ESP32 Motion Detection - Telegram Configuration Tester

🎯 Purpose: This tool helps you verify that your Telegram bot is configured correctly before uploading code to your ESP32. It tests the exact same values you'll use in your secrets.h file.

1Create Telegram Bot (if not done)

If you haven't created a bot yet:

Message @BotFather on Telegram
Send /newbot
Choose a name: "Motion Alert Bot"
Choose username: "your_motion_alert_bot"
Copy the token (looks like: 1234567890:ABCdefGHIjklMNOpqrSTUvwxYZ123456789)

2Get Your Chat ID

This is the most important step! Your Chat ID tells the bot where to send messages.

🎯 Step 2.1: Choose Your Notification Type

Select how you want to receive motion alerts:

👤 Personal Chat
Direct messages to you only 👥 Group Chat
Notify family/team members 📢 Channel
Broadcast to subscribers

📱 Step 2.2a: Personal Chat Setup

Find your bot in Telegram (search for the username you created)
Send any message to your bot (like "hello" or "test")
The bot won't reply yet - that's normal!

👥 Step 2.2b: Group Chat Setup

2.2b.1 Create or Use Existing Group

New Group: Tap "New Group" → Add family/team members → Name it (e.g., "Home Security Alerts")
Existing Group: Open your existing group where you want motion alerts

2.2b.2 Add Your Bot to the Group

In your group, tap the Group Name at the top
Tap "Add Members" or "+" icon
Search for your bot username (e.g., @your_motion_alert_bot)
Select your bot and tap "Add"
✅ Confirm: You should see "Bot was added to the group" message

2.2b.3 Make Bot an Admin (Recommended)

In group settings, tap "Administrators"
Tap "Add Administrator"
Select your bot
Enable "Post Messages" permission
Tap "Done"

💡 Why Admin? Admin permissions ensure reliable message delivery and allow the bot to send messages even if group settings restrict non-admins.

2.2b.4 Test Bot in Group

Send any message in the group (e.g., "Testing bot setup")
Make sure the bot appears in the member list
Ready to get Chat ID!

🔍 Step 2.3: Find Your Chat ID

Enter your Bot Token to get Chat ID:

📖 Manual Method: You can also visit this URL in your browser:
https://api.telegram.org/bot<YOUR_TOKEN>/getUpdates
Look for "chat":{"id":123456789} - the number after "id" is your Chat ID.

📋 Chat ID Examples

Personal Chat: 123456789 (positive number)
Group Chat: -123456789 (negative number)
Channel: -1001234567890 (starts with -100)

3Test Your Configuration

🤖 Bot Token

ESP32 Code: This goes to BOT_TOKEN in your secrets.h file

💬 Chat ID

ESP32 Code: This goes to CHAT_ID in your secrets.h file

4Update Your ESP32 Code

Once the test passes, update your ESP32 project:

File: include/secrets.h

Line 10: const char* WIFI_SSID = "Your_WiFi_Name";
Line 11: const char* WIFI_PASSWORD = "Your_WiFi_Password";
Line 14: const char* BOT_TOKEN = "YOUR_TESTED_TOKEN";
Line 15: const char* CHAT_ID = "YOUR_TESTED_CHAT_ID";

✅ Next Steps After Testing:

Copy your tested values to secrets.h
Wire your PIR sensor to ESP32
Upload: pio run --target upload
Monitor: pio device monitor
Test motion detection!

🤖 ESP32 Motion Detection - Telegram Tester