Claude on Telegram
Use Anthropic's Claude inside a Telegram chat. Bring your Anthropic API key (sk-ant-api03) or your Claude Pro / Max subscription token (sk-ant-oat01) — @the_vibe_kit_bot routes both through Claude's API. Not a chat wrapper — a coding agent that edits real repos and deploys to real URLs.
What's actually happening
The Telegram bot is the front door. Behind it, VibeKit provisions a container, hands Claude a coding-agent loop (Bash, Edit, file read/write), and routes every Claude API call through your key. When Claude says "I'll add a /done endpoint," it actually adds the endpoint, commits the change to your GitHub, redeploys, and Telegram shows you the new live URL. Same Claude as claude.ai; different surface area.
API key vs Pro/Max subscription
Anthropic issues two kinds of credentials, and the Telegram bot accepts both:
| Credential | Where it comes from | Billing |
|---|---|---|
sk-ant-api03-… | console.anthropic.com → Settings → API Keys | Pay-per-token, top up with $5+ credit |
sk-ant-oat01-… | claude setup-token in Anthropic CLI | Bills your Claude Pro ($20/mo) or Max quota — no per-token charge |
If you already pay for Claude Pro, the subscription token is the free move — you're not paying twice. Full Anthropic key format breakdown if you're curious how to tell them apart.
Setup, end-to-end
- Open @the_vibe_kit_bot in Telegram, tap Start.
- Link your GitHub when the bot asks.
- Get your Claude credential: either an API key from console.anthropic.com, or
npm i -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code && claude setup-tokenfor the subscription path. - Send
/settingsin Telegram → "AI Provider" → "Anthropic" → paste the key. - Send
/deploy a [whatever you're building]. The bot creates a GitHub repo, deploys it, and Claude takes over from there.
What a chat looks like
You: /deploy a nextjs app for tracking my reading list
Agent: Created reading-list.vibekit.bot. Repo at
github.com/yourname/reading-list. Claude (Sonnet 4.6)
is picking up from here.
You: add a search bar at the top that filters by title
Agent: Added <SearchBar/> to app/page.tsx, filters books by
title case-insensitively. Pushed 7a3c1f4, redeployed.
Live: reading-list.vibekit.bot
You: move the search to a sticky header
Agent: Done — wrapped header in position:sticky with backdrop-blur.
Pushed 9bd28a2.
Which Claude model runs
- Default: Claude Sonnet 4.6 — Anthropic's current coding workhorse, optimal balance of speed and reasoning.
- Settings → Model: per-app override to Claude Opus (max reasoning) or Claude Haiku (cheapest).
- Subscription token users: whatever models your Claude Pro / Max plan includes — same allowlist as the Anthropic CLI.
- Switch mid-project: different apps can use different models. Big refactor → bump to Opus for the day, switch back.
Why Telegram instead of a web UI
Three reasons. (1) It's already open — your phone has Telegram in the dock. Zero install friction, push notifications work natively, and the chat history is your project history. (2) Async is the default — send a task, lock your phone, get the result when Claude is done. (3) Cross-device for free — same chat thread on phone, desktop, web.telegram.org. You don't have to log into a coding tool to keep working.
Privacy & what Anthropic sees
Your repo is on your own GitHub. The agent runs in a per-app isolated container. Claude API requests go to Anthropic with your key — Anthropic's enterprise data policy applies (no training on API traffic; subscription token users get the same policy as claude.ai Pro). VibeKit doesn't log prompts or code. Telegram itself sees the messages you send (standard Telegram cloud chat — not E2E), so don't paste secrets in plaintext; use /env for credentials.
VibeKit
Enter App