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MAX bot moderation: how long to wait, what is checked and what to do while the bot is under review
Every bot in MAX goes through moderation and becomes available to users only after it. According to the MAX documentation, the review takes up to 48 hours on business days. The bot card is checked: a name up to 59 characters without emoji, a description up to 200 characters about your business, a square 500×500 logo up to 5 MB — without profanity, 18+ content or other brands. Only a verified organization, sole proprietor or self-employed person who is a resident of Russia can create a bot. Below — what to prepare, how to read the statuses, what to do on Needs corrections and how to build a CHBT flow while the bot awaits a decision. We read the MAX documentation on 05.11.2026 — check the primary source before launch.
What to prepare before moderation
- An organization profile in MAX for business. The platform is available to legal entities, sole proprietors and self-employed people who are residents of Russia. Individuals and non-residents cannot pass verification yet.
- Verification. It is done by the owner — the sole executive body — or a representative with the right of first or sole signature, via Gosuslugi or banking services. The self-employed — via Gosuslugi.
- Name, description and logo meeting the requirements below.
MAX limit: up to 5 bots per organization or sole proprietor and up to 2 per self-employed person. In CHBT one bot works in several messengers at once, so a separate MAX bot for every task is usually not needed.
Bot card requirements
| Field | MAX requirement | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|
| Name | 1–59 characters: Latin, Cyrillic, digits, no emoji | Emoji in the name, someone else’s brand |
| Description | Up to 200 characters, emoji allowed; must match the organization’s activity | A description not about your business, empty promises |
| Logo | 500×500 pixels, up to 5 MB, 1:1, jpg, jpeg or png | Not square, larger than 5 MB, someone else’s logo |
| Content of all fields | No profanity, 18+ content or other companies’ data | A “Sberbank bot” from a delivery service |
MAX generates the bot nickname itself — from the tax ID for sole proprietors and legal entities, from the organization ID for the self-employed. You cannot choose it yet. The bot profile shows an Organization field with your company name.
A description that passes review and explains the benefit: “We will book you a manicure, tell you prices and free slots, pass your question to the master”.
Statuses and what to do on each
| Status in the MAX account | What it means | Your action |
|---|---|---|
| Under moderation | The bot is being reviewed, up to 48 hours on business days | Build and test the flow in CHBT |
| Published | The bot is available to users | Connect the token in CHBT and test from a phone |
| Needs corrections | Moderation returned the bot | Open the bot card, read the reason, fix the field, submit again |
There is no general list of rejection reasons in the documentation — rely on the reason text in the card and the requirements table above. The documentation does not name a re-review term: plan for the same 48 hours on business days.
A bot created on Friday evening may get a decision only on Tuesday. If ads or a broadcast start on Monday, create the bot at least a week earlier.
While the bot is under moderation: build the flow in CHBT
A CHBT flow does not depend on the messenger, so it can be built and tested before the bot is published:
- Create a bot in CHBT and open Flows.
- Build a greeting with the Command (/start) trigger — it is started by the Start button in MAX — a menu, request collection and operator handover. You can start from a template.
- Press Check flow: the test chat works without MAX, its buttons can be tapped, and it does not count towards the conversation limit.
Result: by the time the bot is published, the flow is ready, and all that remains is to connect the token. If the bot already works in Telegram, the same flow will work in MAX without changes.
After publication: connecting and checking
- Take the bot token in the MAX for business account.
- In CHBT: bot → Channels → the MAX card → Connect. Paste the token and press Connect MAX. You do not need to specify a webhook address in the MAX account — CHBT sets up the subscription itself.
- Open the bot in MAX from your phone, press Start and write any text.
How to tell it works: in Channels, MAX has the Works status, and Conversations show your messages and the bot’s replies. Status Error with the text “Invalid MAX token or API unavailable” means the token was copied incompletely or has already been replaced — take it again. All statuses explained — in the help article how to connect a MAX bot.
If you change the bot after publication
According to the MAX documentation, changing the settings of a published bot returns it to Under moderation. So do not touch the name, description and logo right before an important launch.
- Flows, contacts and correspondence are stored in CHBT — editing the card in MAX does not affect them.
- Issued a new token — paste it into CHBT: Channels → “⋯” in the channel row → Change key. If the new key does not fit, CHBT keeps the previous one.
- Status Works, but messages from the phone do not reach Conversations — press Reinstall webhook.
How a MAX bot behaves during re-moderation is not specified in the documentation.
MAX rules that affect how the bot works
- Information about the rights holder and the operator of the application is mandatory.
- Deceiving users in any way is forbidden.
- The content requirements forbid using the API to send advertising, marketing or other mass messages. Before planning advertising broadcasts with a MAX bot, read the current version of the requirements and, if in doubt, check with MAX support.
- Under the rules MAX may remove an application without explanation or prior notice.
A MAX bot does not write to a person first: the customer starts the conversation by pressing Start. How to bring people to the bot — in the article how to bring subscribers to a MAX bot.
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