New JSON API entries sent to Telegram every 5 minutes

New JSON API entries sent to Telegram every 5 minutes

An n8n workflow that watches a JSON address and tells you on Telegram when something new appears. Every 5 minutes it reads a JSON list from your own API. It keeps only the entries that are newer than the last one it saw and that match a filter you choose. Each one is sent as a Telegram message. It suits error logs, order lists, status feeds and similar lists. Four nodes do the work.

What is inside

• workflow.json: the workflow as n8n exports it, 4 nodes and no sticky notes. It holds no credential.
• README.md: these notes.

What we changed from the original copy

Mindket cleaned and repaired the copy:

• The original copy was written in Italian: the node names, the comments in the code and the word in the alert. Mindket's copy is in English. The filter field tipo is now type, and the fallback label evento is now event.
• The address of the JSON list was a made-up Italian "insert your API here" address. It is now the placeholder <YOUR_JSON_FEED_URL>.
• The chat id was read from an n8n environment variable, with a made-up fallback. It is now the placeholder <YOUR_TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID> in the Telegram node, so nothing depends on a server setting.
• The Telegram node reads the text as Markdown by default, as n8n's own source shows. A JSON entry with one _ or * more than a pair makes Telegram refuse the message. Mindket's code now puts a backslash before _, *, a backtick and [, as Telegram's Bot API page asks for legacy Markdown.
• The setup note inside the file is now this README, and the file's empty credential name is gone.
• No credential is inside.

Before you start

• An n8n instance, on n8n Cloud or your own server.
• A JSON address that answers with an object holding a list of entries, newest first, each with a timestamp or another field that sorts as text.
• A Telegram bot made with @BotFather, and the id of the chat that should receive the alerts.

Set it up

1. In n8n, create a workflow, open its menu and choose Import from File. Pick workflow.json.
2. In Read the JSON feed, replace <YOUR_JSON_FEED_URL> with the address of your list. If it needs a key, add it in the node's options.
3. In Only new and filtered entries, set the four names at the top of the code to match your response: ARRAY_FIELD, FILTER_VALUES, FILTER_FIELD and TIMESTAMP_FIELD.
4. Add a Telegram credential with your bot token and select it in Send to Telegram.
5. Write to your bot once, then find your chat id in the answer of the bot's getUpdates call, and put it in place of <YOUR_TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID> in Send to Telegram.
6. Publish the workflow.

How a run goes

1. Every 5 minutes starts a run every 5 minutes.
2. Read the JSON feed fetches your address and waits at most 10 seconds for the answer.
3. Only new and filtered entries takes the list from the field ARRAY_FIELD. It keeps the entries whose FILTER_FIELD is one of FILTER_VALUES, or all of them when that list is empty. Then it keeps the entries whose timestamp is greater than the one stored from the last run, as text, and puts the oldest first.
4. The code stores the timestamp of the newest entry it sends. It writes each alert as a bell, the filter field value and the first 300 characters of the entry.
5. Send to Telegram sends one message for each entry.

Change the look

• How often it checks: the interval in Every 5 minutes.
• What counts as news: FILTER_VALUES and FILTER_FIELD in the code, for example ['error','warning'].
• The look of the alert: the text the code builds.
• Where it goes: the chat id in Send to Telegram, or a node for email or Slack in its place.

Good to know

• The first run after you publish has no stored timestamp, so it sends every entry in the list that passes the filter. Start with a short list or a filter.
• The code compares timestamps as text, so use a field that sorts as text, such as an ISO date. Plain numbers of different lengths, such as 9 and 10, do not compare well.
• It expects the newest entry first, and it reverses the list so that the alerts come oldest first.
• The stored timestamp is n8n's workflow static data. n8n's page says static data is not saved when you test a workflow, and that it is an experimental feature. Test runs send the same entries again, and the memory works once the workflow is published.
• The Telegram node adds a line saying the message was sent with n8n. Turn that off in the node's options if you do not want it.
• Telegram cuts a message at 4096 characters. The code keeps each alert far below that.
• The JSON holds no credential.