Three things must be true: the CLI is installed, a bot token is stored, and an owner chat is claimed. telekit auth status tells you which are missing.

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1. Install

Mac app (standalone): download Telekit from telekit.io and complete the wizard. It installs the compiled bridge and can create the bot for you. Compiled CLI (invited GitHub collaborators): from a private yevgetman/telekit-releases release, put install.sh, VERSION, SHA256SUMS, and the tarball for your arch in one folder, then sh install.sh. From source: 
cd <telekit checkout>
./install.sh
telekit --help

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2. Create a Telegram bot

In Telegram, open @BotFather.
  • Existing bot: /mybots → API Token.
  • New bot: /newbot, then copy the token.

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3. Store the token

telekit auth set-token
The prompt hides the token. telekit verifies it with Telegram getMe and stores it in the macOS Keychain (Linux: the file store). Never paste a token into chat or a shell history-friendly command line.

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4. Claim the owner chat

The owner is the only chat the default bot will answer until you grant others. 
telekit auth claim
It flushes queued updates first, then waits. Send /claim to your bot from a private chat. Confirm the identity telekit prints. If you already know your numeric id: 
telekit auth set-owner <chat_id>
The id must be positive (a private user). Use /whoami later to confirm.

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5. Install and start the daemon

telekit install          # launchd on macOS, systemd --user on Linux
telekit daemon status
telekit daemon run is the foreground loop (what the service execs). You do not run it by hand once the service is loaded.

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6. Optional passcode

telekit passcode set
See Lock.

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Check

telekit auth status
You should see a bot username, a masked owner id, and a loaded daemon. Then send a private message to the bot. If nothing comes back, see Troubleshooting.