FTVDB Now Accepts URL Submissions Through Telegram

FTVDB now has an official Telegram bot for submitting public Amazon device update URLs.

Open @FTVDBbot on Telegram to send a URL directly. The bot gives contributors another way to share firmware and system component source URLs without opening the website submission form or building an API integration.

The web form and public API remain available. The Telegram bot is an additional submission path for people who already use Telegram or participate in groups where Amazon device update links are discussed.

Send URLs directly to the bot

In a direct chat, send a public source URL to @FTVDBbot. The URL enters the same FTVDB review process used for submissions from the website and API.

There is no need to include a name, email address, explanation, or credit request. The useful part of the submission is the URL itself.

The same submission rules still apply. URLs should point to public, unauthenticated firmware files or system component packages observed through normal activity on an Amazon device. Do not send private logs, credentials, tokenized or account-specific links, guessed paths, or anything obtained by bypassing technical controls.

Group submissions start when the bot joins

The bot can also be added to a Telegram group. Once it joins, it begins collecting URLs from new messages posted by group members.

Collection starts at the moment the bot is added. It does not look backward through messages that were already in the group, and it does not submit older group history.

Any member can post a relevant URL after the bot joins. This can help research groups contribute links as part of their normal conversation instead of asking one person to copy every URL into a separate form later.

Adding the bot does not make every posted URL a public FTVDB record. Submissions are still validated and reviewed before anything is added to the database.

FTVDB does not track who sent a URL

FTVDB stores no information about which Telegram user submitted a URL. The bot does not retain sender names, usernames, Telegram account identifiers, or a connection between a URL and the person who posted it.

There is no sender tracking. FTVDB keeps no sender logs or Telegram message logs for bot submissions. The submission pipeline receives the URL for review without building a history of the contributor behind it.

This also applies in groups. FTVDB does not create a record showing which group member posted a collected URL.

Telegram operates the messaging platform and processes account and message data under its own policies. The FTVDB privacy promise describes what FTVDB and its bot retain after Telegram delivers a bot update.

The existing FTVDB Privacy Policy applies to bot submissions. If a URL is accepted, the URL and resulting public device metadata may be retained while useful to the project, just as they may be for a submission made through the website or API. The sender identity is not retained with it.

Review works the same way

The bot changes how a URL reaches FTVDB, not how it is evaluated.

Submitted URLs may be normalized, matched with an existing device record, queued for additional verification, or rejected when they are not relevant. Duplicate submissions do not create duplicate public records.

FTVDB still links to public source files and metadata. It does not host, mirror, modify, proxy, or redistribute Amazon firmware or system component packages.

Contributors who want public recognition can still request it separately through the Credits page. Credit remains optional and is never inferred from a Telegram sender identity.

More ways to contribute

The new bot gives contributors three straightforward options.

• Use the website submission form
• Send a URL to @FTVDBbot
• Use the FTVDB API from a script or research tool

Each option feeds the same review process. Choose the one that best fits how the URL was captured and how you already work.

For a direct Telegram submission or to add the bot to a group, open t.me/FTVDBbot.