At a glance
- Availability: Experimental (how to enable).
- Auth: API key.
- Connection: The key comes from
TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN. - Docs: https://core.telegram.org/bots/api#authorizing-your-bot
Credentials
Set these per environment. See Connect an integration.| Variable | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN | Yes | Telegram bot token issued by @BotFather, in the form 123456789:ABC-DEF… Docs. |
Setup
- Create a bot with @BotFather: In any Telegram client (a regular free Telegram account works), open a chat with @BotFather, send /newbot, and follow the prompts to pick a display name and a unique username ending in ‘bot’. BotFather replies with the bot token.
- Store the token: Set the token from BotFather as TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN. You can regenerate it at any time with /revoke in @BotFather, which invalidates the old token.
- Open a chat with the bot: Bots cannot message users first. Start a direct chat with your bot (or add it to a group) and send it a message; the chat then appears in getUpdates, where you can read the numeric chat_id used to address messages.
- The Telegram Bot API authenticates by embedding the bot token in the request URL path (https://api.telegram.org/bot<token>/<method>); it does not accept the token in an HTTP header.
- Keep the token secret: anyone who has it fully controls the bot.
Tools
| Tool | Access | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Send Message | Write | Send a text message to a chat, group, or channel the bot has access to |
| Get Updates | Read | Receive incoming updates (messages sent to the bot) via long polling; use it to discover chat ids |
| Get Me | Read | Return basic information about the bot itself; useful for verifying the token works |
| Send Photo | Write | Send a photo to a chat by passing a publicly reachable HTTP URL or an existing Telegram file_id |
| Edit Message Text | Write | Edit the text of a message previously sent by the bot |