Raspi Telegram Live Chat

Self-hosted live chat system for Raspberry Pi with embeddable website widget, web admin panel, and Telegram as the operator interface.

Goal

Build a lightweight Jivo-like chat platform where visitors write through a website widget and only Telegram operators configured in the admin panel receive and answer messages.

Target device

Primary target for MVP:

• Raspberry Pi 3 Model B
• Raspberry Pi OS Lite
• Node.js backend
• SQLite database
• Nginx reverse proxy
• Cloudflare Tunnel or VPS proxy for public HTTPS access

Recommended OS for Raspberry Pi 3B MVP:

• Raspberry Pi OS Lite 32-bit for maximum RAM economy and stability on 1 GB RAM
• Raspberry Pi OS Lite 64-bit can be tested later if specific ARM64 packages are needed

Core components

website widget -> backend API/WebSocket -> SQLite -> Telegram bot -> operators
                         |
                         -> web admin panel

MVP modules

• Backend API
• WebSocket gateway
• Telegram bot bridge
• Embeddable website widget
• Web admin panel
• SQLite storage
• Operator/site access rules
• SOCKS5 proxy settings for Telegram connectivity

Required admin settings

Telegram bot

• Bot token
• Webhook or polling mode
• Allowed operators
• Operator-to-site mapping

SOCKS5 proxy

The system must support optional SOCKS5 configuration for Telegram requests:

TELEGRAM_PROXY_ENABLED=false
TELEGRAM_PROXY_TYPE=socks5
TELEGRAM_PROXY_HOST=127.0.0.1
TELEGRAM_PROXY_PORT=9050
TELEGRAM_PROXY_USERNAME=
TELEGRAM_PROXY_PASSWORD=

Admin panel should expose:

• Enable/disable SOCKS5
• Proxy host
• Proxy port
• Username
• Password
• Test connection button

Sensitive fields must be stored encrypted or kept in environment variables for MVP.

Website widget

Example embed code:

<script src="https://chat.example.com/widget.js" data-site-id="site_xxxxx"></script>

Message flow

Visitor sends message on website
  -> backend receives message
  -> backend validates site_id and origin domain
  -> backend stores message
  -> backend finds active operators assigned to this site
  -> Telegram bot sends message only to those operators
  -> operator replies in Telegram
  -> backend maps reply to conversation
  -> message is delivered back to website widget through WebSocket

Future Android app

The backend must expose stable REST and WebSocket APIs so an Android app can later work as another operator interface.

Planned Android-ready API concepts:

• JWT auth
• refresh tokens
• operator sessions
• conversation list
• message history
• push-ready notification events
• WebSocket live updates

Initial stack

• Node.js
• Fastify
• WebSocket
• SQLite
• React + Vite admin panel
• Vanilla JS widget
• Telegram Bot API
• Docker optional, PM2 preferred for Raspberry Pi 3B MVP

Development phases

Phase 1

• Website widget
• Backend API
• Telegram message forwarding
• Reply from Telegram back to website
• SQLite persistence

Phase 2

• Admin login
• Site management
• Operator management
• Site/operator permissions
• Widget embed code generator
• SOCKS5 proxy settings

Phase 3

• Conversation history
• Dialog statuses
• Rate limiting
• Origin/domain validation
• Backup script
• Deployment guide for Raspberry Pi

Phase 4

• Android app API preparation
• Push notification model
• Multi-device operator sessions