Run a bot for a business account

What it is

A business bot connects to a person's account and works in their private chats. It receives incoming messages and, as far as the owner allows, replies, marks them read, deletes them, edits the profile, moves Stars or posts stories. Since May 2026 every Telegram user can connect one.

How to do it

1. In @BotFather, enable Secretary Mode.
2. The user connects your bot in Settings › Chat Automation and picks its chats,… The user connects your bot in Settings › Chat Automation and picks its chats, such as everyone but contacts, or only new chats.
3. You get a `business_connection` update: `id`, `user`, `user_chat_id`, `rights`,… You get a `business_connection` update: `id`, `user`, `user_chat_id`, `rights`, `is_enabled`. Act on the latest `rights`.
4. Handle `business_message`, `edited_business_message` and… Handle `business_message`, `edited_business_message` and `deleted_business_messages`, each with a `business_connection_id`.
5. Reply with `sendMessage` or other send methods plus that `business_connection_id`.
6. With the matching right: `readBusinessMessage`, `deleteBusinessMessages`,… With the matching right: `readBusinessMessage`, `deleteBusinessMessages`, `setBusinessAccountBio`, `transferBusinessAccountStars`, `postStory` and more.
7. The owner's Manage Bot button in a managed chat opens your bot with `/start bizChat<user_chat_id>`.

Watch out

• `can_reply` covers only private chats with incoming messages in the last 24 hours; `readBusinessMessage` needs a chat active in that time.
• Messages your bot didn't send, without an inline keyboard, can be edited only for 48 hours.
• `deleteBusinessMessages` takes 1–100 IDs from one chat; `transferBusinessAccountStars` moves 1–10,000 Stars to your bot.
• Developer Terms, Section 5.4: describe the bot truthfully, say what data you keep, hide nothing from the owner, and never pass messages to third parties, third-party APIs included, without the user's authorization. Violations can mean a permanent ban.

With Gem

Gem doesn't connect to business accounts. Nearby: Gem holds @gembot for your project; it answers in your groups, handles join requests, posts to channels and takes Stars for offers.

Sources

• https://core.telegram.org/bots/features#business-bots
• https://core.telegram.org/bots/api#businessconnection
• https://telegram.org/blog/ai-bot-revolution-11-new-features
• https://telegram.org/tos/bot-developers

Open in Telegram ↗