Telegram Bot

The Telegram Bot channel receives and replies to chats from a bot you create on Telegram. The customer talks to the bot. The team replies in the Interflow inbox.

What this channel is not

It is not a personal Telegram account and it does not use a teammate's phone number. Telegram broadcast channels are also out of scope.

Before you connect

1. Have a Telegram account
2. The Interflow API must be published on HTTPS. Telegram does not deliver messages to a local address without HTTPS
3. The organization plan must have the Telegram Bot channel type enabled

Create the bot

1. In Telegram, search for @BotFather and open the official chat. If the command list appears, send /start and then /newbot
2. BotFather asks for a name. That name may include spaces. A name that works: Interflow Bot
3. Next it asks for a username. That field does not allow spaces and must end in bot
4. Usernames rejected at this step: Interflow (does not end in bot) and Interflow Bot (space). A username that works: Interflow_Bot. The bot lives at t.me/Interflow_Bot
5. When the reply is Done, BotFather shows the token: digits, a colon, and a key. Copy only that line
6. Do not forward the token message. Anyone with the token controls the bot. If it leaked, send /revoke to BotFather and use the new token

Optional, still in BotFather (/help lists the commands):

• /setdescription sets the profile description
• /setabouttext sets the short about text
• /setuserpic sets the photo
• /setjoingroups sets whether the bot can be added to groups
• /setprivacy with Disable makes the bot read every message in groups it belongs to. With privacy on, the bot only sees mentions, replies to its own messages, and commands

Connect in Interflow

1. Open Settings → Channels
2. Click New channel and choose Telegram Bot
3. Fill in the channel name, the label the team will see in the list
4. Paste the token and save
5. If the token is valid and the API address is HTTPS, the channel connects and the bot starts delivering messages to Interflow

To replace the token or stop delivery, open the channel and use the Connection tab.

What arrives in the conversation

Source	What Interflow does
Direct message	Creates or reopens that person's conversation
Group	Creates the group conversation if the bot is a member
Text, image, video, audio, file, and static sticker	Land in the conversation
Edited message	Updates the text already stored

The customer name comes from the Telegram first and last name. The username is stored on the conversation. The numeric id is what Interflow uses to reply.

How the team replies

In the conversation, send text, an image, a video, audio, or a file. There is no 24-hour window: a reply can go out at any time, within Telegram's limits.

• Text: up to 4096 characters
• A file caption: up to 1024 characters
• There is no delivered or read icon. Status stays sent once Telegram accepts the message

Groups

1. Open the group in Telegram
2. Add the bot as a member
3. If the team must see every message, not only mentions, turn privacy off in BotFather (/setprivacy → Disable)

The group title is the conversation name. The username of whoever wrote in the group does not replace the group id.

Replace or remove the bot

• Replace the token: on the Connection tab, paste the new token and save. The previous bot stops delivering messages to this channel
• Disconnect: use Disconnect. The bot stops sending updates until you connect again
• Delete the channel: only when no conversations are linked. Delete those conversations first if you need to remove the channel

Back to changelog v2026.10.35.