How to create Telegram bot and send messages to group

telegram_bot.md

How to create Telegram Bot and send messages to your group

1. Create Telegram bot:

   Search for user @BotFather in Telegram app. Type /help in BotFather chat and wait for the reply. Type in the chat:

   /newbot

   or select /newbot command from Help text. Answer few setup questions:

   • Name of your bot? Write anything you like, that info will be shown in contact details. For example:

   Dead Parrot

   • Username for your bot? Must have _bot at the end, use only Latin characters, numbers or underscore sign, for example:

   deadparrot_bot

   BotFather will give you HTTP API token, remember it and keep SECRET! Example:

   1234567890:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

2. Create new Telegram group in web or mobile application and add the new bot in your group.

   https://web.telegram.org/

3. Send dummy message into your group, replace botname_bot with actual bot name:

   /my_id @botname_bot

4. Find Chat ID of your group: Type this URL in the browser - change {HTTP_API_TOKEN} to actual value

   https://api.telegram.org/bot{HTTP_API_TOKEN}/getUpdates

   From JSON result, get "chat_id" of last message in your group, including minus sign in front of it, that's Group Chat ID.

   If JSON is empty, repeat steps 3 and 4.

5. That's it, now use the bot. For all available methods, read doc from:

   https://telegram-bot-sdk.readme.io/reference

   Example for Send Text Message method:

   https://api.telegram.org/bot{HTTP_API_TOKEN}/sendMessage?chat_id={CHAT_ID}&text={MESSAGE_TEXT}