How Theo Works

📱

You — Will's phone

You type a message on Telegram. That's your only touchpoint — everything else happens automatically in the background.

Telegram app

↑ response arrives Telegram (free messaging) ↓ message sent

✈️

Telegram's servers

The free messaging service. Telegram acts like a postal system — it delivers your message to Theo's bot and sends replies back to your phone.

@Theo91Bot · free

↑ reply secure webhook ↓ message

⚙️ The engine room — always-on server in the cloud

🖥️

VPS + OpenClaw

A Linux server running 24 hours a day — Theo's home. OpenClaw is the software on it: handles messages, fires reminders, stores memory, and connects all the services.

Linux · Node.js · OpenClaw framework

↕ one call
per message ↕ read &
write files

🧠

Claude · Anthropic

The AI brain. Reads your message + everything it knows about you, and writes the response. Two versions: Sonnet (main tasks) and Haiku (quick background checks).

Pay per message

📦

Dropbox

Your file storage. Morning briefings, bank statements, documents — Theo can read and save files here to keep things organised.

Your existing account

serves your finance app

☁️

Cloudflare — finance dashboard

Hosts your finance app online. When you open it on your phone, Cloudflare checks your password and serves the dashboard. Your financial data lives inside the app — no live bank connection needed.

willz-finance-api.tjlivesey.workers.dev · free tier

You type on Telegram

Your message leaves your phone and hits Telegram's servers — exactly like any chat message.

Telegram forwards it to the server

Telegram routes your message to OpenClaw on the VPS via a secure webhook — a direct, private channel between Telegram and the server.

OpenClaw bundles your context

OpenClaw loads everything it knows — who you are, your preferences, your finances, past conversations — and packages it with your message.

Claude thinks and responds

That package is sent to Anthropic's Claude API. Claude reads it, reasons about it, and writes a reply — or takes an action like updating the dashboard. Takes 2–5 seconds.

The reply comes back to you

Claude's response travels back through OpenClaw and Telegram, and appears on your phone. Total round trip: under 5 seconds.

Background jobs run automatically

Even when you're not messaging, OpenClaw keeps working — sending your 6:45am briefing, firing statement reminders, checking for tickets — all without you doing anything.