Channels
Telegram inbound bot
Connect your own Telegram bot so customers can message you on Telegram. Each conversation becomes a ticket in your Talki inbox — agents reply from the dashboard, messages are delivered back to the customer via your bot.
ⓘInbound bot vs. Telegram Bridge
Telegram inbound bot (this page) — customers message your Telegram bot. Good for customer-facing support channels.
Telegram Bridge — connects your support agents' own Telegram accounts so they can reply on Telegram natively. Configured under Settings → Integrations → Telegram Bridge.
How it works
Customer messages your bot on Telegram (e.g. t.me/acme_support_bot)
Telegram delivers the message to Talki via webhook
Talki creates a ticket and shows it in your Inbox
Agent replies in Talki → message is sent back to the customer via your bot
Setup
Create a bot via @BotFather
Open Telegram and start a chat with @BotFather. Run /newbot and follow the prompts.
/newbot
# BotFather asks for a name: "Acme Support"
# Then a username: "acme_support_bot"
#
# You'll receive a token like:
# 7312847163:AAF9xkl2pXrA8sZ-aBC_mY3xQT4uGdheY8k
#
# Copy this token — you'll need it in the next step.✦Bot username tips
acme_support_bot). Telegram requires usernames to end in bot. You can't change the username later without creating a new bot.Paste the token into Talki
In your Console, go to Settings → Channels → Telegram Bot. Click Connect bot and paste the token you got from BotFather.
Talki validates the token and displays your bot's username and profile photo if successful.
Webhook registered automatically
Talki calls the Telegram API to register a webhook for your bot immediately after you save the token. No manual API calls needed.
You can verify the webhook is active in Settings → Channels → Telegram Bot → Status. The status badge shows Active when the webhook is receiving events.
⚠Only one webhook per bot
Share your bot link with customers
Once connected, share the bot link with your customers:
Add it to your website, help center, or email signature. When a customer opens the link and sends a message, it lands in your Talki Inbox instantly.
Welcome message
When a customer sends /start to your bot, Talki replies with a customizable welcome message. Edit it in Settings → Channels → Telegram Bot → Welcome message.
# You can customize the welcome message in:
# Settings → Channels → Telegram Bot → Welcome message
#
# Default:
"Hi! I'm the Acme support bot. How can I help you today?"
#
# Markdown is supported. Example:
"👋 Hi! Send me your question and we'll get back to you shortly.
Current support hours: Mon–Fri 9am–6pm UTC."How agent replies work
Agents reply to Telegram tickets the same way as any other ticket — from the ticket detail view in Talki. When they click Send, Talki calls the Telegram Bot API to send the message to the customer in the same conversation thread.
Text replies — sent as plain text Telegram messages. Markdown formatting is preserved.
Agent identity — messages are sent via your bot, so the sender always shows as your bot's name. The agent's name is shown inside the Talki widget but not in Telegram.
Attachments — file sharing is not yet supported from agent to customer. Customers can send files to agents (they appear in the ticket), but agents cannot yet attach files to Telegram replies.
Supported customer commands
# Commands supported on the customer side:
/start — initiates the bot, shows welcome message
(Talki registers this automatically)
# Coming soon:
/status — check ticket status
/history — view past conversations