Non-Developer Builds AI Telegram Bot to Manage Tasks After Missing Client Calls

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A database consultant with no formal software background built Wingman, an AI-powered Telegram bot, after repeatedly missing client calls and forgetting personal tasks. The bot accepts plain-English inputs to schedule reminders and features a /focus command that analyzes deadlines and overdue items to recommend a single priority task each morning. Built over several months using AI coding assistance, the project runs on Node.js, OpenAI's API, SQLite, and is hosted on Railway. Development surfaced real-world challenges including a government-imposed Telegram outage, a timezone bug that misscheduled reminders, and a weak onboarding experience for new users. Wingman is currently in free early beta, with the creator also offering a paid guide documenting the architecture decisions and lessons learned.

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