Create a bot with @BotFather

What it is

@BotFather is Telegram's bot for creating and managing bots. It gives your bot a name, a username and a token, the key your program uses to control it. Making the bot actually do something takes code: Telegram's FAQ says there's no out-of-the-box way to build a working bot if you're not a developer.

How to do it

The commands work the same in every Telegram app.

1. Open `t.me/BotFather` and tap Start.
2. Send /newbot.
3. Send a name; /setname changes it later.
4. Send a username: 5–32 characters, Latin letters, digits and underscores, ending in "bot" (tetris_bot or TetrisBot).
5. BotFather replies with the token. Store it like a password.
6. Fill in /setdescription (up to 512 characters, shown under "What can this bot… Fill in /setdescription (up to 512 characters, shown under "What can this bot do?"), /setabouttext (up to 120, shown on the profile), /setuserpic and /setcommands.
7. Change things later in /mybots › your bot › Edit Bot, or in BotFather's Mini App at `t.me/botfather?startapp`.

Watch out

• Anyone with the token controls the bot. If it leaks, send /token to generate a new one.
• The username can't be changed later, so choose carefully.
• You can transfer a bot (/mybots › your bot) only to someone who has interacted with it at least once, and the transfer is permanent.
• /deletebot frees the username and can't be undone.

With Gem

A Gem project needs no BotFather and no code, and your own bot can't be connected to Gem yet: everything runs through @gembot. Send /newproject with one sentence; Gem asks at most two questions, offers free names and builds your landing page `gem.bot/<name>` and Mini App page `t.me/gembot?startapp=<name>`.

Sources

• https://core.telegram.org/bots/features#botfather
• https://core.telegram.org/bots/tutorial
• https://telegram.org/faq#q-how-do-i-create-a-bot

Open in Telegram ↗