The Best Ideas Are Born in Motion
I’ve come to the conclusion that my most interesting ideas have come to me while exercising. Maybe I should live on a bike—or even running!
The idea for Telly was born while I was out running, bombarded by those annoying notification “dings,” often from emails.
A Reflection on Emails
For quite some time, I happily used iRedMail to manage my former mail server.
But we’re truly drowning in background processes! 😱
Why Is Monitoring Processes Crucial?
In our hyperconnected world, monitoring processes like:
- Rsync
- Cloud backups
- Container restores
and any other automation is vitally important.
In my case, these processes ran as crontab tasks, with notifications sent via an SMTP server. However, this approach often left me buried in useless emails that I sometimes ignored or lost entirely.
So, Why Telly? 😱
Telegram and bots are the perfect solution: they combine the immediacy of notifications with the simplicity of a messaging app.
Using the Telegram API and a simple bot created with BotFather, I developed a command line tool built on curl-rust to send messages via bot directly from the command line.
The Benefits of Telly
Thanks to Telly, I’ve replaced all monitoring emails for my services. Now, with a quick glance at Telegram, I can instantly read every notification.
Why Not Just Use curl Directly? 😅
Using a type-safe implementation of curl is a smart move:
- It avoids verbosity in scripts.
- A simple configuration file adds tangible value.
What to Expect from Telly’s Future
I’m already working on an evolved version with new features. This is just the beginning!
If you want to ditch those old monitoring emails, you can find the code on GitHub. 😊