Telegram — how to connect

Sends text messages to a Telegram channel, group, or chat via a bot (text-only, 4096 char limit). No setup here — paste the bot token from @BotFather and the target chat ID or @username when you add the account. The bot must be a member or admin of the target chat with permission to post.

Telegram connects with a bot token plus a chat/channel id — no OAuth app to register, just a bot created through Telegram's own chat interface (@BotFather).

Before you start

A Telegram bot created via @BotFather (send /newbot) — you need its bot token, which looks like `123456:ABC-DEF...`
The bot added to the target channel/group as a member with admin rights that include "Post Messages" (channels require admin, not just member, for the bot to post)
The target chat's id or public @username on hand: `@channelname` for public channels, or the numeric id (private channels/supergroups use a `-100…` prefixed id, plain groups a negative id) — get it via a getUpdates call, a bot like @userinfobot, or Telegram Web's URL
For a private group specifically: the bot must have sent/received at least one message in it (or been added by an admin) — bots can't discover chats they've never interacted with

Step by step

1
Open a chat with @BotFather
In Telegram, search for "BotFather" (the account with the official verification badge) and tap Start.
Open
2
Create the bot
Send /newbot, then follow the prompts to choose a display name and a username ending in "bot" (e.g. corcolabs_bot).
3
Copy the bot token
BotFather replies with a token like 110201543:AAHdqTcvCH1vGWJxfSeofSAs0K5PALDsaw — paste this into the app's "Bot token (from @BotFather)" field.
4
Add the bot to your channel or group as admin
Open the target channel/group's settings, go to Administrators, add the bot, and grant it permission to post messages.
Open
5
Get the chat id
For a public channel, use its @username directly; for a private channel/group, send any message in it then call https://api.telegram.org/bot<token>/getUpdates in a browser and read the numeric chat id (looks like -100…) from the response.
Open
6
Paste the chat id into the app
Enter the @username or -100… id into the "Chat / channel id" field to finish connecting.

Paste when you connect

Bot token (from @BotFather)secret
In Telegram, message @BotFather → /newbot → copy the token (looks like 123456:ABC-DEF…). Then add the bot to your channel/group as an admin with "Post Messages".
Chat / channel id
Public channel: use @username. Private channel/group: the numeric id (starts -100…) — post once in it, then read it from api.telegram.org/bot<token>/getUpdates.

Good to know

The bot must be a member/admin of the target chat with post permission, or sendMessage will fail even though the token itself is valid.
Connecting only validates the bot token via getMe; the chat id is not fully verified until the first publish attempt.
getUpdates only returns recent unconfirmed updates, so you must send at least one message in the target chat/group after adding the bot before the chat id will show up.
Treat the bot token like a password — anyone with it can post as the bot; regenerate via @BotFather (/revoke) if leaked.
This adapter is text-only (4096-char limit) and posts as plain text with no parse_mode, so markup characters go out verbatim.

Troubleshooting

Connect fails immediately with "getMe rejected token" or a 401/404 from Telegram: The bot token is wrong or was regenerated — go back to @BotFather, run /mybots → your bot → API Token → Revoke/copy the current token, and paste the full string including the numeric prefix before the colon.
Connecting succeeds (token is valid) but every publish attempt fails with "Bad Request: chat not found": The chat id or @username is wrong, or the bot has never interacted with that chat. For private channels/groups use the numeric id with the -100 prefix (not the invite-link slug); fetch it by posting once in the chat and calling getUpdates, or forwarding a message to @userinfobot.
Publish fails with "Forbidden: bot was kicked/blocked" or "not enough rights to send text messages to the chat": The bot was removed from the chat, or is a member but not an admin with posting rights. Re-add the bot to the channel/group and promote it to admin with "Post Messages" permission enabled.
Publish intermittently fails with HTTP 429 / "Too Many Requests: retry after N": Telegram rate-limits ~1 message/second per chat and ~30/second across all chats for a bot; back off and retry after the `retry_after` seconds Telegram returns rather than resending immediately.

Telegram developer docs

Before you start

A Telegram bot created via @BotFather (send /newbot) — you need its bot token, which looks like `123456:ABC-DEF...`

The bot added to the target channel/group as a member with admin rights that include "Post Messages" (channels require admin, not just member, for the bot to post)

The target chat's id or public @username on hand: `@channelname` for public channels, or the numeric id (private channels/supergroups use a `-100…` prefixed id, plain groups a negative id) — get it via a getUpdates call, a bot like @userinfobot, or Telegram Web's URL

For a private group specifically: the bot must have sent/received at least one message in it (or been added by an admin) — bots can't discover chats they've never interacted with

Step by step

Open a chat with @BotFather

In Telegram, search for "BotFather" (the account with the official verification badge) and tap Start.

Open

Create the bot

Send /newbot, then follow the prompts to choose a display name and a username ending in "bot" (e.g. corcolabs_bot).

Copy the bot token

BotFather replies with a token like 110201543:AAHdqTcvCH1vGWJxfSeofSAs0K5PALDsaw — paste this into the app's "Bot token (from @BotFather)" field.

Add the bot to your channel or group as admin

Open the target channel/group's settings, go to Administrators, add the bot, and grant it permission to post messages.

Open

Get the chat id

For a public channel, use its @username directly; for a private channel/group, send any message in it then call https://api.telegram.org/bot<token>/getUpdates in a browser and read the numeric chat id (looks like -100…) from the response.

Open

Paste the chat id into the app

Enter the @username or -100… id into the "Chat / channel id" field to finish connecting.

Paste when you connect

Bot token (from @BotFather)secret

In Telegram, message @BotFather → /newbot → copy the token (looks like 123456:ABC-DEF…). Then add the bot to your channel/group as an admin with "Post Messages".

Chat / channel id

Public channel: use @username. Private channel/group: the numeric id (starts -100…) — post once in it, then read it from api.telegram.org/bot<token>/getUpdates.

Good to know

The bot must be a member/admin of the target chat with post permission, or sendMessage will fail even though the token itself is valid.

Connecting only validates the bot token via getMe; the chat id is not fully verified until the first publish attempt.

getUpdates only returns recent unconfirmed updates, so you must send at least one message in the target chat/group after adding the bot before the chat id will show up.

Treat the bot token like a password — anyone with it can post as the bot; regenerate via @BotFather (/revoke) if leaked.

This adapter is text-only (4096-char limit) and posts as plain text with no parse_mode, so markup characters go out verbatim.

Troubleshooting

Connect fails immediately with "getMe rejected token" or a 401/404 from Telegram

The bot token is wrong or was regenerated — go back to @BotFather, run /mybots → your bot → API Token → Revoke/copy the current token, and paste the full string including the numeric prefix before the colon.

Connecting succeeds (token is valid) but every publish attempt fails with "Bad Request: chat not found"

The chat id or @username is wrong, or the bot has never interacted with that chat. For private channels/groups use the numeric id with the -100 prefix (not the invite-link slug); fetch it by posting once in the chat and calling getUpdates, or forwarding a message to @userinfobot.

Publish fails with "Forbidden: bot was kicked/blocked" or "not enough rights to send text messages to the chat"

The bot was removed from the chat, or is a member but not an admin with posting rights. Re-add the bot to the channel/group and promote it to admin with "Post Messages" permission enabled.

Publish intermittently fails with HTTP 429 / "Too Many Requests: retry after N"

Telegram rate-limits ~1 message/second per chat and ~30/second across all chats for a bot; back off and retry after the `retry_after` seconds Telegram returns rather than resending immediately.