Telegram Bot Builder

Build and manage Telegram bots via the Telegram Bot API. Create bots, send messages, handle webhooks, manage groups and channels.

Telegram Bot Builder Skill

Build and manage Telegram bots directly from Clawdbot.

Setup

1. Open Telegram and message @BotFather
2. Send /newbot and follow the prompts to create your bot
3. Copy the bot token (looks like 123456789:ABCdefGHIjklMNOpqrsTUVwxyz)
4. Set environment variable:

   bash

   export TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN="your-bot-token"
   

API Base URL

All requests go to:

text

https://api.telegram.org/bot$TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN/METHOD_NAME

Usage

Bot Information

Get bot info

bash

curl -s "https://api.telegram.org/bot$TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN/getMe" | jq

Get bot commands

bash

curl -s "https://api.telegram.org/bot$TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN/getMyCommands" | jq

Set bot commands

bash

curl -s -X POST "https://api.telegram.org/bot$TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN/setMyCommands" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "commands": [
      {"command": "start", "description": "Start the bot"},
      {"command": "help", "description": "Show help message"},
      {"command": "settings", "description": "Bot settings"}
    ]
  }' | jq

Sending Messages

Send text message

bash

curl -s -X POST "https://api.telegram.org/bot$TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN/sendMessage" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "chat_id": "CHAT_ID",
    "text": "Hello from Clawdbot!",
    "parse_mode": "HTML"
  }' | jq

Send message with inline keyboard

bash

curl -s -X POST "https://api.telegram.org/bot$TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN/sendMessage" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "chat_id": "CHAT_ID",
    "text": "Choose an option:",
    "reply_markup": {
      "inline_keyboard": [
        [{"text": "Option 1", "callback_data": "opt1"}, {"text": "Option 2", "callback_data": "opt2"}],
        [{"text": "Visit Website", "url": "https://example.com"}]
      ]
    }
  }' | jq

Send message with reply keyboard

bash

curl -s -X POST "https://api.telegram.org/bot$TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN/sendMessage" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "chat_id": "CHAT_ID",
    "text": "Choose from keyboard:",
    "reply_markup": {
      "keyboard": [
        [{"text": "Button 1"}, {"text": "Button 2"}],
        [{"text": "Send Location", "request_location": true}]
      ],
      "resize_keyboard": true,
      "one_time_keyboard": true
    }
  }' | jq

Send photo

bash

curl -s -X POST "https://api.telegram.org/bot$TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN/sendPhoto" \
  -F "chat_id=CHAT_ID" \
  -F "photo=@/path/to/image.jpg" \
  -F "caption=Photo caption here" | jq

Send photo by URL

bash

curl -s -X POST "https://api.telegram.org/bot$TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN/sendPhoto" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "chat_id": "CHAT_ID",
    "photo": "https://example.com/image.jpg",
    "caption": "Image from URL"
  }' | jq

Send document

bash

curl -s -X POST "https://api.telegram.org/bot$TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN/sendDocument" \
  -F "chat_id=CHAT_ID" \
  -F "document=@/path/to/file.pdf" \
  -F "caption=Here is your document" | jq

Send location

bash

curl -s -X POST "https://api.telegram.org/bot$TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN/sendLocation" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "chat_id": "CHAT_ID",
    "latitude": 40.7128,
    "longitude": -74.0060
  }' | jq

Getting Updates

Get updates (polling)

bash

curl -s "https://api.telegram.org/bot$TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN/getUpdates" | jq

Get updates with offset (mark as read)

bash

curl -s "https://api.telegram.org/bot$TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN/getUpdates?offset=UPDATE_ID" | jq

Get updates with timeout (long polling)

bash

curl -s "https://api.telegram.org/bot$TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN/getUpdates?timeout=30" | jq

Webhooks

Set webhook

bash

curl -s -X POST "https://api.telegram.org/bot$TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN/setWebhook" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://your-server.com/webhook",
    "allowed_updates": ["message", "callback_query"]
  }' | jq

Get webhook info

bash

curl -s "https://api.telegram.org/bot$TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN/getWebhookInfo" | jq

Delete webhook

bash

curl -s -X POST "https://api.telegram.org/bot$TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN/deleteWebhook" | jq

Chat Management

Get chat info

bash

curl -s "https://api.telegram.org/bot$TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN/getChat?chat_id=CHAT_ID" | jq

Get chat member count

bash

curl -s "https://api.telegram.org/bot$TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN/getChatMemberCount?chat_id=CHAT_ID" | jq

Get chat administrators

bash

curl -s "https://api.telegram.org/bot$TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN/getChatAdministrators?chat_id=CHAT_ID" | jq

Ban user from chat

bash

curl -s -X POST "https://api.telegram.org/bot$TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN/banChatMember" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "chat_id": "CHAT_ID",
    "user_id": USER_ID
  }' | jq

Unban user

bash

curl -s -X POST "https://api.telegram.org/bot$TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN/unbanChatMember" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "chat_id": "CHAT_ID",
    "user_id": USER_ID,
    "only_if_banned": true
  }' | jq

Message Management

Edit message text

bash

curl -s -X POST "https://api.telegram.org/bot$TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN/editMessageText" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "chat_id": "CHAT_ID",
    "message_id": MESSAGE_ID,
    "text": "Updated message text"
  }' | jq

Delete message

bash

curl -s -X POST "https://api.telegram.org/bot$TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN/deleteMessage" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "chat_id": "CHAT_ID",
    "message_id": MESSAGE_ID
  }' | jq

Pin message

bash

curl -s -X POST "https://api.telegram.org/bot$TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN/pinChatMessage" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "chat_id": "CHAT_ID",
    "message_id": MESSAGE_ID
  }' | jq

Forward message

bash

curl -s -X POST "https://api.telegram.org/bot$TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN/forwardMessage" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "chat_id": "TARGET_CHAT_ID",
    "from_chat_id": "SOURCE_CHAT_ID",
    "message_id": MESSAGE_ID
  }' | jq

Callback Queries

Answer callback query

bash

curl -s -X POST "https://api.telegram.org/bot$TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN/answerCallbackQuery" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "callback_query_id": "CALLBACK_QUERY_ID",
    "text": "Button clicked!",
    "show_alert": false
  }' | jq

Notes

• Chat ID: Can be positive (user) or negative (group/channel). Get it from updates or use @userinfobot
• Parse modes: HTML, Markdown, MarkdownV2
• Rate limits: ~30 messages/second to different chats, 1 message/second to same chat
• File limits: Photos up to 10MB, documents up to 50MB
• Bot permissions: Bots can't message users first - user must /start the bot

HTML Formatting

html

<b>bold</b>
<i>italic</i>
<u>underline</u>
<s>strikethrough</s>
<code>inline code</code>
<pre>code block</pre>
<a href="https://example.com">link</a>
<tg-spoiler>spoiler</tg-spoiler>

Examples

Simple echo bot (bash script)

bash

#!/bin/bash
OFFSET=0
while true; do
  UPDATES=$(curl -s "https://api.telegram.org/bot$TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN/getUpdates?offset=$OFFSET&timeout=30")
  
  for UPDATE in $(echo "$UPDATES" | jq -c '.result[]'); do
    UPDATE_ID=$(echo "$UPDATE" | jq '.update_id')
    CHAT_ID=$(echo "$UPDATE" | jq '.message.chat.id')
    TEXT=$(echo "$UPDATE" | jq -r '.message.text')
    
    if [ "$TEXT" != "null" ]; then
      curl -s -X POST "https://api.telegram.org/bot$TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN/sendMessage" \
        -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
        -d "{\"chat_id\": $CHAT_ID, \"text\": \"You said: $TEXT\"}"
    fi
    
    OFFSET=$((UPDATE_ID + 1))
  done
done

Get your chat ID

bash

# 1. Send a message to your bot
# 2. Run this to see your chat ID:
curl -s "https://api.telegram.org/bot$TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN/getUpdates" | jq '.result[-1].message.chat.id'

Send to channel

bash

# Use @channelname or channel ID (starts with -100)
curl -s -X POST "https://api.telegram.org/bot$TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN/sendMessage" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "chat_id": "@your_channel_name",
    "text": "Channel announcement!"
  }' | jq

Useful Resources

• Bot API Documentation
• BotFather Commands
• Bot API Changelog