Free cron that checks Channel i Noticeboard every 10 minutes and sends you a Telegram message when a new latest notice appears.

Stack:

• Python stdlib only (notice_alert.py)
• Official, free Telegram Bot API for delivery
• GitHub Actions schedule (free on a public repo)

• Heading
• Direct notice link (https://channeli.in/noticeboard/notice/{id})
• Category, uploader, created/modified time, expiry, important flag
• Short plain-text summary from the notice body
• Useful links found in the notice (forms, PDFs, etc.)

1. Open @BotFather in Telegram.
2. Send /newbot, choose a name and username, then copy the bot token.
3. Open your new bot and press Start (or send it any message).
4. Visit this URL in a browser, replacing <TOKEN>: https://api.telegram.org/bot<TOKEN>/getUpdates
5. Find message.chat.id in the JSON response. That number is your chat ID.
6. Keep both values private as GitHub Actions secrets.

1. Create a public GitHub repository and push this project.
   • Scheduled workflows are free for public repos.
   • On free private repos, schedule triggers are typically disabled.
2. In the repo: Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions, add:
   • TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN — token issued by BotFather
   • TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID — numeric message.chat.id from getUpdates
3. Optional (only if Channel i starts requiring login for the API):
   • CHANNELI_COOKIES — full cookie header, or
   • CHANNELI_CSRFTOKEN + CHANNELI_SESSION
4. Open Actions → Noticeboard Telegram Alert → Run workflow.
   • First try with dry_run = true to verify fetch/format.
   • Then run with defaults to send a real Telegram message.
5. Leave the workflow enabled. Cron is */10 * * * * (every 10 minutes UTC).

GitHub may delay scheduled jobs by several minutes. That is expected.

# Print the latest notice message without sending
python3 notice_alert.py --dry-run

# Send for real (requires env vars)
export TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN='123456789:your-token'
export TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID='123456789'
python3 notice_alert.py

# Resend current latest even if already notified
python3 notice_alert.py --force

State is stored in .notice_state.json (gitignored). On GitHub Actions the same file is restored/saved via the Actions cache so duplicates are skipped across runs.

python3 -m unittest discover -s tests -v

• First successful send stores the notice id.
• Later runs skip Telegram if page-1 latest id is unchanged.
• When a newer notice becomes the latest, a new message is sent.

• Never commit Telegram bot tokens, chat IDs in secret files, or Channel i session cookies.
• Prefer a public repo with Actions secrets over putting credentials in code.
• Revoke exposed Telegram tokens through BotFather and rotate exposed Channel i credentials.