# Connect a Telegram bot

Set up a dedicated Telegram bot inbox, add collaborators, and check private incoming messages and replies.

## What this channel connects

The Telegram channel connects a **bot** to a shared Bow Chat inbox for private one-to-one conversations. It does not connect a personal Telegram account, import its historical chats, or add Telegram group support.

Before moving a live bot, confirm availability and the connection checks with Bow Chat Support. Verify the bot's incoming messages and replies in your own setup before relying on it for customer service.

## Use a dedicated bot

Create a bot with Telegram's verified **@BotFather**, or select a dedicated bot you already control. Keep its token private: it works like a password. Enter it only in Bow Chat's channel setup; do not put it in support messages, screenshots or shared documents.

A bot has one webhook destination. Connecting a bot already used by another application can move incoming updates away from that application. Agree on ownership and a handover first.

## Add the inbox

1. Sign in as an administrator in the intended Bow Chat workspace.
2. Open **Account Settings → Inboxes → Add Inbox → Telegram**.
3. Enter the bot token and create the inbox.
4. Finish the add-agents step. Review **Collaborators** in the inbox settings and give each agent the intended access.
5. Open the bot in Telegram from a consenting test person's account and choose **Start** or send a new message.
6. Confirm the message appears in Bow Chat, send an agent reply and verify it in Telegram.

The bot normally cannot start a private conversation with someone who has not started or messaged it. An agent invitation alone does not provide inbox access; see [Give an agent inbox access](https://docs.bow.chat/getting-started/inbox-access).

## Check the features you need

Test ordinary text first, followed by the supported attachments or message edits your team intends to use. Do not assume that every feature in the latest Telegram Bot API is exposed in Bow Chat. Group privacy settings do not turn this inbox into a Telegram group channel.

Telegram Bot API acceptance is not a WhatsApp-style delivered or read receipt. Confirm important test replies in the recipient's Telegram conversation.

## If messages stop arriving

Check whether the user has started the bot, whether its token was revoked, and whether another application changed the bot's webhook. Ask Support to check the exact inbox's bot identity, webhook destination, pending updates and provider error category.

Do not delete a working webhook, discard queued updates or repeatedly recreate the inbox as a health test. Provide Support with the workspace/inbox name, time and visible error, never the bot token or private customer history.

Canonical: https://docs.bow.chat/channels/telegram
Version: 1
Updated: 2026-10-18T05:44:33.651Z