/OctoGramBuilder

GitHub Workflow for effortless building of OctoGram, an unofficial messaging app utilizing Telegram's API.

OctoGramBuilder GitHub Actions Workflow Setup

To get your OctoGramBuilder up and running with GitHub Actions workflow, adhere to the following guidelines:

Step 1: Firebase Configuration

  1. Head to the Firebase Console.
  2. Create a new project.
  3. Click the Android icon at the center of the project overview page.
  4. For the Android package name, use: it.octogram.android.
  5. Download your google-services.json.

Step 2: Obtaining Telegram API_ID and API_HASH

To create your own application using the Telegram API, follow these steps:

  1. Log in to your Telegram core account by visiting: https://my.telegram.org.
  2. Access the "API development tools" section and complete the provided form.
  3. Upon completion, you will receive basic addresses, along with the api_id and api_hash parameters required for user authorization.

Step 3: Maps API Key Setup

  1. Create a new file named local.properties, and include the following line as a placeholder, unless you intend to acquire an actual key. Instructions for obtaining a valid key can be found here:

    MAPS_API_KEY=Abcdefgh:982735541'

Step 4: Keystore Configuration

In your signing.properties file, include the following lines with your keystore information:

storePassword=<your-keystore-password>
keyAlias=<your-keystore-alias>
keyPath=<your-keystore-file-path>
keyPassword=<your-keystore-password>

To generate this information, follow these steps:

  1. Open a terminal in your desired directory.
  2. Run the following command to create the keystore file and set the keystore password:
keytool -genkey -v -keystore <your-keystore-file-name>.jks -keyalg RSA -keysize 2048 -validity 10000 -alias <your-keystore-alias> -storetype JKS -keypass <your-keystore-password> -storepass <your-keystore-password>

Step 5: Update Build Configuration

  1. Download the BuildVars.java file from this link.

  2. Edit the BuildVars.java file and replace the APP_ID and APP_HASH values with the ones obtained in Step 2.

Step 6: Repository Setup

  1. Create a private GitHub repository.

  2. Upload the following files to the repository:

    • google-services.json
    • local.properties
    • signing.properties
    • BuildVars.java
    • Your keystore file

Step 7: Setup the Workflow to Clone Your Private Repository

  1. Create a new personal access token with the repo scope. Refer to the instructions provided here for detailed guidance.

  2. Save the generated token.

  3. In your forked repository of this project:

    • Go to the repository's settings.
    • Click on "Secrets and variables."
    • Add a new repository secret named ACCESS_TOKEN and provide the token you generated as the value.

  4. Modify the workflow to clone your private repository:

    • Access the workflow configuration file at this link.
    • Change the values of owner and repository to your GitHub account name (e.g., Lyceris-chan for me) and the name of your private repository (e.g., OctoGramBuilderSecrets for me).

Step 8: Setup the GITHUB_TOKEN permissions

  1. In your forked repository of this project:
    • Go to the repository's settings.
    • Select the Actions section.
    • Choose the General option.
    • Scroll to the bottom and adjust the 'Workflow permissions' to Read and Write permissions. This enables the workflow to autonomously generate and upload its release upon completion.

Step 9: Setup Telegram status notifications

This project uses the appleboy/telegram-action action to send build and status notifications to the defined TG_CHAT_ID secret using the TG_TOKEN secret for authentication.

If you don't use Telegram or don't want to receive notifications for build and status updates, then edit the build-release.yml to remove the steps including Telegram.

Obtain your chat id:

You can obtain the Telegram chat ID by sending a message in a chat and forwarding the message to @ShowJsonBot. The chat ID is shown under forward_from_chat.

Obtain your bot token:

In this context, a token is a string that authenticates your bot (not your account) on the bot API. Each bot has a unique token which can also be revoked at any time via @BotFather.

Obtaining a token is as simple as contacting @BotFather, issuing the /newbot command, and following the steps until you're given a new token. You can find a step-by-step guide here.

Your token will look something like this: 4839574812:AAFD39kkdpWt3ywyRZergyOLMaJhac60qc

In your forked repository of this project:

  • Go to the repository's settings.
  • Click on "Secrets and variables."
  • Add a new repository secret named TG_CHAT_ID and provide the chat ID you obtained from @ShowJsonBot earlier.
  • Add a new repository secret named TG_TOKEN and provide the bot token you obtained from @BotFather earlier.

Make sure to save your token in a secure place, treat it like a password, and don't share it with anyone.

Step 10: Setup cache download url

  1. Open the build-release.yml file in your forked repository.
  2. Locate the following line:
  • url="https://github.com/Lyceris-chan/OctoGramBuilder/releases/download/BuildCache/cache.tzst"
  1. Replace the URL with the URL of your own 💾 OctoGram build cache release that contains the cache.tzst file generated AFTER the first successful build.

Step 11: Run the GitHub Actions Workflow

  1. Navigate to the "Actions" tab in your repository.

  2. Select "Build and Release OctoGram."

  3. Click on "Run Workflow," then click "Run Workflow" again (the second button is typically green).

  4. The initial workflow run may take around an hour or more. Upon completion, it will create two releases:

  • 🐙 OctoGram build: Contains the built APKs.
  • 💾 OctoGram build cache: Holds cached data from the build, speeding up future runs to under 30 minutes.