The Bot API is an HTTP-based interface created for developers keen on building bots for Telegram.

To learn how to create and set up a bot, please consult our Introduction to Bots »

You will find all changes to our Bot API on this page.

Recent changes

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June 4, 2020

Bot API 4.9

Added the new field via_bot to the Message object. You can now know which bot was used to send a message.

Supported video thumbnails for inline GIF and MPEG4 animations.

Supported the new basketball animation for the random dice. Choose between different animations (dice, darts, basketball) by specifying the emoji parameter in the method sendDice.

April 24, 2020

Bot API 4.8

Supported explanations for Quizzes 2.0. Add explanations by specifying the parameters explanation and explanation_parse_mode in the method sendPoll.

Added the fields explanation and explanation_entities to the Poll object.

Supported timed polls that automatically close at a certain date and time. Set up by specifying the parameter open_period or close_date in the method sendPoll.

Added the fields open_period and close_date to the Poll object.

Supported the new darts animation for the dice mini-game. Choose between the default dice animation and darts animation by specifying the parameter emoji in the method sendDice.

Added the field emoji to the Dice object.

March 30, 2020

Bot API 4.7

Added the method sendDice for sending a dice message, which will have a random value from 1 to 6. (Yes, we're aware of the “proper” singular of die. But it's awkward, and we decided to help it change. One dice at a time!)

Added the field dice to the Message object.

Added the method getMyCommands for getting the current list of the bot's commands.

Added the method setMyCommands for changing the list of the bot's commands through the Bot API instead of @BotFather.

Added the ability to create animated sticker sets by specifying the parameter tgs_sticker instead of png_sticker in the method createNewStickerSet.

Added the ability to add animated stickers to sets created by the bot by specifying the parameter tgs_sticker instead of png_sticker in the method addStickerToSet.

Added the field thumb to the StickerSet object.

Added the ability to change thumbnails of sticker sets created by the bot using the method setStickerSetThumb.

January 23, 2020

Bot API 4.6

Supported Polls 2.0.

Added the ability to send non-anonymous, multiple answer, and quiz-style polls: added the parameters is_anonymous, type, allows_multiple_answers, correct_option_id, is_closed options to the method sendPoll.

Added the object KeyboardButtonPollType and the field request_poll to the object KeyboardButton.

Added updates about changes of user answers in non-anonymous polls, represented by the object PollAnswer and the field poll_answer in the Update object.

Added the fields total_voter_count, is_anonymous, type, allows_multiple_answers, correct_option_id to the Poll object.

Bots can now send polls to private chats.

Added more information about the bot in response to the getMe request: added the fields can_join_groups, can_read_all_group_messages and supports_inline_queries to the User object.

Added the optional field language to the MessageEntity object.

December 31, 2019

Bot API 4.5

Added support for two new MessageEntity types, underline and strikethrough.

Added support for nested MessageEntity objects. Entities can now contain other entities. If two entities have common characters then one of them is fully contained inside the other.

Added support for nested entities and the new tags <u>/<ins> (for underlined text) and <s>/<strike>/<del> (for strikethrough text) in parse mode HTML.

(for underlined text) and (for strikethrough text) in parse mode HTML. Added a new parse mode, MarkdownV2, which supports nested entities and two new entities __ (for underlined text) and ~ (for strikethrough text). Parse mode Markdown remains unchanged for backward compatibility.

(for underlined text) and (for strikethrough text). Parse mode Markdown remains unchanged for backward compatibility. Added the field file_unique_id to the objects Animation, Audio, Document, PassportFile, PhotoSize, Sticker, Video, VideoNote, Voice, File and the fields small_file_unique_id and big_file_unique_id to the object ChatPhoto. The new fields contain a unique file identifier, which is supposed to be the same over time and for different bots, but can't be used to download or reuse the file.

Added the field custom_title to the ChatMember object.

Added the new method setChatAdministratorCustomTitle to manage the custom titles of administrators promoted by the bot.

Added the field slow_mode_delay to the Chat object.

July 29, 2019

Bot API 4.4

Added support for animated stickers . New field is_animated in Sticker and StickerSet objects, animated stickers can now be used in sendSticker and InlineQueryResultCachedSticker.

. New field is_animated in Sticker and StickerSet objects, animated stickers can now be used in sendSticker and InlineQueryResultCachedSticker. Added support for default permissions in groups. New object ChatPermissions, containing actions which a member can take in a chat. New field permissions in the Chat object; new method setChatPermissions.

in groups. New object ChatPermissions, containing actions which a member can take in a chat. New field permissions in the Chat object; new method setChatPermissions. The field all_members_are_administrators has been removed from the documentation for the Chat object. The field is still returned in the object for backward compatibility, but new bots should use the permissions field instead.

Added support for more permissions for group and supergroup members: added the new field can_send_polls to ChatMember object, added can_change_info, can_invite_users, can_pin_messages in ChatMember object for restricted users (previously available only for administrators).

The method restrictChatMember now takes the new user permissions in a single argument of the type ChatPermissions. The old way of passing parameters will keep working for a while for backward compatibility.

Added description support for basic groups (previously available in supergroups and channel chats). You can pass a group's chat_id to setChatDescription and receive the group's description in the Chat object in the response to getChat method.

Added invite_link support for basic groups (previously available in supergroups and channel chats). You can pass a group's chat_id to exportChatInviteLink and receive the group's invite link in the Chat object in the response to getChat method.

File identifiers from the ChatPhoto object are now invalidated and can no longer be used whenever the photo is changed.

All webhook requests from the Bot API are now coming from the subnets 149.154.160.0/20 and 91.108.4.0/22 . Most users won't need to do anything to continue receiving webhooks. If you control inbound access with a firewall, you may need to update your configuration. You can always find the list of actual IP addresses of servers used to send webhooks there: https://core.telegram.org/bots/webhooks.

from the Bot API are now coming from the subnets and . Most users won't need to do anything to continue receiving webhooks. If you control inbound access with a firewall, you may need to update your configuration. You can always find the list of actual IP addresses of servers used to send webhooks there: https://core.telegram.org/bots/webhooks. As of the next Bot API update (version 4.5), nested MessageEntity objects will be allowed in message texts and captions. Please make sure that your code can correctly handle such entities.

May 31, 2019

Bot API 4.3

Added support for Seamless Telegram Login on external websites.

on external websites. Added the new object LoginUrl and the new field login_url to the InlineKeyboardButton object which allows to automatically authorize users before they go to a URL specified by the bot. Users will be asked to confirm authorization in their Telegram app (needs version 5.7 or higher) when they press the button:

Also in this update:

Added the field reply_markup to the Message object, containing the inline keyboard attached to the message.

to the Message object, containing the inline keyboard attached to the message. If a message with an inline keyboard is forwarded, the forwarded message will now have an inline keyboard if the keyboard contained only url and login_url buttons or if the message was sent via a bot and the keyboard contained only url, login_url, switch_inline_query or switch_inline_query_current_chat buttons. In the latter case, switch_inline_query_current_chat buttons are replaced with switch_inline_query buttons.

Bots now receive the edited_message Update even if only Message.reply_markup has changed.

Bots that have the can_edit_messages right in a channel can now use the method editMessageReplyMarkup for messages written by other administrators forever without the 48 hours limit.

Don't forget that starting in July 2019, webhook requests from Bot API will be coming from the subnets 149.154.160.0/20 and 91.108.4.0/22 . Most users won't need to do anything to continue receiving webhooks. If you control inbound access with a firewall, you may need to update your configuration. You can always find the list of actual IP addresses of servers used to send webhooks there: https://core.telegram.org/bots/webhooks.

April 14, 2019

Bot API 4.2

Added support for native polls: added the object Poll, the methods sendPoll and stopPoll and the field poll in the Message and Update objects.

The method deleteMessage can now be used to delete messages sent by a user to the bot in private chats within 48 hours.

Added support for pinned messages in basic groups in addition to supergroups and channel chats: you can pass group's chat_id to pinChatMessage and unpinChatMessage, and receive the pinned group message in Chat object.

Added the field is_member to the ChatMember object, which can be used to find whether a restricted user is a member of the chat.

Added the field forward_sender_name to the Message object, containing name of the sender who has opted to hide their account.

Starting in July 2019, webhook requests from Bot API will be coming from the subnets 149.154.160.0/20 and 91.108.4.0/22 . Most users won't need to do anything to continue receiving webhooks. If you control inbound access with a firewall, you may need to update your configuration. You can always find the list of actual IP addresses of servers used to send webhooks there: https://core.telegram.org/bots/webhooks.

and . Most users won't need to do anything to continue receiving webhooks. If you control inbound access with a firewall, you may need to update your configuration. You can always find the list of actual IP addresses of servers used to send webhooks there: https://core.telegram.org/bots/webhooks. Document thumbnails now should be inscribed in a 320x320 square instead of 90x90.

August 27, 2018

Bot API 4.1

Added support for translated versions of documents in Telegram Passport.

New field translation in EncryptedPassportElement.

New errors: PassportElementErrorTranslationFile and PassportElementErrorTranslationFiles and PassportElementErrorUnspecified.

July 26, 2018

Bot API 4.0.

Added support for Telegram Passport . See the official announcement on the blog and the manual for details.

. See the official announcement on the blog and the manual for details. Added support for editing the media content of messages : added the method editMessageMedia and new types InputMediaAnimation, InputMediaAudio, and InputMediaDocument.

: added the method editMessageMedia and new types InputMediaAnimation, InputMediaAudio, and InputMediaDocument. Added the field thumb to the Audio object to contain the thumbnail of the album cover to which the music file belongs.

Added support for attaching custom thumbnails to uploaded files. For animations, audios, videos and video notes, which are less than 10 MB in size, thumbnails are generated automatically.

tg:// URLs now can be used in inline keyboard url buttons and text_link message entities.

URLs now can be used in inline keyboard url buttons and message entities. Added the method sendAnimation, which can be used instead of sendDocument to send animations, specifying their duration, width and height.

Added the field animation to the Message object. For backward compatibility, when this field is set, the document field will be also set.

Added two new MessageEntity types: cashtag and phone_number.

Added support for Foursquare venues: added the new field foursquare_type to the objects Venue, InlineQueryResultVenue and InputVenueMessageContent, and the parameter foursquare_type to the sendVenue method.

You can now create inline mentions of users, who have pressed your bot's callback buttons.

You can now use the Retry-After response header to configure the delay after which the Bot API will retry the request after an unsuccessful response from a webhook.

response header to configure the delay after which the Bot API will retry the request after an unsuccessful response from a webhook. If a webhook returns the HTTP error 410 Gone for all requests for more than 23 hours successively, it can be automatically removed.

for all requests for more than 23 hours successively, it can be automatically removed. Added vCard support when sharing contacts: added the field vcard to the objects Contact, InlineQueryResultContact, InputContactMessageContent and the method sendContact.

February 13, 2018

Bot API 3.6.

Supported text formatting in media captions. Specify the desired parse_mode (Markdown or HTML) when you provide a caption.

In supergroups, if the bot receives a message that is a reply, it will also receive the message to which that message is replying – even if the original message is inaccessible due to the bot's privacy settings. (In other words, replying to any message in a supergroup with a message that mentions the bot or features a command for it acts as forwarding the original message to the bot).

Added the new field connected_website to Message. The bot will receive a message with this field in a private chat when a user logs in on the bot's connected website using the Login Widget and allows sending messages from your bot.

Added the new parameter supports_streaming to the sendVideo method and a field with the same name to the InputMediaVideo object.

November 17, 2017

Bot API 3.5.

Added the new method sendMediaGroup and two kinds of InputMedia objects to support the new albums feature.

Added support for pinning messages in channels. pinChatMessage and unpinChatMessage accept channels.

Added the new fields provider_data, send_phone_number_to_provider, send_email_to_provider to sendInvoice for sharing information about the invoice with the payment provider.

October 11, 2017

Bot API 3.4.

Bots can now send and receive Live Locations. Added new field live_period to the sendLocation method and the editMessageLiveLocation and stopMessageLiveLocation methods as well as the necessary objects for inline bots.

Bots can use the new setChatStickerSet and deleteChatStickerSet methods to manage group sticker sets.

The getChat request now returns the group's sticker set for supergroups if available.

Bots now receive entities from media captions in the new field caption_entities in Message.

August 23, 2017

Bot API 3.3.

Bots can now mention users via inline mentions, without using usernames.

getChat now also returns pinned messages in supergroups, if present. Added the new field pinned_message to the Chat object.

Added the new fields author_signature and forward_signature to the Message object.

Added the new field is_bot to the User object.

July 21, 2017

Bot API 3.2. Teach your bot to handle stickers and sticker sets.

Added new methods for working with stickers: getStickerSet, uploadStickerFile, createNewStickerSet, addStickerToSet, setStickerPositionInSet, and deleteStickerFromSet.

Added the fields set_name and mask_position to the Sticker object, plus two new objects, StickerSet, and MaskPosition.

June 30, 2017

Bot API 3.1. Build your own robotic police force for supergoups with these new methods for admin bots:

Added new methods restrictChatMember and promoteChatMember to manage users and admins, added new parameter until_date to kickChatMember for temporary bans.

Added new methods exportChatInviteLink, setChatPhoto, deleteChatPhoto, setChatTitle, setChatDescription, pinChatMessage and unpinChatMessage to manage groups and channels.

Added the new fields photo, description and invite_link to the Chat object.

Added the new fields until_date, can_be_edited, can_change_info, can_post_messages, can_edit_messages, can_delete_messages, can_invite_users, can_restrict_members, can_pin_messages, can_promote_members, can_send_messages, can_send_media_messages, can_send_other_messages and can_add_web_page_previews to the ChatMember object.

May 18, 2017

Introducing Bot API 3.0.

NEW Payment Platform

See Introduction to Bot Payments for a brief overview. If you're not a developer, you may like this user-friendly blog post better.

Your bot can now accept payments for goods and services via Telegram.

Added new kinds of updates, shipping_query and pre_checkout_query, and new types of message content, invoice and successful_payment.

Added new methods for payments: sendInvoice, answerShippingQuery, and answerPreCheckoutQuery.

Added a new type of button, the pay button to InlineKeyboardButton.

NEW Video Messages

As of Telegram v.4.0, users can send short rounded video messages, using an interface similar to that of voice notes.

Added the sendVideoNote method, the new field video_note to Message, the fields record_video_note or upload_video_note to sendChatAction.

NEW Multilingual Bots

The User object now may have a language_code field that contains the IETF language tag of the user's language.

Thanks to this, your bot can now offer localized responses to users that speak different languages.

More power to admin bots

unbanChatMemeber now also works in channels!

New method deleteMessage that allows the bot to delete its own messages, as well as messages posted by other in groups and channels where the bot is an administrator.

Minor Changes

Replaced the field new_chat_member in Message with new_chat_members (the old field will still be available for a while for compatibility purposes).

Inline keyboards with switch_inline_query and switch_inline_query_current_chat can no longer be sent to channels because they are useless there.

New fields gif_duration in InlineQueryResultGif and mpeg4_duration in InlineQueryResultMpeg4Gif.

December 4, 2016

Introducing Bot API 2.3.1, a nifty little update that will give you more control over how your bot gets its updates.

Use the new field max_connections in setWebhook to optimize your bot's server load

Use allowed_updates in setWebhook and getUpdates to selectively subscribe to updates of a certain type. Among other things, this allows you to stop getting updates about new posts in channels where your bot is an admin.

deleteWebhook moved out of setWebhook to get a whole separate method for itself.

November 21, 2016

Bot API 2.3

Modified bot privacy mode for the sake of consistency.

for the sake of consistency. Your bot can now get updates about posts in channels . Added new fields channel_post and edited_channel_post to Update.

You can now update high scores to a lower value by using the new force parameter in setGameScore. Handy for punishing cheaters or fixing errors in your game's High Score table.

Starting today, messages with high scores will be updated with new high scores by default. Use disable_edit_message in setGameScore if you don't want this.

The edit_message parameter from setGameScore is no longer in use. For backward compatibility, it will be taken into account for a while, unless disable_edit_message is passed explicitly.

Added the new field forward_from_message_id to Message.

Added the new parameter cache_time to answerCallbackQuery. Will eventually work in Telegram apps — somewhere after version 3.14, maybe 3.15.

Renamed hide_keyboard to remove_keyboard in ReplyKeyboardRemove for clarity. hide_keyboard will still work for a while for backward compatibility.

October 3, 2016

Bot API 2.2. Introducing a new Gaming Platform! See this introduction for a brief overview.

If you're not a developer, you may like this user-friendly blog post better.

New tools for building HTML5 games .

. New method sendGame, new object InlineQueryResultGame, new field game in Message.

New parameter url in answerCallbackQuery. Create a game and accept the conditions using Botfather to send custom urls that open your games for the user.

New field callback_game in InlineKeyboardButton, new fields game_short_name and chat_instance in CallbackQuery, new object CallbackGame.

New methods setGameScore and getGameHighScores.

Other changes

Making life easier for webhook users. Added a detailed Guide to All Things Webhook that describes every pothole you can run into on the webhook road.

that describes every pothole you can run into on the webhook road. New method getWebhookInfo to check current webhook status.

Added the option to specify an HTTP URL for a file in all methods where InputFile or file_id can be used (except voice messages). Telegram will get the file from the specified URL and send it to the user. Files must be smaller than 5 MB for photos and smaller than 20 MB for all other types of content.

Use the new url parameter in answerCallbackQuery to create buttons that open your bot with user-specific parameters.

Added new field switch_inline_query_current_chat in InlineKeyboardButton.

Added caption fields to sendAudio, sendVoice, InlineQueryResultAudio, InlineQueryResultVoice, InlineQueryResultCachedAudio, and InlineQueryResultCachedVoice.

New field all_members_are_administrators in the Chat object.

Certain server responses may now contain the new parameters field with expanded info on errors that occurred while processing your requests.

May 25, 2016

Inline keyboards may now be used in group chats. Channels coming soon.

Check out @vote and @like for examples.

May 22, 2016

Bot API 2.1. Added more tools for group administrator bots. Your bot can now get a list of administrators and members count in a group, check a user's current status (administrator, creator, left the group, kicked from the group), and leave a group.

Added more tools for group administrator bots. Your bot can now get a list of administrators and members count in a group, check a user's current status (administrator, creator, left the group, kicked from the group), and leave a group. Added new methods: getChat, leaveChat, getChatAdministrators, getChatMember, getChatMembersCount.

Added support for edited messages and new mentions from Telegram v.3.9. New fields: edited_message in Update, edit_date in Message, user in MessageEntity. New value text_mention for the type field in MessageEntity.

May 12, 2016

Added consistency to what messages bots get in groups and supergroups. See updated FAQ for details »

May 6, 2016

Added the field emoji to the Sticker object. Your bot can now know the emoji a sticker corresponds to.

Added the field forward_from_chat to the Message object for messages forwarded from channels.

April 9, 2016

Introducing Bot API 2.0. Check out this page for a review of this major update.

New inline keyboards with callback and URL buttons . Added new objects InlineKeyboardMarkup, InlineKeyboardButton and CallbackQuery, added reply_markup fields to all InlineQueryResult objects. Added field callback_query to the Update object, new method answerCallbackQuery.

with and . Added new objects InlineKeyboardMarkup, InlineKeyboardButton and CallbackQuery, added reply_markup fields to all InlineQueryResult objects. Added field callback_query to the Update object, new method answerCallbackQuery. Bots can now edit their messages. Added methods editMessageText, editMessageCaption, editMessageReplyMarkup.

their messages. Added methods editMessageText, editMessageCaption, editMessageReplyMarkup. Bots can request location and phone number from the user. The keyboard field in the object ReplyKeyboardMarkup now supports KeyboardButton, a new object that can have the fields request_location and request_contact.

Inline bots

Added support for all content types available on Telegram. 19 types of InlineQueryResult objects are now supported.

of InlineQueryResult objects are now supported. Inline bots can now substitute all kinds of content with text. Added 4 types of InputMessageContent objects.

all kinds of content with text. Added 4 types of InputMessageContent objects. Your inline bot can also ask users for permission to use their location. Added the new Botfather command /setinlinegeo , added field location to the InlineQuery object, added fields location and inline_message_id to the ChosenInlineResult object.

, added field location to the InlineQuery object, added fields location and inline_message_id to the ChosenInlineResult object. Added an easy way to switch between inline mode and a private chat with the bot – useful for settings, establishing external connections and teaching users how to use your bot in inline mode. Added parameters switch_pm_text and switch_pm_parameter to the method answerInlineQuery.

Miscellaneous

Added group administration tools. New methods kickChatMember and unbanChatMember.

tools. New methods kickChatMember and unbanChatMember. Added fields venue, pinned_message and entities to the Message object. Added new objects MessageEntity and Venue, new methods sendVenue and sendContact.

Renamed the fields new_chat_participant and left_chat_participant of the Message object to new_chat_member and left_chat_member.

February 20, 2016

Added the disable_notification parameter to all methods that send messages or any kind.

Removed backward compatibility from the method sendAudio. Voice messages now must be sent using the method sendVoice. There is no more need to specify a non-empty title or performer while sending the audio by file_id.

January 20, 2016

By the way, you can use both HTML-style and markdown-style formatting in your bot's messages to send bold, italic or fixed-width text and inline links. All official Telegram clients support this. See Formatting options for details.

January 14, 2016

You can now collect feedback on which results provided by your inline bot get chosen by the users. Added the setinlinefeedback command for Botfather, new type ChosenInlineResult, new field chosen_inline_result to the Update object.

January 4, 2016

Added support for Inline Mode, a new way for people to contact your bot by typing its username and a query in the text input field in any chat. Enable by sending /setinline to @BotFather.

to @BotFather. New optional field inline_query added to the Update object.

Added new method answerInlineQuery and new objects InlineQuery, InlineQueryResultArticle, InlineQueryResultPhoto, InlineQueryResultGif, InlineQueryResultMpeg4Gif and InlineQueryResultVideo.

November, 2015

Added support for supergroups. The Type field in the Chat object can now contain 'supergroup'.

New optional fields added to the Message object: supergroup_chat_created, migrate_to_chat_id, migrate_from_chat_id and channel_chat_created.

October 8, 2015

Added initial channel support for bots (no Telegram clients support this at the moment, please wait for updates):

The Chat field in the Message is now of the new type Chat.

You can now pass a channel username (in the format @channelusername ) in the place of chat_id in all methods (and instead of from_chat_id in forwardMessage). For this to work, the bot must be an administrator in the channel (and that's exactly what Telegram clients don't support yet — adding bots as administrators coming soon).

September 18, 2015

Bots can now download files and media sent by users.

Added getFile and File.

September 7, 2015

You can now pass parameters using application/json (please note that this doesn't work for file uploads: use multipart/form-data to upload files).

Added very basic markdown support. New field parse_mode added to sendMessage. For the moment messages with markdown will be displayed correctly only in Telegram for Android. Other official apps will catch up soon.

August 29, 2015

Added support for self-signed certificates: upload your certificate using the certificate parameter in the setWebhook method.

You can now make new requests when responding to webhook updates.

August 15, 2015

Added new type Voice and new method sendVoice for sending voice messages.

and new method for sending voice messages. Earlier Audio and sendAudio should now be used for sending music files. Telegram clients will show such files in the in-app music player. If you were using sendAudio for your bot to send voice messages, please use sendVoice instead.

and should now be used for sending music files. Telegram clients will show such files in the in-app music player. If you were using for your bot to send voice messages, please use instead. Added optional fields performer, title to the Audio object and sendAudio method.

object and method. Added optional field voice to the Message object.

July 2015

The thumb field is now optional for Video, Sticker and Document objects

field is now optional for Video, Sticker and Document objects The API now supports both video and photo captions. The caption field has been removed from the Video object and added to the Message object instead.

field has been removed from the Video object and added to the Message object instead. caption and duration optional fields have been added to the sendVideo method.

and optional fields have been added to the sendVideo method. Fixed typo: user_id in the Contact object is now correctly labeled as Integer, not String

June 24, 2015

The bot platform was officially launched.