i replaced chatgpt with my own AI in telegram (self-hosted hermes agent setup)
I replaced ChatGPT with 5 specialized AI agents running on my own server — and I talk to all of them through Telegram. After trying LINE (too complex), Discord (wrong UX), and even raw SSH from my phone, Telegram turned out to be the best interface for self-hosted AI. This video walks through the exact setup: multiple profiles, Topics-based conversation management, cron-driven push notifications, and the full cost breakdown.
I built this using Hermes Agent (open-source AI agent framework from Nous Research) connected to DeepSeek API, running on a cheap cloud VPS. The setup uses Telegram Groups + Topics to create independent conversation contexts for each bot, BotFather for gateway configuration, and Whisper + Gemini Vision for image support. Self-hosted AI through Telegram gives you persistent memory, cross-platform sync, push notifications, and full knowledge base access