How to Build a Chatbot for Telegram

Telegram is easy to build for

Telegram’s open architecture makes it incredibly bot-friendly. You don’t need to get API access approved, go through an app review, or worry about channel restrictions. The setup is quick, the Bot API is well-documented, and bots can live right inside group chats or user DMs.

For builders, this makes Telegram one of the lowest-friction places to prototype, launch, and iterate on AI-powered experiences — far easier than channels like iMessage or Instagram where the ecosystem is more locked down.

Command bots don’t work for everyone

Many existing Telegram bots are built for highly engaged, technical audiences — users who are comfortable typing /start, navigating inline menus, and remembering command syntax. This works well for power users in crypto or developer channels.

In those contexts, automation often blends into the workflow — whether it’s a Telegram bot surfacing token prices, or an AI agent built for crypto trading that analyzes on-chain data and reacts to live events. The user knows what to ask, and the system knows how to respond

But once you start building for broader audiences — like local customers, event attendees, or new community members — those assumptions start to break down. Users phrase things differently. They expect the bot to understand what they mean, not just what they type.

AI opens up new use cases

Once you integrate AI, your Telegram bot stops being a rigid flowchart — and starts becoming a flexible interface for interacting with real systems.

It’s no longer just about answering questions. Your bot can now:

• Connect to multiple tools — like CRMs, booking systems, or external APIs — to pull data, trigger workflows, or update records in real time
• Guide users through multi-step conversations that adapt based on context, not just button clicks
• Hand off to a human agent when needed — with full chat context passed through, enabling a smooth, human-in-the-loop (HITL) experience
• Access past conversations or session data to personalize responses and avoid asking the same questions twice

This opens the door to use cases that were hard or impossible to build with traditional bots — like a retail assistant that queries your inventory to improve accurate customer interactions or an HR onboarding agent that adjusts based on user type and company policies.

Step 1: Define your bot’s purpose and flow

Before opening any platform, get specific:

• Who is your audience? Are they new users? Existing customers? First-time visitors?
• What problem should the bot solve? Is it meant to reduce support tickets, help with scheduling, or act as a guided assistant?
• What type of inputs should it handle? Free-form questions, button-based navigation, or both?
• When does the bot need help? Will you add human handoff or handle everything with AI?

Sketching this out will help you design cleaner flows — and make better decisions in the next steps, especially when you integrate AI and connect external tools.

Pro tip: Start with a small, focused use case and build out from there. You’ll learn more from shipping a working minimum viable product than from planning a perfect bot upfront.

To follow along with the next steps, here’s what you should have ready:

• A Telegram account (to create your bot via BotFather)
• A Botpress account (for building and managing the backend of your bot)

You can set these up now — or I’ll walk you through each as we go.

Step 2: Set instructions for your chatbot

Now that you know what your bot is supposed to do, the next step is telling it how to behave.

Head to the platform and create a new bot. Once it loads, you’ll see a box labeled Instructions in the Studio.

This is where you define the AI’s role — how it should respond, what tone to use, and what kind of questions to expect.

Since we’re building a Telegram FAQ bot, your instructions might look something like this:

“You are the Customer Support AI Agent for [COMPANY NAME]. Your role is to interact with customers, address their inquiries, and provide assistance with common support topics.”

Think of this as your AI's job description. Keep it clear, specific, and scoped to what the bot needs to handle.

Once the instructions are set, you’re ready to move on and give the bot something to pull answers from.

Step 3: Add a knowledge source for your bot’s context

A knowledge base is what your chatbot uses to give accurate answers — especially when you're using AI.

Language models like GPT can understand what users are saying, but they don’t know anything about your business unless you give them that information.

By adding trusted, use-case-specific information about your services or product, your bot can respond with accurate answers instead of relying on generic or made-up responses.

Under the hood, this uses a technique called RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation). When a user asks a question, the bot first searches your content for relevant context, then feeds that into the AI to generate a response. This keeps the output consistent with your real-world data — not just what the model “thinks” sounds right.

To connect a knowledge source:

1. Go to the Knowledge tab
2. Paste a link to your FAQ or help page

That’s all. Your bot can now answer real questions with business-specific context.

Step 4: Create your Telegram chatbot (frontend)

Your chatbot logic already exists, but you still need a Telegram-facing entry point for users to interact with it.

That’s what @BotFather is for. It lets you create a bot “shell” on Telegram — essentially registering a front-end address that connects to your chatbot workflow.

Here’s how to build a chatbot on telegram:

1. Open Telegram and search for @BotFather
2. Start a chat and type /newbot
3. Follow the prompts to:
   
   • Set a name for your bot (what users will see)
   • Choose a username (must end in bot, like supporthelper_bot)
4. Telegram will return a Bot Token — copy this, you’ll need it in the next step

This bot shell doesn't hold any logic — it's just where users send messages. Once we add the token to your chatbot pipeline, those messages will be routed to your AI logic, and responses will be sent back through Telegram.

Up next, we’ll connect this token to your chatbot project so the two are linked.

Step 5: Connect and deploy your bot on Telegram

Now that your bot logic is ready and your Telegram frontend is set up, the final step is connecting the two — so that messages sent to your Telegram bot get processed by your AI-powered chatbot.

To connect Telegram:

1. Open your chatbot project
2. Go to the Channels tab
3. Select Telegram from the list of channels
4. Paste in the Bot Token you received from BotFather
5. Enable the channel and Publish the bot

Once connected, Telegram will begin routing user messages to your chatbot. From there, your bot will handle each interaction using the instructions and knowledge base you have already set up.

You can now open Telegram, search for your bot, and start chatting with it. Every message you send will be processed through your AI workflow — and the replies you see are coming directly from your custom logic.

You’ve now deployed an AI-powered FAQ bot directly on Telegram — and it’s ready to start answering real questions in real conversations.