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How to connect Telegram to AskVault in 30 seconds

Written by Joseph Russo, Principal Architect, Networks and Tech, AskVault · Reviewed by Allison Chan
Last updated: · 3 min read

Why Telegram is faster than every other channel

Telegram lets developers create bots with literally one Telegram message. You don't need a business account. You don't need to verify a phone number. You don't need to configure a webhook URL on a separate dashboard. You message a special account called @BotFather, follow three prompts, and Telegram gives you a bot token.

AskVault takes it from there. Paste the token; we call setWebhook on Telegram's API to register our endpoint; you're live.

The 30-second timer is accurate.

Setup, step by step

  1. Open Telegram and find @BotFather. Search for BotFather in Telegram's search bar (the verified account has a blue checkmark). Click Start.
  2. Send /newbot. BotFather asks for a display name. Type whatever you want (e.g., "Acme Support Bot").
  3. Send a username for the bot. Must end in bot and be unique on Telegram (e.g., AcmeSupport_bot). BotFather will tell you if it's taken.
  4. Copy the token BotFather replies with. It looks like 1234567890:ABCdefGHIjklMNOpqrSTUvwxYZ. This is your bot token. Don't share it; treat it like a password.
  5. Paste into AskVault. Open the AskVault dashboard, go to Channels > Telegram, paste the token, click Connect.

AskVault validates the token by calling Telegram's getMe endpoint. If it works (your bot's display name and username come back), AskVault calls setWebhook to register our message-receiving URL. Your bot is now wired to AskVault's brain.

Test it. Open Telegram on your phone, search for your bot's username, click Start, send a question. The AI agent replies in seconds.

Customizing the bot

A few useful tweaks once it's live.

Set a bot description (one-time, via BotFather). Send /setdescription to BotFather, pick your bot, type the description users see when they first open the chat. Example: "Hi! I'm Acme's AI support bot. Ask me anything about our products, pricing, or shipping."

Bot commands. AskVault doesn't act on Telegram commands. A command such as /start, /help or /human reaches the AI as ordinary text and gets an AI answer like any other message; /human does not hand the chat to a person. If you add a command menu with BotFather's /setcommands, keep it to commands where an AI answer is what the customer expects, such as start and help. To let customers reach a person, enable the escalate to human skill.

Bot avatar. Send /setuserpic to BotFather and upload your logo. Square PNG, at least 512x512 pixels.

Suggested questions. When your agent has suggested questions saved in its business profile, AskVault adds up to five of them under a reply as tappable buttons, so the customer can tap one instead of typing. A reply that carries an action card with its own buttons shows those buttons instead.

Identity verification on Telegram

Telegram's user identity isn't verified in the way Slack's is (Telegram users are pseudonymous). If you need authenticated chat (the bot knows it's a real logged-in customer), you have two patterns:

  • Lightweight verification. Send the customer a one-time code via email or SMS, have them send the code to the bot to link their Telegram chat to their account.
  • Telegram Login Widget. Embed Telegram's official login widget on your website. When a customer authenticates, your backend gets a verified Telegram user_id which you can then store and match against your own records.

For most public-facing support use cases, neither is necessary. The bot answers from public knowledge base content and there's nothing sensitive to gate.

Groups and channels

If you want the bot in a group (e.g., your community support channel), two more steps:

  1. Add the bot to the group via Telegram's group settings.
  2. In BotFather, send /setjoingroups and enable group joins.

In a group, the bot answers every message it can see, and each reply uses a message credit. AskVault doesn't check whether a message was addressed to the bot. What the bot can see is decided by Telegram's privacy mode:

  • Privacy mode Enabled (Telegram's default, recommended). Telegram only passes the bot messages that @-mention it, reply to one of its messages, or start with a / command. The bot answers those, which suits a community channel where members ping the bot when no one else is responding.
  • Privacy mode Disabled. The bot sees every message in the group and replies to all of them, including "thanks!" and "good morning". In a busy group that can use up your monthly message allowance quickly. Only disable privacy (BotFather /setprivacy) if you really want a reply to every message.

Telegram also sends every group message to a bot that is a group admin, whatever its privacy mode, so the same applies if you make the bot an admin.

Telegram channels (broadcast-only) are not supported. AskVault doesn't receive posts made in a channel, so the bot won't reply there even if you add it as a channel admin. Use a group or direct messages instead.

Pricing and limits

Telegram itself is free. Telegram charges no messaging fees and has no subscription. Each AI reply counts as 1 message against your AskVault plan's monthly quota.

Telegram's API has rate limits: roughly 30 requests/s to different users, and 20 requests/min to the same group. AskVault respects these limits transparently; you don't need to handle backpressure yourself.

Telegram channel is included on the Growth plan and above, which includes 6,000 messages per month across all connected channels and 5 workspaces. Growth+

Common pitfalls

Bot doesn't reply. Check the AskVault dashboard under Channel Health. If the connection shows as broken, the BotFather token may have been revoked. Get a new token via /token on BotFather and update AskVault.

Bot replies in some group messages but not others. Privacy mode is enabled (the default), so the bot only sees messages that @-mention it or reply to it. Ask members to @-mention the bot. Disabling privacy makes the bot reply to every message in the group, each one using a message credit, so keep it enabled unless that is what you want.

Multiple bots respond to the same message. You have multiple bots in the same group. Remove one, or keep privacy mode enabled on each bot so it only sees messages addressed to it.

Webhook conflict. If you previously connected this bot to another tool, that tool's webhook is still registered. Re-connect in AskVault to overwrite the webhook.

FAQ

Does the bot work with Telegram Premium?

Yes. Premium status doesn't affect the bot API.

Can the bot send media (images, PDFs, videos)?

Not yet. The bot replies with text and links. Sending images and files from the agent is rolling out and is not available on Telegram today.

Is there a Telegram Business integration?

Telegram Business is for end-users running a small business off their personal Telegram. It's separate from bot accounts. AskVault uses the regular Bot API which is unaffected.

How is conversation history preserved?

AskVault stores the chat history per Telegram chat ID. The bot has full context across previous turns within the same conversation. View it in Inbox > Chat History under the Telegram channel filter.

Can a human take over a Telegram conversation?

Yes. Enable the escalate_to_human skill. When triggered, the conversation switches to your AskVault Live Chat inbox. The customer keeps chatting through Telegram; your agent replies via the inbox.

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