Guides · messaging · Popular APIs
Create a bot with @BotFather to get a bot token for the Telegram Bot API, then optionally set a webhook with a secret token.
Researched · not yet run liveLast researched 25 October 2026 · Telegram · provider site
A Telegram user account talks to @BotFather, which creates bots owned by that account; each bot has its own token.
Steps marked “human step” are ones only you can do: verapli never signs in, submits, pays or accepts terms for you.
Read the Telegram Bot Platform Developer Terms, which apply on top of the Telegram Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, including the privacy policy requirement and the Stars-only rule for digital goods.
Where: https://telegram.org/tos/bot-developers
In Telegram, open @BotFather and send /newbot. Give a display name and a username of 5-32 characters (Latin letters, digits, underscores) ending in "bot"; the username cannot be changed later. BotFather replies with the bot token; verapli writes it to your env file.
verapli captures TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN here by plain code: encrypted in your browser, never shown to AI.
Where: https://t.me/botfather
Call setWebhook with your HTTPS URL (port 443, 80, 88 or 8443) and a secret_token of 1-256 characters (A-Z, a-z, 0-9, _ and -). Telegram sends it in the X-Telegram-Bot-Api-Secret-Token header so you can verify requests. While a webhook is set, getUpdates long polling does not work.
verapli captures TELEGRAM_WEBHOOK_SECRET here by plain code: encrypted in your browser, never shown to AI.
Plain-English summary, not legal advice. Each card links its source.
Payments for digital goods and services in bots and Mini Apps must be made exclusively in Telegram Stars (currency XTR), even if you have your own website or payment system; crypto is not allowed. Telegram may hide bots that sell digital goods by other means from mobile users. Physical goods may use third-party payment providers. [6]
Bots that take payments must answer /terms (users confirm they agree before purchase), /paysupport for payment issues, and offer /support or another clear support channel. Refunds use refundStarPayment and are deducted from the bot's balance. [6]
Bots must have an easily accessible privacy policy (Telegram's Standard Policy can be used), collect only data the service needs, encrypt user data at rest stored apart from its key, and must not collect data to build datasets, machine learning models or AI products, including scraping public group or channel content. [5]
No spam or unsolicited messages, malware, illegal or pirated goods, MLM or Ponzi schemes, growth manipulation, or phishing such as asking for Telegram passwords or OTPs; Mini Apps may not promote non-TON cryptoassets. Telegram may ban bots or accounts and may discontinue the Bot Platform or any bot at any time; conflicts are resolved in Telegram's favour. [5]
Stars received expire three years after receipt; Stars can be spent on Telegram Ads (valued at 0.02 USD of ad credit) or exchanged for rewards. Enabling topics in private chats adds a 15% fee on Star purchases. [5]
Avoid more than about 1 message per second per chat and 20 per minute per group; bulk sending is about 30 messages per second. Paid broadcasts allow up to 1000 per second at 0.1 Stars per message above 30/s and need at least 100,000 Stars and 100,000 monthly active users. [4]
| Env var | Secret | Format | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN | secret | 123456789:AA… (numeric id, colon, alphanumeric string) | Bot API token from @BotFather, used in https://api.telegram.org/bot<token>/METHOD |
TELEGRAM_WEBHOOK_SECRET | secret | 1-256 chars of A-Z a-z 0-9 _ - (you choose it)… | Secret you choose and pass as secret_token to setWebhook; compare it with the X-Telegram-Bot-Api-Secret-Token header |
Source [4]
The same entry as JSON: /api/v1/entries/telegram/bot · requirements /api/v1/requirements/telegram/bot · terms /api/v1/terms/telegram/bot.
claude mcp add --transport http verapli https://verapli.com/mcp
> "What do I need for Telegram Bot (Bot API), and how long will it take?"
→ tools/call requirements { "provider_id": "telegram/bot" }Provider rules change. This page is generated from verapli registry version 2026.1025.316; spotted something out of date? Tell us. Telegram is not affiliated with verapli.