Telegram bot that accepts memes (photos, GIF animations, videos) from the owner's private messages and schedules them into a channel at the next available slot among 11:00, 16:00, 21:00.

Setup

Option 1: Run with Docker (Recommended)

The easiest way to run the bot is using Docker:

Set up environment variables:
```
cp .ENV.example .ENV
nano .ENV  # Edit with your bot credentials
```
The compose file now looks for .ENV by default so Portainer and other orchestrators can supply secrets without additional flags. Copy .ENV.example to .ENV, then populate TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN, OWNER_ID, CHANNEL_ID, and the Postgres settings. Leave POSTGRES_HOST=postgres (and POSTGRES_PORT=5432 unless your database listens elsewhere) when you run inside Docker. The bot rewrites any localhost URLs with that host so the container connects to the bundled PostgreSQL service instead of looping back on itself. You can still point the stack at a different file by exporting COMPOSE_ENV_FILE (e.g. COMPOSE_ENV_FILE=staging.env docker compose up -d). Backups are protected by a built-in SHA-256 hash; optionally define MEMEBOT_BACKUP_PASSWORD_HASH to replace it.
Run with Docker Compose:
```
docker-compose up -d
```
View logs:
```
docker-compose logs -f
```
Deploying via Portainer? Upload your .ENV file under Environment variables—Portainer stores it beside the stack so the compose file picks it up automatically. Override COMPOSE_ENV_FILE only when you use a differently named file.
Stop the bot:
```
docker-compose down
```

For detailed Docker deployment instructions, including remote server deployment, see DOCKER_DEPLOY.md.

Option 2: Run Locally

Create a virtualenv and install dependencies:

python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

Provision a PostgreSQL database (local Docker container or managed instance) and note the connection string.
Set environment variables:

export TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=123:ABC
export OWNER_ID=123456789
export CHANNEL_ID=@yourchannel  # or -1001234567890
export DATABASE_URL=postgresql://meme:meme@localhost:5432/meme_wrangler
# Optional pieces that mirror the Docker variables
# export POSTGRES_HOST=localhost
# export POSTGRES_PORT=5432
# Optional: where JSON backups are written
# export MEMEBOT_BACKUP_DIR=/path/to/backups
# export MEMEBOT_BACKUP_PASSWORD_HASH=<sha256 hash of your backup secret>

Run the bot:

python bot.py

How it works

Owner sends a photo/video/animation in the bot's DM.
Bot stores the Telegram file_id and schedules it for the next available slot: 11:00, 16:00, 21:00 IST (India Standard Time). If there's an existing scheduled meme, new ones are scheduled after the last one using the same cycle.
A background task posts due memes into the configured channel at the scheduled IST times.

Docker Implementation

This project includes full Docker support for easy deployment:

Dockerfile: Creates a lightweight Python container with all dependencies
docker-compose.yml: Simplifies running the bot alongside PostgreSQL with coordinated configuration
Persistent storage: pgdata volume keeps the database cluster while ./backups stores exported JSON backups
Auto-restart: Container automatically restarts if it crashes
Logging: Configured with log rotation (10MB max, 3 files)

The Docker implementation ensures consistent behavior across different environments and simplifies deployment to production servers.

Notes

All times are in IST (India Standard Time, UTC+5:30) regardless of the server's timezone.
Stored timestamps are Unix timestamps (UTC).
Make sure the bot is admin in the channel to post messages.
When using Docker Compose, PostgreSQL data lives in the pgdata volume and JSON backups are written to ./backups/.
Use /backup <secret> to export the full meme catalog (scheduled + posted) and /restore <secret> (replying to a backup file) to import it again. Validation happens against a baked-in SHA-256 hash; override MEMEBOT_BACKUP_PASSWORD_HASH if you need to supply your own hash.
Every new meme DM automatically triggers a fresh JSON backup stored under ./backups/ (Compose) or the directory pointed to MEMEBOT_BACKUP_DIR.