InnerVoice

Your inner thoughts, delivered to Telegram

MCP Server for Two-Way Communication with Claude Code and any app

This is a proper Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that enables any Claude instance to communicate with you via Telegram. Just grant Claude access to this MCP server, and it can send notifications, ask questions, and receive messages from you in real-time!

🆕 New to MCP servers? Start with the Beginner's Guide - zero experience required!

Free to use, share, and modify! See LICENSE for details.

Why This Exists

After trying email, SMS, and Google Chat integrations, Telegram emerged as the best solution for:

• ✅ Standardized MCP Integration - Works with any Claude instance automatically
• ✅ Instant two-way communication
• ✅ Free and reliable
• ✅ Works on all devices
• ✅ Simple setup
• ✅ No carrier dependencies

Features

Core Communication

• 💬 Two-Way Communication - Send messages to Claude, get responses back
• ❓ Question/Answer Flow - Claude can ask you questions and wait for answers
• 🔔 Priority Notifications - Different icons for info, success, warning, error, question
• 🌐 HTTP API - Easy integration from any app/project
• 🚀 Background Service - Runs independently, always available
• 🔧 MCP Protocol - Works as a standard MCP server in any Claude project

Multi-Project Support

• 📁 Project Context - All messages show which project they're from
• 🎯 Targeted Messages - Send messages to specific projects: ProjectName: your message
• 📊 Session Tracking - Monitor active Claude sessions across projects
• 🔄 Auto-Session Registration - Projects auto-register when Claude starts

Message Queue System

• 📬 Offline Queuing - Messages queue when projects are offline
• 📥 Persistent Storage - Queued messages survive restarts
• ⏰ Auto-Delivery - Messages delivered when Claude starts in that project
• 🧹 Auto-Cleanup - Old messages expire automatically

Remote Claude Spawner

• 🚀 Remote Spawning - Start Claude in any project from Telegram
• 📝 Project Registry - Register projects for easy remote access
• 🔄 Auto-Spawn - Optional auto-start when messages arrive
• 💀 Process Management - Track and kill spawned Claude instances
• 🎯 Initial Prompts - Start Claude with a specific task

How It Works

This is a standard MCP server that works like any other MCP tool. Once installed and configured:

1. Bridge runs as a background service (connects to Telegram)
2. MCP server is auto-started by Claude when needed
3. Claude discovers 5 tools automatically
4. You communicate via Telegram in real-time

Quick Start

1. Create Your Telegram Bot

1. Open Telegram and search for @BotFather
2. Send /newbot
3. Follow the prompts:
   • Choose a name for your bot (e.g., "My Claude Bridge")
   • Choose a username (e.g., "my_claude_bridge_bot")
4. Save your bot token - BotFather will give you a token like:

   1234567890:ABCdefGHIjklMNOpqrsTUVwxyz
   

5. Find your bot in Telegram using the username you created

2. Install and Configure

# Clone or download this repo
cd innervoice

# Install dependencies
pnpm install

# The .env file is created automatically!
# Just edit it and add your bot token
# TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=your_token_here

Edit .env:

TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=1234567890:ABCdefGHIjklMNOpqrsTUVwxyz
TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID=  # Leave empty - auto-set on first use
PORT=3456
HOST=localhost
ENABLED=true

3. Build and Start

# Build the project
pnpm build

# Start the bridge service
pnpm dev

# Or run as background daemon
pnpm daemon

4. Initialize Your Bot

1. Open Telegram and find your bot
2. Send /start to your bot
3. The bot will reply and save your chat ID automatically
4. Test with /status to verify it's working

5. Add MCP Server to Claude

✨ Auto-Start Feature: The MCP server now automatically starts the Telegram bridge when needed - no need to run it separately!

Option A: Claude Code CLI (Recommended)

Note: Using claude mcp add automatically adds the server globally (available in all projects). This is the recommended approach.

For Mac and Linux:

# Navigate to the innervoice directory
cd /path/to/innervoice

# Add the MCP server globally (available in all projects)
claude mcp add --transport stdio telegram \
  --env TELEGRAM_BRIDGE_URL=http://localhost:3456 \
  -- node "$(pwd)/dist/mcp-server.js"

# Verify it was added globally
claude mcp list

For Windows (PowerShell):

# Navigate to the innervoice directory
cd C:\path\to\innervoice

# Add the MCP server globally
claude mcp add --transport stdio telegram `
  --env TELEGRAM_BRIDGE_URL=http://localhost:3456 `
  -- node "$((Get-Location).Path)\dist\mcp-server.js"

# Verify it was added
claude mcp list

For Windows (Command Prompt):

# Navigate to the innervoice directory
cd C:\path\to\innervoice

# Add the MCP server globally
claude mcp add --transport stdio telegram --env TELEGRAM_BRIDGE_URL=http://localhost:3456 -- node "%CD%\dist\mcp-server.js"

# Verify it was added
claude mcp list

Option B: Manual Config File Setup

Add to your Claude Code MCP settings:

Mac/Linux: ~/.claude.json Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.claude.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "telegram": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "/ABSOLUTE/PATH/TO/innervoice/dist/mcp-server.js"
      ],
      "env": {
        "TELEGRAM_BRIDGE_URL": "http://localhost:3456"
      }
    }
  }
}

Find your absolute path:

Mac/Linux:

cd innervoice && pwd
# Use output: <result>/dist/mcp-server.js

Windows (PowerShell):

cd innervoice
(Get-Location).Path
# Use output: <result>\dist\mcp-server.js

Windows (Command Prompt):

cd innervoice
cd
# Use output: <result>\dist\mcp-server.js

6. Available Tools

Once configured, Claude can automatically use:

• telegram_notify - Send notifications with project context
• telegram_ask - Ask questions and wait for answers
• telegram_get_messages - Check for messages from you
• telegram_reply - Reply to your messages
• telegram_check_health - Check bridge status
• telegram_toggle_afk - Toggle AFK mode (enable/disable notifications)
• telegram_check_queue - Check for queued messages on startup

View detailed tool info:

pnpm tools
# or
node scripts/list-tools.js

7. AFK Mode - Control Your Notifications

Use the /afk slash command to toggle notifications on/off:

# In Claude Code, just type:
/afk

This is perfect for:

• Enabling when you step away from your computer (get notified via Telegram)
• Disabling when you're actively working (no interruptions)

The toggle state is preserved while the bridge is running, and you'll get a Telegram message confirming each change.

Optional: Install Permission Notification Hook

By default, AFK mode only sends notifications when Claude explicitly uses notification tools. If you want to receive Telegram alerts when permission prompts appear (so you know Claude is waiting for approval), install the permission hook:

Recommended: Install Globally (works in all projects)

cd /path/to/innervoice
./scripts/install-hook.sh --global

Or install per-project:

# Install in a specific project
./scripts/install-hook.sh /path/to/your/project

# Or install in current directory
cd /path/to/your/project
/path/to/innervoice/scripts/install-hook.sh

This will send you a Telegram message like:

⏸️ Claude needs permission Tool: Bash Action: Check scraped sets files Check your terminal to approve or deny.

To uninstall:

• Global: rm ~/.claude/hooks/PermissionRequest.sh
• Per-project: rm .claude/hooks/PermissionRequest.sh

8. Verify Global Setup

After adding the MCP server, verify it's available globally:

# Check that telegram appears in the list
claude mcp list

# Should show:
# ✓ telegram: Connected

Troubleshooting: If telegram only appears in one project but not others, it was added to a project-specific config instead of globally. To fix:

1. Open ~/.claude.json in your editor
2. Find the telegram server config under projects → your-project-path → mcpServers
3. Move it to the root-level mcpServers section (same level as other global servers)
4. Remove the telegram entry from the project-specific section

Example structure:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "telegram": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/innervoice/dist/mcp-server.js"],
      "env": {"TELEGRAM_BRIDGE_URL": "http://localhost:3456"}
    }
  },
  "projects": {
    "/your/project/path": {
      "mcpServers": {}  // Should be empty or not contain telegram
    }
  }
}

9. Test It

Restart Claude Code, then tell Claude:

"Send me a test notification via Telegram"

Claude will automatically discover and use the telegram_notify tool!

Usage Scenarios

InnerVoice supports multiple usage patterns depending on your workflow:

Scenario 1: Single Active Project

Use Case: You're actively working in one project

How it works:

1. Start Claude Code in your project
2. Claude auto-registers its session
3. All messages go to the active session
4. Messages show project context: 📁 MyProject [#abc1234]

Example:

You in Telegram: "Check the test status"
Bot: 💬 Message received - responding...
Claude: "Running tests... ✅ All 42 tests passed!"

Scenario 2: Multiple Active Projects

Use Case: Working across multiple projects simultaneously

How it works:

1. Start Claude in multiple projects (each auto-registers)
2. Send targeted messages: ProjectName: your message
3. View active sessions with /sessions
4. Each response shows its project context

Example:

You: "/sessions"
Bot: Active Claude Sessions (3)
     1. 🟢 ESO-MCP [#abc1234]
        Last active: 2m ago
     2. 🟢 InnerVoice [#def5678]
        Last active: 5m ago
     3. 🟢 MyApp [#ghi9012]
        Last active: 1m ago

You: "ESO-MCP: run the scraper"
Bot: 💬 Message sent to active session: ESO-MCP
Claude in ESO-MCP: 📁 ESO-MCP [#abc1234]
                    ✅ Scraper started...

Scenario 3: Offline Project Queuing

Use Case: Send work to a project before Claude is running

How it works:

1. Send: ProjectName: your task
2. If project offline, message queues automatically
3. Start Claude in that project
4. Claude checks queue on startup and processes tasks

Example:

You: "MyApp: fix the login bug"
Bot: 📥 Message queued for MyApp (offline)
     It will be delivered when Claude starts in that project.

[Later, you start Claude in MyApp]
Claude: 📬 You have 1 queued message:
        1. From Richard (2:30 PM)
           fix the login bug

        These messages were sent while you were offline.
        [Claude proceeds to work on the task]

Scenario 4: Remote Claude Spawning

Use Case: Start work remotely without opening your terminal

Setup:

# Register your projects once
You: "/register MyApp ~/code/myapp"
Bot: ✅ Project registered successfully!
     📁 MyApp
     📍 /Users/you/code/myapp
     ⏸️ Manual spawn only

     Spawn with: /spawn MyApp

Daily Usage:

You: "/spawn MyApp Fix the login bug"
Bot: ⏳ Starting Claude in MyApp...
     ✅ Claude started in MyApp with prompt: "Fix the login bug"
     PID: 12345

     You can now send messages to it: MyApp: your message

[Claude automatically starts working on the bug]
Claude: 📁 MyApp [#abc1234]
        🔍 Analyzing login flow...
        ✅ Bug fixed! The session timeout was too short.

Scenario 5: Auto-Spawn Projects

Use Case: Projects that should start automatically when messaged

Setup:

You: "/register MyApp ~/code/myapp --auto-spawn"
Bot: ✅ Project registered successfully!
     📁 MyApp
     📍 /Users/you/code/myapp
     🔄 Auto-spawn enabled

Daily Usage:

You: "MyApp: run the tests"
Bot: 🚀 Auto-spawning Claude in MyApp...
     ✅ Claude started in MyApp
     PID: 12345

[Claude auto-starts and processes the message]
Claude: 📁 MyApp [#abc1234]
        🧪 Running test suite...
        ✅ All 42 tests passed!

Scenario 6: Managing Multiple Projects

View all projects:

You: "/projects"
Bot: Registered Projects (4)

     1. 🟢 ESO-MCP 🔄
        📍 /Users/you/code/eso-mcp
        🕐 Last: 12/23/2025

     2. ⚪ InnerVoice ⏸️
        📍 /Users/you/code/innervoice
        🕐 Last: 12/22/2025

     3. 🟢 MyApp 🔄
        📍 /Users/you/code/myapp
        🕐 Last: 12/23/2025

     4. ⚪ TestProject ⏸️
        📍 /Users/you/code/test
        🕐 Last: 12/20/2025

     🟢 Running  ⚪ Offline  🔄 Auto-spawn  ⏸️ Manual

Check running processes:

You: "/spawned"
Bot: Spawned Claude Processes (2)

     1. ESO-MCP
        🆔 PID: 12345
        ⏱️  Running: 15m
        💬 "run the scraper"

     2. MyApp
        🆔 PID: 12346
        ⏱️  Running: 5m

     Kill with: /kill ProjectName

Stop a project:

You: "/kill MyApp"
Bot: 🛑 ✅ Claude process terminated in MyApp

Telegram Bot Commands

Complete list of available bot commands:

Session Management

• /sessions - List all active Claude sessions with status
• /queue - View queued messages for offline projects

Project Management

• /projects - List all registered projects with status
• /register ProjectName /path [--auto-spawn] - Register a new project
• /unregister ProjectName - Remove a project from registry
• /spawn ProjectName [prompt] - Start Claude in a project
• /spawned - List all running spawned Claude processes
• /kill ProjectName - Terminate a spawned Claude process

Bot Control

• /start - Initialize bot and save your chat ID
• /help - Show all available commands
• /status - Check bridge health and status
• /test - Send a test notification

Message Syntax

• Regular message: Goes to active Claude (if only one running)
• ProjectName: message - Send to specific project
• If project offline, message automatically queues

MCP Tools Reference

Once configured, Claude can automatically use these tools:

telegram_notify

Send a notification to you via Telegram.

Parameters:

• message (required): The notification text (supports Markdown)
• priority (optional): info | success | warning | error | question

Example Claude Usage:

"I've completed the database migration. Let me notify you." Claude uses: telegram_notify({ message: "Database migration complete!", priority: "success" })

telegram_ask

Ask you a question and wait for your answer (blocking).

Parameters:

• question (required): The question to ask (supports Markdown)
• timeout (optional): Milliseconds to wait (default: 300000 = 5 min)

Example Claude Usage:

"Should I deploy to production? Let me ask you." Claude uses: telegram_ask({ question: "Deploy to production now?" }) Waits for your response via Telegram

telegram_get_messages

Check for unread messages from you.

Example Claude Usage:

"Let me check if you've sent any messages." Claude uses: telegram_get_messages({})

telegram_reply

Reply to your message via Telegram.

Parameters:

• message (required): Your reply (supports Markdown)

Example Claude Usage:

"I'll respond to your question via Telegram." Claude uses: telegram_reply({ message: "The build succeeded!" })

telegram_check_health

Check if the Telegram bridge is running and healthy.

Example Claude Usage:

"Let me verify the Telegram bridge is working." Claude uses: telegram_check_health({})

telegram_toggle_afk

Toggle AFK (Away From Keyboard) mode - enables or disables Telegram notifications.

No parameters required

Example Claude Usage:

"Toggle AFK mode" Claude uses: telegram_toggle_afk({})

When to use:

• Enable when stepping away from your computer (get notifications)
• Disable when actively working (avoid interruptions)
• State is preserved while the bridge is running

telegram_check_queue

Check if there are queued messages for this project from when Claude was offline.

No parameters required

Example Claude Usage:

"On startup, let me check for any queued messages." Claude uses: telegram_check_queue({})

Returns:

• List of messages sent while Claude was offline
• Includes sender, timestamp, and message content
• Messages are marked as delivered after retrieval

When to use:

• On startup to catch up on offline messages
• Proactively check for pending work
• After long idle periods

Git Setup (For Sharing)

If you want to push this to your own Git repository:

# Initialize git (if not already done)
git init

# Add all files (gitignore protects secrets)
git add .

# Commit
git commit -m "Initial commit: Telegram MCP server"

# Add your remote
git remote add origin https://github.com/yourusername/innervoice.git

# Push
git push -u origin main

What's Safe to Share:

• ✅ All source code
• ✅ .env.example (template)
• ✅ Documentation
• ✅ Configuration templates

What's Protected (in .gitignore):

• 🔒 .env (your bot token and secrets)
• 🔒 node_modules/
• 🔒 dist/

For Others Cloning Your Repository

When someone clones your repo, they need to:

1. Create their own Telegram bot with @BotFather
2. Copy the template: cp .env.example .env
3. Add their bot token to .env
4. Install and build: pnpm install && pnpm build
5. Follow the Quick Start guide above

Legacy HTTP API (For Direct Integration)

If you want to use the HTTP API directly (without MCP), you can:

// Simple notification
await fetch('http://localhost:3456/notify', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    message: 'Scraping complete! Found 500 skills.',
    priority: 'success'
  })
});

// Question with markdown
await fetch('http://localhost:3456/notify', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    message: '*Question:*\nContinue scraping sets?\n\nReply: yes/no',
    priority: 'question',
    parseMode: 'Markdown'
  })
});

Priority Levels

• info - ℹ️ General information
• success - ✅ Task completed
• warning - ⚠️ Warning message
• error - ❌ Error occurred
• question - ❓ Needs your input

How Communication Works

Basic Message Flow

1. Send any message to the bot in Telegram
2. Bot acknowledges with "💬 Message received - responding..."
3. Claude checks messages and responds when available
4. You get the response in Telegram with project context

Targeted Messages

Send ProjectName: your message to communicate with a specific project:

• If project is running: Message delivered immediately
• If project is offline: Message queues automatically

Notifications

Claude sends you updates via the telegram_notify tool with:

• Project context: 📁 ProjectName [#abc1234]
• Priority icons: ℹ️ ✅ ⚠️ ❌ ❓
• Markdown formatting support

Questions

1. Claude sends a question via telegram_ask
2. You see "❓ [question]" in Telegram
3. Your next message is automatically treated as the answer
4. Claude receives your answer and continues

Queued Messages

1. Send message to offline project
2. Message queues persistently
3. When Claude starts in that project, it checks the queue
4. Queued messages are delivered and processed

Running as Background Service

# Build production version
pnpm build

# Start as daemon (requires pm2)
npm install -g pm2
pnpm daemon

# Check logs
pnpm logs

# Stop daemon
pnpm stop

API Endpoints

POST /notify

Send a notification to user

Request:

{
  "message": "Your notification text",
  "priority": "info|success|warning|error|question",
  "parseMode": "Markdown|HTML"
}

Response:

{
  "success": true,
  "chatId": "7684777367"
}

GET /messages

Get unread messages from user

Response:

{
  "messages": [
    {
      "from": "Richard",
      "message": "What's the status?",
      "timestamp": "2025-11-23T04:00:52.395Z",
      "read": false
    }
  ],
  "count": 1
}

POST /messages/read

Mark messages as read

Request:

{
  "count": 2  // optional, marks all if not provided
}

Response:

{
  "markedAsRead": 2
}

POST /reply

Send a reply to user's message

Request:

{
  "message": "Here's my response to your question"
}

Response:

{
  "success": true
}

POST /ask

Ask user a question and wait for answer (blocking)

Request:

{
  "question": "Should I continue scraping?",
  "timeout": 300000  // optional, 5 min default
}

Response:

{
  "answer": "yes"
}

GET /health

Check service health

Response:

{
  "status": "running",
  "enabled": true,
  "chatId": "set",
  "unreadMessages": 0,
  "pendingQuestions": 0
}

POST /toggle

Toggle notifications on/off (AFK mode)

Response:

{
  "success": true,
  "enabled": true,
  "previousState": false,
  "message": "🟢 InnerVoice notifications ENABLED - You will receive messages"
}

GET /status

Get current notification state

Response:

{
  "enabled": true,
  "message": "Notifications are ON"
}

Session Management Endpoints

POST /session/register

Register or update a Claude session

Request:

{
  "sessionId": "unique-session-id",
  "projectName": "MyProject",
  "projectPath": "/path/to/project"
}

Response:

{
  "success": true,
  "sessionId": "unique-session-id",
  "projectName": "MyProject"
}

GET /sessions

List all active Claude sessions

Response:

{
  "sessions": [
    {
      "id": "1234567-abc",
      "projectName": "MyProject",
      "projectPath": "/path/to/project",
      "startTime": "2025-11-23T10:00:00.000Z",
      "lastActivity": "2025-11-23T10:30:00.000Z",
      "status": "active",
      "idleMinutes": 5
    }
  ],
  "count": 1
}

Queue Management Endpoints

GET /queue/:projectName

Get pending messages for a project

Response:

{
  "projectName": "MyProject",
  "tasks": [
    {
      "id": "task-123",
      "projectName": "MyProject",
      "message": "Fix the bug",
      "from": "Richard",
      "timestamp": "2025-11-23T09:00:00.000Z",
      "priority": "normal",
      "status": "pending"
    }
  ],
  "count": 1
}

GET /queue/summary

Get summary of all queued messages

Response:

{
  "summary": [
    {
      "projectName": "MyProject",
      "pending": 2,
      "delivered": 5,
      "total": 7
    }
  ],
  "totalProjects": 1
}

Project Registry Endpoints

GET /projects

List all registered projects

Response:

{
  "projects": [
    {
      "name": "MyProject",
      "path": "/path/to/project",
      "lastAccessed": "2025-11-23T10:00:00.000Z",
      "autoSpawn": false,
      "metadata": {
        "description": "My project description",
        "tags": ["web", "api"]
      }
    }
  ],
  "count": 1
}

POST /projects/register

Register a new project

Request:

{
  "name": "MyProject",
  "path": "/path/to/project",
  "autoSpawn": false,
  "description": "Optional description",
  "tags": ["tag1", "tag2"]
}

Response:

{
  "success": true,
  "project": {
    "name": "MyProject",
    "path": "/path/to/project",
    "lastAccessed": "2025-11-23T10:00:00.000Z",
    "autoSpawn": false
  }
}

DELETE /projects/:name

Unregister a project

Response:

{
  "success": true,
  "message": "Project MyProject unregistered"
}

Claude Spawner Endpoints

POST /spawn

Spawn Claude in a registered project

Request:

{
  "projectName": "MyProject",
  "initialPrompt": "Optional initial task"
}

Response:

{
  "success": true,
  "message": "✅ Claude started in MyProject",
  "pid": 12345
}

POST /kill/:projectName

Terminate a spawned Claude process

Response:

{
  "success": true,
  "message": "✅ Claude process terminated in MyProject"
}

GET /spawned

List all spawned Claude processes

Response:

{
  "processes": [
    {
      "projectName": "MyProject",
      "pid": 12345,
      "startTime": "2025-11-23T10:00:00.000Z",
      "initialPrompt": "Fix the bug",
      "runningMinutes": 15
    }
  ],
  "count": 1
}

GET /spawned/:projectName

Check if Claude is running in a project

Response:

{
  "running": true,
  "process": {
    "projectName": "MyProject",
    "pid": 12345,
    "runningMinutes": 15
  }
}

Integration with ESO-MCP

Add this helper to your ESO-MCP project:

// src/utils/notify.ts
export async function notify(message: string, priority = 'info') {
  try {
    await fetch('http://localhost:3456/notify', {
      method: 'POST',
      headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
      body: JSON.stringify({ message, priority })
    });
  } catch (error) {
    console.log('Telegram bridge not available');
  }
}

Then use anywhere:

await notify('✅ Skills scraping complete!', 'success');
await notify('❌ Failed to scrape sets page', 'error');

Environment Variables

TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=your_token_here
TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID=auto_detected
PORT=3456
HOST=localhost
ENABLED=true

Development

Want to contribute or modify the bridge? See CONTRIBUTING.md for local development setup.

License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details

Contact

• Issues: https://github.com/RichardDillman/innervoice/issues
• Email: rdillman@gmail.com