Networks Bot
Runs exchange lists and spam lists: group bookings, list publishing and scheduled posts.
What it does
This bot is for people who run a list: spam lists, exchange lists, networks of groups and channels that trade visibility with each other. If you do not run a list and you are not trying to get into somebody else's, you almost certainly do not need it.
The mechanism is always the same. Whoever runs the list opens the bookings in a dedicated chat, the owners of the groups and channels write the booking command there and pick which chats they want on the list, then the list owner closes the bookings and the bot publishes the full list in every booked chat, with the text and the buttons they configured. From there the bot can repeat the post on a schedule, pin it, delete it and open the next round.
The bot also has a second personality, forwarding mode, which has nothing to do with lists: it takes messages from a source chat and repeats them in every destination chat. You turn it on from the settings and it is described further down.
There is no public bot you can just add and go: every list lives in its own clone, with its own admins, chats and settings. If the list is yours, creating one is the first step.
Before you start
There are three roles and it pays to keep them apart.
- User: anybody. Adds their own group or channel, books it, writes to the staff.
- Manager: runs the day to day work, meaning chats, bookings, scheduled posts and bans.
- Superuser: a manager who can also create other managers and move the bot's service chats.
The bot works in three different places: your private chat with it, the staff chat (if the list owner set one up) and the booking chat, where the booking commands are typed.
In your group or channel the bot has to be an administrator. The permissions it needs:
- Delete messages, to remove the old post before putting up the new one;
- Pin messages, to pin the list when the schedule says so;
- Invite users via link, to generate the link to your chat that goes on the list.
When you promote it or change its permissions, the bot sends the managers a summary and tells you whether the permissions are enough or which ones are missing. See also Telegram permissions.
Setup
If you want to join somebody else's list
- Add the list's bot to your group or channel and promote it administrator with the permissions above.
- Wait. The list managers get a notification and have to tap Add to list: until they do, your chat cannot be booked.
- When bookings are open, go to the list's booking chat and type the booking command, usually
#prenota. - The bot opens the list of chats where you are an administrator. Tap the ones you want on the list and press ✅ Confirm ✅.
- If you change your mind before the round closes,
#sprenotatakes a chat back out.
If the list works with join requests, your chat shows up as booked "with approval": whoever arrives through the link has to be accepted by hand.
If you run a list of your own
- Ask for your clone, which starts with you as superuser. See Create your own clone.
- Create the booking chat (a group where people will type
#prenota), put the bot in it and run/setreschatright there. - If you want a staff chat, where the messages people write to the bot in private land, create that too and run
/setstaffinside it. That is also the only place the ban commands work. - Add your managers with
/addmanager, and any other superusers with/addsuperuser. - Send
/startto the bot in private and open ⚙️ Settings. Here you prepare the list template message, the pinned buttons at the top and at the bottom, the sublists, the list format and, if you want, a booking tag other thanprenota. - As people add the bot to their own chats, the managers get the notification and tap Add to list to authorise them.
- When the time comes, type
/apertein the booking chat. At the end of the round,/chiuse. - To publish, use 📨 Schedule Post from the menu: you forward the message to publish and the bot walks you through when, how often, where, whether to pin it and whether to open or close the bookings along with the post.
You can run more than one list: ➕ Add list in the main menu creates another one, each with its own booking chat, its own tag and its own settings.
Commands
The booking command is not fixed. prenota is only the starting value: each list can use its own, chosen by the owner in ⚙️ Settings, #️⃣ Configure #reserve tag. If a list uses normale, the commands become #normale, #sprenotanormale, /apertenormale, /chiusenormale. Below they are written with the starting value.
The command names stay Italian in every language, because they are the ones the bot listens for.
For everybody
| Command | What it does | Who | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
/start | Introduces the bot. If there is a staff chat, this is where you write to the managers | everyone | private |
#prenota | Opens the list of your chats and lets you book the ones you want | everyone | booking chat |
#sprenota | Takes one of your chats back out of the running list | everyone | booking chat |
/clone | Asks for an independent copy of the bot | everyone | private |
/language | Changes language | everyone | anywhere |
/paysupport | Contact for payment problems | everyone | anywhere |
/ping | Checks that the bot is alive | everyone | anywhere |
Both #prenota and /prenota work, but only inside that list's booking chat.
For managers
| Command | What it does | Who | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
/aperte [members] [gruppi|canali] | Opens the bookings. The number is the minimum member count required, the keyword limits the round to groups only or channels only | manager | booking chat |
/chiuse | Closes the bookings | manager | booking chat |
/addchat | Registers a chat by forwarding a message from it | manager | private, staff chat |
/delchat | Removes a chat from the bot | manager | private, staff chat |
/add <chat_id> [name] | Puts an already registered chat on the list by hand | manager | private, staff chat |
/del <chat_id> | Takes a chat off the list by hand | manager | private, staff chat |
/adddefault [chat_id] | The chat joins the list by default on every round | manager | anywhere |
/deldefault [chat_id] | Removes that default | manager | anywhere |
/addcontroller [chat_id] | The chat receives the posts but never shows up in the published list | manager | anywhere |
/delcontroller [chat_id] | The chat goes back to appearing on the list like the others | manager | anywhere |
/setrequest [chat_id] | The chat goes on the list with a join request link | manager | anywhere |
/unsetrequest [chat_id] | Back to a direct link for that chat | manager | anywhere |
/newlink <chat_id> <link> | Forces a fixed link for a chat instead of the generated one | manager | private, staff chat |
/dellink <chat_id> | Back to the link the bot generates | manager | private, staff chat |
/check [chat_id] | Checks the bot permissions across the chats | manager | private, staff chat |
/escilo <chat_id> | Makes the bot leave the listed chats | manager | anywhere |
/generate | Rebuilds the list text from the template | manager | private, staff chat |
/staff | Lists the current chat's administrators, split by role | manager | group |
/admins | Shows the administrators the bot has cached | manager | private, staff chat |
/reload_admins | Re-reads the admins of every chat from Telegram | manager | private, staff chat |
/counts | Counts the members of every chat | manager | private, staff chat |
/addban | Blocks a user, also by replying to their message in the staff chat | manager | private, staff chat |
/delban | Unblocks a user | manager | private, staff chat |
/listbans | Lists the blocked users | manager | private, staff chat |
/check_staff_banned | Checks whether any blocked user is still around | manager | private, staff chat |
The ban commands only exist once the owner has set up a staff chat. /reload_admins and /counts are slow: the bot warns you it takes minutes.
For superusers
| Command | What it does | Who | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
/addmanager <user> | Adds a manager | superuser | anywhere |
/delmanager <user> | Removes a manager | superuser | anywhere |
/listmanagers | Lists the managers | superuser | anywhere |
/addsuperuser <user> | Promotes somebody to superuser | superuser | anywhere |
/delsuperuser <user> | Back to plain manager | superuser | anywhere |
/listsuperusers | Lists the superusers | superuser | anywhere |
/setreschat | Makes the chat you type it in the booking chat | superuser | in the chosen chat |
/unsetreschat | Drops the booking chat of the current list | superuser | anywhere |
/setstaff | Makes the chat you type it in the staff chat | superuser | in the chosen chat |
/unsetstaff | Drops the staff chat | superuser | anywhere |
After /setstaff and /setreschat the bot restarts itself to apply the change: a few seconds and it answers again.
Buttons and automatic behaviour
The /start menu for managers holds these entries:
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| 📨 Schedule Post | You forward a message and the bot walks you through when, how often, in which chats, whether to pin it, whether to open or close the bookings along with it |
| 🗒 List Scheduled Posts | The queued posts, with text editing, per chat links and deletion |
| ⚙️ Settings | Template, buttons, sublists, list format, booking tag |
| ➕ Add Channel and ➖ Remove Channel | Register or drop a chat by forwarding a message from it |
| 🗒 List chats | The chats registered on the bot |
| ➕ Add list and ➖ Remove list | Run several lists in parallel on the same bot |
| 🌐 Language | Changes language |
| 📔 Guide | Opens the bot guide |
| Support ❤️ | Donation with Telegram Stars or PayPal |
| ❌ Close | Closes the menu |
Inside the settings: 💌 Configure template message is the list text, ⬆️ Configure top pinned buttons and ⬇️ Configure bottom pinned buttons add buttons above and below, 🔗 Configure "dummy" link is the link the separators use, 📑 Configure sublists splits the list into sections, 📋 Configure list format decides the columns and the behaviour in groups with topics, #️⃣ Configure #reserve tag changes the booking command. When the bot runs a single list and has no slave bots, 🤖 Configure master bot shows up too.
Without anybody typing anything, the bot:
- warns the managers when somebody adds or removes it from a chat, with the Add to list, Check, Administrators and Remove the bot buttons;
- checks the permissions on every role change and says what is missing;
- publishes the scheduled posts at the set times, pins them if you asked for it and deletes the previous post;
- opens and closes the bookings along with the post, if the schedule says so;
- forwards to the staff whatever users write to it in private, and carries the staff replies back to the user;
- puts chats that keep rejecting the posts on hold for a week instead of retrying forever;
- rate limits anybody repeating
#prenotatoo fast, with a "Too fast! Wait ... and try again".
Forwarding mode
📡 Switch to forwarder mode changes the bot's job. The whole list and booking side disappears and what is left is a forwarder: you define one or more source chats and one or more destination chats, and every message that shows up in a source is repeated in the destinations. 📋 Switch to scheduler mode takes you back.
The menu for this mode is all toggles, which flip when you tap them:
| Toggle | What it changes |
|---|---|
| Forward new messages | The master switch for forwarding |
| Copy messages or Forward messages | With copy the origin is hidden, with forward it is visible |
| Forward messages with inline buttons | Passes or drops messages carrying buttons |
| Forward messages containing links | Passes or drops messages containing links |
| Notify managers of chat moves | Tells the managers about every add, removal or role change |
| Approval mode for new destinations | A fresh destination only receives once a manager approves it |
| Replay last message when bot joins | As soon as it joins a new chat, it posts the latest message there |
| Allow replies to forwarded posts | Whoever replies to a post in a destination is put in touch with whoever wrote it |
| Repost latest message or Repost random message | What the repeat timer publishes |
The other entries are ➕ Add channel, ➖ Remove channel, 🗒 List chats, ⏰ Repeat (how many seconds between reposts, zero to turn it off) and ⟳ Refresh message cache.
| Command | What it does | Who | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
/addchat [chat_id [topic_id]] | Marks a chat as a source | manager | anywhere |
/delchat [chat_id [topic_id]] | Drops the source chat | manager | anywhere |
/listchats | Lists sources and destinations | manager | anywhere |
/approve [chat_id [topic_id]] | Approves a waiting destination | manager | anywhere |
/setexpiration <days> [chat_id [topic_id]] | Gives the source an expiry date. A negative number brings it forward | manager | anywhere, the source included |
/unsetexpiration [chat_id [topic_id]] | Removes the expiry | manager | anywhere, the source included |
/enabletopic <chat_id> <topic_id> | Turns a topic into a destination | manager | anywhere |
/disabletopic <chat_id> <topic_id> | Turns that topic off | manager | anywhere |
/enablesourcetopic <chat_id> <topic_id> | Turns a topic into a source | manager | anywhere |
/disablesourcetopic <chat_id> <topic_id> | Turns that source topic off | manager | anywhere |
/forward | Replying to a message in the source, sends it to every destination right away | manager | source chat |
Frequently asked questions
I typed #prenota and the bot said nothing
The command only works inside that list's booking chat, and only while the bookings are open. If they are closed the bot answers that it cannot take the booking because bookings for this list are not currently open.
The bot says I am not an admin of any booked chat
It means none of the chats where you are an administrator has been authorised by the list managers, or none of them meets the requirements of the round in progress: minimum member count, groups only or channels only. Add the bot to your chat and wait for a manager to tap Add to list.
I cannot find #prenota, this list uses another word
Every list can change the tag. Look at the message that opened the bookings: the right command is written there.
I removed a chat by mistake, can I put it back?
Yes, while the bookings are still open. Type the booking command again and select the chat.
The post never arrived in my group
In order: the bot is still an administrator, it still has Delete messages and Pin messages, and your chat really is on the list this round. A manager can run /check to see the permissions chat by chat. If your chat has been rejecting posts for days, the bot puts it on hold for a week.
What does "with approval" next to my chat mean?
That your chat goes on the list with a join request link: whoever comes through the link does not walk straight in, they have to be accepted. A list manager decides it with /setrequest.
What is the staff chat for?
It is where the messages users write to the bot in private end up. Managers answer by replying to the message and the reply travels back to the user. It is also the only place where the ban commands work.
Do I have to create a clone?
If you run a list of your own, yes: chats, managers and settings all live in the clone, and no public bot can host somebody else's list. If you only want to join someone else's list, they already have the clone: you just add the bot they point you to.
Why did the bot restart after /setstaff?
Because those settings change the way it works. The bot tells you and comes back within seconds.