Telegram: how to connect the assistant

Where to find it

Open Settings, go to Channels and choose Telegram. At the top there are two tabs: Platform bot and Your own bot.

Which way to choose

Platform bot: how to connect

1. 1Set a Display name: that’s how the channel appears in the dashboard. If you leave it empty, the channel is called “Telegram”.
2. 2In the AI agent field, choose the agent that will reply. The connect button stays inactive until an agent is chosen.
3. 3Click Connect Telegram. A link and a QR code appear.
4. 4Open the link or scan the QR code and press Start in Telegram.
5. 5In Telegram, go to Settings → Telegram Business → Chatbots and add the bot the page names.
6. 6The page updates by itself. To check manually, click Check status.

Once connected, the account card below shows the connection status and whether the assistant can reply.

Important: this way only works with an active Telegram Premium subscription on the account you connect. Without Premium, Telegram does not let the assistant reply in your chats. The Before you start block at the bottom of the page reminds you of that.

Your own bot: how to connect

1. 1Open @BotFather in Telegram, create a bot with /newbot and copy the token.
2. 2On the Your own bot tab, set a Display name and choose the AI agent.
3. 3Paste the token into the Bot token field.
4. 4Click Connect bot.

The bot appears under Connected bots with the status “Waiting for first message”. The status turns Active after the first incoming message: write to your bot in Telegram, and the page updates by itself.

For the bot to reply in your personal chats too, the Setup steps block lists two more steps: enable Business Mode in @BotFather (/mybots → your bot → Bot Settings → Allow Business) and add the bot in Telegram: Settings → Telegram Business → Chatbots. Telegram Business requires Telegram Premium.

On a connected bot’s card you can change the agent, open the bot setup (the /start welcome message, commands and menu buttons), Reconnect or Disconnect the bot.

Tips

• ·Keep the token secret: it gives control over the bot. The token field hides it behind dots.
• ·For the platform bot, check that Premium is active on the account you connect before you start.
• ·If you reply to a client yourself from your own Telegram account, the conversation moves to you and the assistant goes quiet in that chat. To hand the chat back to the assistant, use the AI / Admin switch in Chats or the Auto-return to AI setting in Settings → Conversations.
• ·All Telegram conversations arrive in Chats, together with your other channels.

FAQ