What a Mini App is

What it is

A Mini App is a web page that opens inside Telegram and can fully replace a website. Every Mini App belongs to a bot, whose username is in its links. Telegram tells the page who opened it, and the page can go full screen, take payments in Telegram Stars, ask for location and more. Over 500 million of Telegram's 950 million users use Mini Apps monthly.

How to do it

1. Create a bot in @BotFather with /newbot.
2. Put your page online at an HTTPS address: Telegram opens nothing else.
3. In @BotFather: /mybots → your bot → Bot Settings → Configure Mini App → Enable… In @BotFather: /mybots → your bot → Bot Settings → Configure Mini App → Enable Mini App, then send the address. This becomes the Main Mini App, with a "Launch app" button on the bot's profile.
4. In the same menu, set the loading screen: your icon and colors for light and dark themes.
5. Upload screenshots and videos on the bot's profile, optionally per app language.
6. Share `t.me/<bot>?startapp`.

Watch out

• Digital goods and services are sold only for Telegram Stars (currency `XTR`).
• Search's Apps tab shows your bot only to people who have launched it. The Mini App Store is Telegram's pick; to be considered, you need a Main Mini App, previews and Stars payments.
• Since 20 July 2026, pages from other domains opened inside your Mini App can't use its methods (opt-out in the @BotFather Mini App).

With Gem

Every Gem project already has a Mini App page inside Gem's Mini App, `t.me/gembot?startapp=<name>`, with no bot to set up. Send /newapp to @gembot with a description, and Gem builds a small Mini App in its sandbox, with its own link.

Sources

• https://core.telegram.org/bots/webapps
• https://core.telegram.org/bots/features#mini-apps
• https://core.telegram.org/bots/api#july-14-2026

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