Setup and Installation

This guide will walk you through the process of setting up and installing the Air Quality Bot from the air-quality repository, focusing on the bot_refactor_test.py script.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following installed and configured:

• Python 3: The bot is written in Python 3. You can download it from python.org↗.
• pip: Python's package installer, usually bundled with Python 3.
• Telegram Bot Token: You need to create a new bot via BotFather on Telegram to obtain your unique bot token. Follow the official Telegram documentation or search for "create Telegram bot BotFather" for instructions.
• AirVisual API Key (IQAir API): The bot relies on the IQAir (formerly AirVisual) API to fetch air quality data. You will need to sign up for a free API key from the IQAir AirVisual website↗.

1. Clone the Repository

First, clone the air-quality repository to your local machine using Git:

2. Install Dependencies

Navigate into the cloned directory and install the required Python libraries using pip:

• pyTelegramBotAPI (installed as telebot) is used for interacting with the Telegram Bot API.
• requests is used for making HTTP requests to external APIs (like AirVisual).

3. Configuration

The bot requires a keys.json file in the root directory to store your API keys and bot-specific settings.

1. Create keys.json: In the air-quality directory, create a file named keys.json with the following structure:

2. Fill in your keys:

   • Replace "YOUR_AIRVISUAL_API_KEY" with the API key you obtained from IQAir.
   • Replace "YOUR_TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN" with the bot token provided by BotFather.
   • "aqius_prior": 0 is an initial value for tracking changes in air quality. You can keep it as 0. The bot will update this value automatically.

3. Set your Chat ID: The CHAT_ID where the bot sends messages is hardcoded in bot_refactor_test.py for testing purposes. You need to change this to your desired Telegram chat ID. Open bot_refactor_test.py and locate the line:

   Change 712191968 to your specific Telegram chat ID. You can find your chat ID by forwarding a message from your target chat to a bot like @userinfobot.

4. Running the Bot

Once all dependencies are installed and the keys.json file is configured, you can run the bot:

The bot will start, and you should see a "Test message sent!" confirmation in your console, indicating that the bot has successfully initialized and sent a message to the specified CHAT_ID. It will then proceed to fetch and send air quality updates according to its schedule, as detailed in the [Air Quality Bot Overview].