Babata

Your coding agent, on Telegram.

If this saved you time, a star helps me prioritize which integrations to keep maintained — more from this stack at r266-tech.

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babata is a thin transport layer that lets you talk to an agentic coding CLI from any phone, any client. Claude Code is the default CPU; Codex CLI can be selected with BABATA_ENGINE=codex or switched from Telegram with /cpu.

                             ┌─────────────┐
   📱 Telegram / WeChat ────▶│   babata    │────▶  claude / codex
                             │  (transport) │
                             └─────────────┘

The bot only does what CC physically cannot: TG HTML / 4096-char chunking / OGG voice transcription / image base64. It gives CC capabilities (MCP tools to push back to TG), never tells CC how to use them.

Quick Start

git clone https://github.com/r266-tech/babata.git
cd babata
bash install.sh

Detects what's missing (Python / uv / ffmpeg / Claude Code), installs deps, scaffolds .env. Then edit .env and run.

You'll need

• macOS or Linux with Python 3.11+
• A Telegram bot — message @BotFather, /newbot, save the token
• Your TG user ID — message @userinfobot
• An Anthropic API key — https://console.anthropic.com → Settings → API keys
  • Or skip the key + set BABATA_SHARED_CC=1 to share with your existing logged-in claude

Run

$EDITOR .env                    # fill TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN, ALLOWED_USER_ID, ANTHROPIC_API_KEY
babata                          # bot starts (foreground, Ctrl+C to stop)
                                # → message it on Telegram

install.sh symlinks babata into ~/.local/bin/, so it's globally available — same shape as hermes / openclaw. (If the command isn't found, add ~/.local/bin to your PATH.)

Modes

Default — isolated (recommended for OSS users): babata doesn't touch your ~/.claude/ settings, doesn't read your OAuth keychain, doesn't pollute your existing CC sessions. It runs as its own contained Claude instance, authed via ANTHROPIC_API_KEY.

Shared mode (.env: BABATA_SHARED_CC=1): babata shares your existing logged-in CC — same skills, same settings, same OAuth. No ANTHROPIC_API_KEY needed. Quota / settings changes affect both.

Codex CPU (.env: BABATA_ENGINE=codex): babata keeps the same TG/WeChat/sidebar transport but runs turns through codex exec --json. Current first cut supports query, resume within babata's own Codex state, images, MCP server wiring, /stop, and final-message streaming. Telegram /cpu overrides the .env default for that channel and persists in the channel state. Codex does not yet expose the same hot-input control path as Claude Code here, so ordinary TG cut-in messages queue until the active Codex turn ends; /stop cancels the active Codex exec turn.

Full trust (.env: BABATA_FULL_TRUST=1): babata's CC subprocess runs with cwd=$HOME and permission_mode=auto (CC official auto mode, status shows "auto mode on") — can read your home, run any command without prompts for low-risk work. ⚠️ Only when ALLOWED_USER_ID is strictly correct, since anyone who can DM the bot effectively gets shell access.

Multi-instance

Run multiple babatas on one machine — different TG bots, different chats, shared code, independent state. Second instance:

BABATA_INSTANCE=alice TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=... ALLOWED_USER_ID=... .venv/bin/python bot.py

State files / sockets / launchd labels all derive from PROJECT_NAMESPACE + BABATA_INSTANCE so nothing collides.

Persist (macOS launchd)

See docs/persist-macos.md — copy a plist template, edit paths, launchctl bootstrap.

Architecture

File	Role
bot.py	TG transport (HTML, 4096 chunks, reactions, auth)
weixin_bot.py	WeChat transport (iLink protocol, optional)
engine.py	CPU selector (BABATA_ENGINE=claude / codex)
cc.py	Claude Code SDK wrapper, channel-agnostic
codex_engine.py	Codex CLI adapter using codex exec --json
bridge.py	Unix socket so MCP tools can push to TG
tg_mcp.py	MCP tools tg_send_* exposed to CC
media.py	OGG → WAV, image base64, video understanding
constants.py	Single source of truth for paths / labels

Commands

Command	Role
/cpu	Switch current TG CPU between Claude Code and Codex
/new	Start a fresh session
/resume	Resume a recent session
/status	Show model, session, and tool-display state
/context	Show Claude Code context usage; hidden on Codex
/verbose	Tool display: hidden / flash / keep
/stop	Interrupt current turn
/provider	Switch Anthropic provider or Codex account through optional cc-router

License

MIT