's HTTP or SOCKS listener.
  **VPS with a proxy client in a docker container** → put the relay and the proxy on the same docker
  network and use the container name, e.g. `http://proxy:1080`; from the host, `http://127.0.0.1:<published-port>`.
- SOCKS5 requests are sent with the hostname (not a pre-resolved IP), so DNS resolves at the proxy —
  local DNS is filtered too.
- `HTTPS_PROXY` / `ALL_PROXY` (either case) are used as a fallback when `TELEGRAM_PROXY_URL` is unset, so a
  container that already sets them needs no extra config. `NODE_USE_ENV_PROXY` is not needed and not read —
  the tunnel is handled in-process, so behaviour is the same on every Node ≥ 18.
- A malformed proxy URL is fatal **at boot**, not silently at the first OTP.
