Telegram bot

You can create Telegram bots using vals.

In this example, you’ll create a val that uses the HTTP Val to receive webhooks from Telegram.

When users message your bot, the bot will reply with the same message.

Create your bot by talking to @BotFather

Speak to Telegram’s https://t.me/botfather to create your bot and obtain a bot token.

Add the bot token as an environment variable

Copy the bot token you just received and save it as a Val Town environment variable as telegramBotToken.

Check your token works

Call @vtdocs.telegramGetMe with your newly created environment variable to check that it works.

import process from "node:process";
import { telegramGetMe } from "https://esm.town/v/vtdocs/telegramGetMe";

export const getMeExample = telegramGetMe(process.env.telegramBotToken);

Run in Val Town

Create an environment variable so you can verify webhooks

Generate a random string and save it as a Val Town environment variable as telegramWebhookSecret.

Create a webhook handler to receive messages

When Telegram users send messages to your bot, they will be forwarded to your webhook handler. We’ll use the environment variable we just created to verify that the message came from our bot.

Fork this val that uses the HTTP Val :

Tell your bot about the webhook handler

Use @vtdocs.telegramSetWebhook to tell your bot where to send webhooks.

import process from "node:process";
import { telegramSetWebhook } from "https://esm.town/v/vtdocs/telegramSetWebhook?v=2";

export const setWebhookExample = telegramSetWebhook(
  process.env.telegramBotToken,
  {
    // Replace this with _your_ web endpoint
    url: "https://neverstew-telegramWebhookEchoMessage.web.val.run",
    // Optionally, filter what kind of updates you want to receive here
    allowed_updates: ["message"],
    secret_token: process.env.telegramWebhookSecret,
  }
);

Run in Val Town

Send a message to your bot to check it works!

It should echo back the message like this:

Not working? Try debugging the webhook handler you created via the Evaluations tab. Or get help on Val Town’s Discord.