Your First Custom Workflow: Post Published → Telegram Announcement
You’ve seen the ready-made recipes. Now you’ll build a custom workflow from scratch — and understand every part of it so you can build anything. This guide walks through one complete example: new post published → AI writes Telegram announcement → sends it automatically.
Before You Start
You’ll need:
- Familiar with ready-made workflows (5 Ready-Made Workflows)
- AIWU plugin with an API key configured (Quick setup guide)
- A Telegram bot token and channel ID (instructions below)
- Time needed: ~15 minutes
- Plan required: Free for basic workflows · Pro for Telegram/messaging actions
Anatomy of a Workflow
Every AIWU workflow has three parts:
| Part | What it is | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Trigger | The WordPress event that starts the workflow | Post Published |
| AI Action | What the AI does with the trigger data | Generate a Telegram announcement |
| Output | Where the result goes | Send to Telegram channel |
Understanding this structure means you can build any workflow — just swap the trigger, change the AI prompt, and pick a different output.
Step 1: Create a New Workflow
Go to WordPress Admin → AI Copilot → Workflows. Click Create New Workflow.
Give your workflow a name: “New Post → Telegram”.
Step 2: Set the Trigger
In the Trigger section, select Post Published from the dropdown.
Configure trigger options:
- Post Type: Post (leave as default, or select a custom post type)
- Post Status: Publish (fires only when a post goes from draft to published)
- Categories Filter: Leave empty to trigger for all posts, or select specific categories
{post_title}, {post_excerpt}, {post_url}, {post_content}, {post_author}, {post_date}, {post_category}. Use them in curly braces in your AI prompt.
Step 3: Write the AI Prompt
In the AI Action section, select Generate Text.
In the Prompt field, write your instruction. This is where the magic happens — you tell the AI exactly what to do with the trigger data:
Write a short Telegram announcement for a new blog post. Requirements:
- Start with a relevant emoji
- One punchy hook sentence that creates curiosity
- One sentence explaining what the reader will learn
- End with: "👉 Read: {post_url}"
- Maximum 3 lines total
- No hashtagsPost title: {post_title}
Post excerpt: {post_excerpt}
What makes a good workflow prompt:
- Be specific about format (lines, length, structure)
- Include the variables the AI should use
- Tell the AI the destination (Telegram, email, Slack) so it writes in the right style
- Include constraints (max length, what to avoid)
Step 4: Configure the Output
In the Output Action section, select Send Telegram Message.
Configure Telegram settings:
- Bot Token: Your Telegram bot token (see below)
- Chat ID: Your channel or group ID (see below)
- Message: Leave as
{ai_output}— this inserts the AI-generated text - Parse Mode: Markdown (allows bold and links in the message)
Getting your Telegram bot token:
- Open Telegram and search for @BotFather
- Type
/newbotand follow the prompts - Copy the token BotFather gives you — it looks like
123456789:ABCdefGHIjklMNOpqrSTUvwxYZ
Getting your channel Chat ID:
- Add your bot to your Telegram channel as an admin
- For public channels: use
@your_channel_name - For private channels: forward a message from the channel to @userinfobot to get the numeric ID
Step 5: Activate and Test
Toggle the workflow Active switch on. Click Save Changes.
Test it: Publish a new WordPress post (or update an existing draft to published). Within 10–15 seconds, the AI-generated announcement should appear in your Telegram channel.
Workflow Variables Reference
| Variable | Available in triggers | What it contains |
|---|---|---|
{post_title} |
Post Published, Post Updated | The post title |
{post_excerpt} |
Post Published, Post Updated | The post excerpt (or first 150 chars of content) |
{post_url} |
Post Published, Post Updated | Full URL of the published post |
{post_content} |
Post Published, Post Updated | Full post content (use sparingly — long) |
{order_id} |
WooCommerce: New Order | Order number |
{order_total} |
WooCommerce: New Order | Order total with currency |
{billing_first_name} |
WooCommerce: New Order | Customer first name |
|
User Registered | New user’s email address |
{display_name} |
User Registered | New user’s display name |
{current_date} |
All triggers | Today’s date |
{site_name} |
All triggers | Your WordPress site name |
{ai_output} |
Output actions | The AI-generated text from the prompt |
Common Issues
Problem: “Workflow is active but no Telegram message arrives.”
Fix: Check that your bot is added to the channel as an admin. Verify the bot token has no extra spaces. Check the Chat ID — for public channels use @channelname with the @. Test by using the Manual Test button if available.
Problem: “The AI message doesn’t include the post URL.”
Fix: Make sure {post_url} is in your prompt (Step 3) and that the post was published (not saved as draft). Scheduled posts may not fire the trigger until they go live.
Problem: “Workflow fires twice for the same post.”
Fix: Set the trigger to fire only on status change from draft → published, not on every save. Check the Post Status setting in Step 2.
What’s Next
- 🔢 Use dynamic data in complex workflows: Variables & Dynamic Data in Workflows
- 🌐 Auto-translate posts: Workflow Recipe: Auto-Translate Content
- ⭐ Review notifications: Workflow Recipe: New Review → Slack
- 📧 Welcome emails: Workflow Recipe: AI Welcome Email
- 📅 Scheduled content ideas: Workflow Recipe: Scheduled Content Ideas
- 🛒 WooCommerce notifications: Order Notifications: Multi-Channel Setup
- 📧 Connect Gmail or Outlook: Gmail & Outlook Integration
- 📆 Google Calendar automation: Google Calendar Meeting Automations
- 💬 Slack integration: Slack Integration: Team Notifications
- 🔗 Connect external services: Webhooks: Connect External Services
Last verified: AIWU v.4.9.2 · Updated: 2026-02-25