reporting-governance-plugin/skills/telegram-inline-buttons/SKILL.md

name, description

name	description
telegram-inline-buttons	Use when sending proactive Telegram messages that ask Eric to confirm, choose, defer, or pick from a few next actions; especially for yes/no, A/B/C, do-now-vs-later, short multi-step button flows, or numbered option lists like 1.xxx / 2.ooo / 3.yyy that should be converted into inline buttons.

Telegram Inline Buttons

Prefer inline buttons over free-text prompts when sending a proactive Telegram message that expects a choice.

Use buttons for

• Yes / No confirmations
• A / B / C choices
• Do it now vs later
• Picking one of a few next actions
• Numbered option lists like 1.xxx, 2.ooo, 3.yyy

Do not use buttons for

• Purely informational messages
• Input that requires typed text
• More than 5 options

If there are >5 options, summarize and offer a Show more button.

Button design

• Keep labels short: 1-4 words
• 2-4 buttons is ideal
• Include a safe exit when appropriate: Not now, Cancel, Later, Skip
• Keep callback_data stable and unique per flow step, e.g. reminder_time_15m, deploy_confirm_yes
• When the source prompt is a numbered list, convert each visible option into a short button label while preserving the original order

Recommended layouts:

• Binary: one row [Yes] [No]
• Decision + defer: row 1 [Do it] [Not now], row 2 [More info]
• A/B/C: one row [A] [B] [C]
• Numbered list: [1] [2] [3] or short labels derived from each option

Telegram message tool pattern

For user-visible delivery, use message(action="send") with buttons.

Example shape:

{
  "action": "send",
  "channel": "telegram",
  "target": "...",
  "message": "Want me to proceed?",
  "buttons": [[
    {"text": "Proceed", "callback_data": "deploy_confirm_yes", "style": "primary"},
    {"text": "Hold", "callback_data": "deploy_confirm_no"}
  ]]
}

After a button click

Telegram bot messages do not support arbitrary text color. To make the selection stand out:

1. Edit the original message
2. Remove the inline keyboard
3. Append one short committed-selection line with emoji

Standard emoji mapping:

• ✅ or 🟩 = yes / approve / proceed / confirm
• 🟥 = no / cancel / stop
• ⬛️ = later / skip / defer

Do not send a separate follow-up that only repeats the selection. Editing is enough unless you also need to report results or ask the next question.

Multi-step flows

For branching flows:

1. Edit the prior message to commit the selection
2. Send the next question with fresh buttons
3. Do not narrate the previous selection again

Keep the first message short. Put details in the next step after the click.

Duplicate / stale callbacks

If a callback arrives after the message is already finalized:

• Do nothing
• No extra message
• No further edits
• Silently ignore it

Tooling rule

If message(send/edit) delivered the user-visible response, reply in chat with NO_REPLY unless you must add extra context beyond what the message edit already shows.

Copy-ready templates

Confirm action

Text: Want me to proceed with <action>? Buttons: [Proceed] [Hold]

Pick next step

Text: Pick the next move: Buttons: [Option A] [Option B] [Option C] [Not now]

Scheduling

Text: When should I remind you? Buttons: [15m] [1h] [Tonight] [Tomorrow]

Numbered options

Text:

Pick one:
1. xxx
2. ooo
3. yyy

Buttons: [1] [2] [3] or [xxx] [ooo] [yyy]

Decision rule

Default to buttons whenever Eric is being asked to choose, confirm, defer, or select the next action on Telegram. This includes numbered lists that would otherwise require a reply like 1, 2, or 3.