IMB: A New Approach to Bot Development

Published on
Alisher Ortiqov
6 min read

Table of Contents

IMB: A New Approach to Bot Development

Introduction

There are many libraries available for creating Telegram bots - Grammy, Telegraf, python-telegram-bot, and others. But they all share the same problems: complex dependencies, huge node_modules folders, and platform lock-in. I created a new language to solve these problems - IMB (I Make Bot).

IMB is a simple, platform-agnostic bot creation language. Write once, use on any platform.

Why IMB?

Traditional Approach: Grammy/Telegraf

// node_modules: 180 MB
// package.json, tsconfig.json, .env...
import { Bot } from 'grammy'

const bot = new Bot('YOUR_BOT_TOKEN')

bot.command('start', (ctx) => ctx.reply('Hello!'))
bot.command('help', (ctx) => ctx.reply('Commands...'))

bot.start()

Problems:

  • 📦 Large size (node_modules 50-200 MB)
  • 🔄 Platform lock-in (Telegram → Grammy, Discord → Discord.js)
  • 🛠️ Complex setup (dependencies, build tools)
  • 🔧 Constant maintenance (breaking changes, updates)

IMB Approach

# bot.imb - only 2 KB!

on /start {
    reply "Hello! 👋"
}

on /help {
    reply "Available commands:\n/start\n/help"
}

Advantages:

  • ⚡ Zero dependencies
  • 🎯 2KB file size
  • 🔄 Platform agnostic (Telegram, Discord, Slack...)
  • 📦 Single binary (compiler + runtime + adapters)
  • 🚀 Learn in 5 minutes

How It Works?

Architecture

IMB consists of 3 parts:

  1. Compiler - Compiles .imb files to IR (Intermediate Representation)
  2. Runtime - Stateless event dispatch engine
  3. Adapters - Platform-specific integration (Telegram, Discord, etc.)
┌─────────────┐
│  bot.imb    │  ← Bot code (2KB)
└──────┬──────┘
       │ compile
       ↓
┌─────────────┐
│ Bot IR      │  ← Intermediate Representation
└──────┬──────┘
       │ runtime
       ↓
┌─────────────┐
│ Adapters    │  ← Telegram, Discord, etc.
└─────────────┘

Syntax

IMB syntax is very simple. Only 2 main constructs:

1. Event Handlers

on /start {
    reply "Welcome!"
}

on /help {
    reply "Help: /start, /help, /about"
}

2. Responses

on /about {
    reply "This bot is built with IMB."
    reply "Learn more: mcpeblocker.uz"
}

Running

# Create config
cat > imb-conf.ini << EOF
[telegram]
bot_token=YOUR_BOT_TOKEN
EOF

# Run the bot
imb run bot.imb --adapter telegram

That's it! No node_modules, no package.json, no build tools.

Technical Details

Written in Rust

IMB is written in Rust programming language. This provides:

  • ⚡ Speed and efficiency
  • 🔒 Memory safety
  • 📦 Single binary (dependencies statically compiled)
  • 🎯 Cross-platform

Stateless Runtime

The runtime is stateless - meaning:

  • Each event is processed independently
  • Session state is managed by the adapter
  • Easy scaling (horizontal scaling)
  • Minimal memory footprint

Platform Adapters

Supporting multiple platforms through the adapter pattern:

pub trait Adapter {
    async fn start(self: Box<Self>) -> Result<(), String>;
}

pub struct TelegramAdapter { /* ... */ }
pub struct DiscordAdapter { /* ... */ }  // Coming soon
pub struct SlackAdapter { /* ... */ }    // Coming soon

Interactive Playground

I created an interactive playground to test bot code in the browser:

🔗 imb.mcpeblocker.uz/playground

Features:

  1. CodeMirror Editor - With syntax highlighting
  2. Real-time Testing - Test with real Telegram bots
  3. Template System - Hello World, FAQ Bot, Command List
  4. Live Console - Bot events displayed in real-time
  5. Download - Download bot as .imb file

How It Works?

The playground backend uses Node.js API routes to spawn the IMB binary:

// Next.js API Route
const imbProcess = spawn('imb', ['run', 'bot.imb', '--adapter', 'telegram'])

// Real-time logs via Server-Sent Events
imbProcess.stdout.on('data', (data) => {
  // BOT_EVENT|RECEIVED|/start
  // BOT_EVENT|REPLY|Hello!
  clients.write(`data: ${JSON.stringify({ type: 'user', message })}\n\n`)
})

The user:

  1. Enters a Telegram bot token
  2. Writes IMB code or selects a template
  3. Clicks the "Start Bot" button
  4. Bot starts running
  5. Sends a message to the bot on Telegram
  6. Sees it in real-time in the playground console!

Current Status and Future Plans

✅ Ready

  • Rust compiler and runtime
  • Telegram adapter (basic features)
  • CLI tool (imb run)
  • Interactive playground
  • Basic Documentation

🚧 In Progress

  • Telegram adapter - More features:

    • Inline buttons
    • Media (photo, video, document)
    • Callback queries
    • Inline mode
    • Payments API

  • Discord adapter - Coming soon

  • Slack adapter - Coming soon

  • State management - Variables and persistence

  • Conditionals - if/else constructs

  • Functions - For code reuse

💡 Future Plans

  1. More Syntax Features

    # Variables
var counter = 0

on /count {
    counter = counter + 1
    reply "Count: " + counter
}

# Conditionals
on message {
    if message.text == "hello" {
        reply "Hi there!"
    }
}

  2. Plugin System - Custom adapters and extensions

  3. VSCode Extension - Syntax highlighting and IntelliSense

  4. Package Manager - Bot modules and libraries

  5. Web Dashboard - Web interface for managing bots

Try It!

In the Playground

Try it now: imb.mcpeblocker.uz/playground

  1. Create a bot on Telegram via @BotFather
  2. Get the token
  3. Go to the playground
  4. Enter the token and write code
  5. Click "Start Bot"
  6. Send a message to your bot on Telegram!

Download

Download the IMB binary: imb.mcpeblocker.uz/download

# For Linux
wget https://imb.mcpeblocker.uz/imb
chmod +x imb
sudo mv imb /usr/local/bin/

# Create a bot
cat > mybot.imb << 'EOF'
on /start {
    reply "Hello! I'm your bot 🤖"
}
EOF

# Run it
imb run mybot.imb --adapter telegram

Contributing

IMB is still in development. If you know Rust or are interested - contribute!

How you can help:

  1. Add features to Telegram adapter

    • Inline buttons
    • Media support
    • Callback queries

  2. Write new adapters

    • Discord
    • Slack
    • WhatsApp

  3. Add features to compiler

    • Variables
    • Conditionals
    • Functions

  4. Improve documentation

  5. Find and fix bugs

If you're interested, contact me - I'll give you access to the private GitHub repo.

Contact:

  • Website: mcpeblocker.uz
  • Telegram: @mcpeblocker

Conclusion

IMB is a new approach to bot development. Zero dependencies, simple syntax, and platform agnostic. Still in early stages, but the future looks bright.

Advantages:

  • ⚡ Fast and efficient
  • 📦 Very small (2KB bot code, 9MB binary)
  • 🔄 Platform agnostic
  • 🎯 Easy to learn
  • 🚀 Fast development

Disadvantages:

  • 🚧 Still few features
  • 📝 Limited documentation
  • 🔧 Active development (breaking changes possible)

But the core idea is proven. For simple bots, this is an ideal solution.

Try it out and send me your feedback!

Useful links:

Btw, IMB stands for I Make Bot :)

January 2025 • Alisher Ortiqov