# Telechat: self-host Claude AI across Telegram/WhatsApp/Slack with one npm install > Source: > Published: 2026-07-31 06:22:29+00:00 Built something the r/selfhosted crowd might appreciate: **Telechat** — a self-hosted Claude AI bot that connects to Telegram, WhatsApp, Slack, and web chat from a single process. ## Why self-hosted matters here Anthropic launched Claude Code Channels recently — Claude on Telegram/Discord, managed by Anthropic. It works great, but every message goes through their cloud. Telechat takes the opposite approach: - Runs on your machine (laptop, VPS, RPi, NAS — anything that runs Node.js or Python) - Messages flow: phone → your server → Anthropic API → back to phone - No relay server, no telemetry, no analytics - SQLite for conversation history, stored locally - The only external call is to Anthropic's chat-completions API for inference Your messages, your hardware, your data. ## Install `telechat init` walks you through an interactive setup — API key, bot tokens for whichever platforms you want, model preferences, budget limits. ## What it does - **Multi-platform** — Telegram, WhatsApp, Slack, Web Chat. All running simultaneously from one process. - **Smart model routing** — Routes queries to the cheapest Claude model that handles them. Saves ~60% on API costs vs always using Sonnet. - **Budget caps** — Per-user daily and monthly limits. Set $5/day and forget about it. - **Persistent memory** — SQLite-backed. Context carries across conversations. - **Desktop Bridge** — If you run Claude Code on your desktop and it needs approval for a destructive action, you get a push notification on your phone. Approve/deny remotely. - **Media support** — Send images for analysis, generate images if you have DALL-E configured. ## Resource usage Light. Single process, ~50MB RSS idle, spikes briefly during inference calls. SQLite means no database server. The bottleneck is always the Anthropic API latency, not local compute. ## Self-hosting tips - Run behind a reverse proxy (Caddy/nginx) for HTTPS if using webhooks - Telegram supports long-polling (no public IP needed) — great for home setups - WhatsApp requires the WhatsApp Business API (webhook-based, needs HTTPS) - Set up systemd/Docker restart policies for reliability [telechat.fyi](https://telechat.fyi?utm_source=devto&utm_medium=syndication&utm_campaign=telechat&utm_content=telechat-self-host-claude-ai-across-telegram-whatsapp-slack-with-one-npm-install) | [GitHub](https://github.com/telechatai) Would love feedback from the self-hosting community. What would make this more useful for your setup?