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Telegram bot builder for business
A Telegram chatbot for your business in one evening: connect your bot with a token from @BotFather, and it replies to customers in private messages around the clock — takes requests and bookings, answers frequent questions and hands complex cases to an operator. No code and no server of your own.
Included in the Free planA token from @BotFather — 2 minutesOne flow for every channel
What the Telegram bot can do
A scenario built from blocks, no code
The bot is built from “Message”, “Data collection”, “Condition”, “Pause”, “Action” and “Operator” blocks. You can start from a template: “Welcome and menu”, “Appointment requests”, “Lead capture”, “Autoresponder FAQ” — all templates.
Tagged entry points
The link t.me/your_bot starts the welcome on /start, and a link tagged ?start=post12 starts its own branch via the “Deeplink” trigger. There’s also a code word in “Keywords” and a QR code from “QR campaigns” with a scan counter.
Requests and bookings with validation
“Data collection” asks for a name and phone number and checks the number format; “Action” adds a tag and creates a deal in the CRM. When the first phone number or email comes in, the owner gets an email. A booking is also a request: there’s no calendar or time slots. Template — “Lead capture”.
An operator in the same chat
The “Operator” block moves the conversation to “Waiting for an answer” and sends operators a push; a push about a new conversation arrives even if the bot replied. A reply from “Conversations” goes to the same Telegram chat, and “Return to bot” turns the bot back on. On iPhone, push notifications arrive in the app.chbt.io dashboard added to the Home Screen.
Broadcasts to your own audience
From the Basic plan: text with {{name}}, audience by tags, “Scheduled start” and a “Stop” button. The broadcast card shows how many recipients there are, how many messages were delivered and how many errors occurred.
AI agent and AI sales assistant
From Basic, the “AI agent” answers free-form questions from your knowledge base of up to 15,000 characters, and the AI sales assistant sends product cards with a photo and an “Open product” button. While the AI is working on a reply, the customer sees “typing…”.
How to connect a Telegram bot
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1
Get a token from @BotFather
In Telegram, open @BotFather, send /newbot, and set a name and a username ending in bot. Copy the token that looks like 123456:AA… — more about the token; starting from scratch — how to create a bot.
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2
Connect it in “Channels”
Sign up and click “Create a bot”. In “Channels”, click “Connect” on the “Telegram” card, paste the token and click “Connect Telegram” — the channel will show the bot’s username and the “Works” status.
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3
Build a scenario
In “Flows”, click “From template” or “Create a flow”. Test the conversation with the “Check flow” button: the test chat in the editor doesn’t count toward the conversation limit.
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4
Turn it on and share the link
Turn the scenario on with the toggle — the card will show “Enabled”. Give customers the link t.me/your_bot or a QR code: after “Start”, the bot will reply, and the conversation will appear in “Conversations”.
How CHBT connects your bot
CHBT first checks the token from @BotFather with Telegram: with an invalid token, the channel immediately gets the “Error” status with Telegram’s response text. Then CHBT itself sets the webhook to its own address with a secret key — requests without the key are rejected, and there’s no address field in the dashboard. If the channel name isn’t set, the bot’s username becomes its name.
Each customer message is first saved to a queue and processed with retries, and only then does Telegram get a confirmation. If Telegram sends the same event again, there won’t be a second reply. If another service has taken over the bot, click “Reinstall webhook” in the channel row. Step by step — in the help article “Connecting Telegram”; why a bot goes silent — in the article why a Telegram bot doesn’t reply.
- Channel statuses are “Works”, “Error” and “Not verified”. Any incoming message switches it back to “Works”.
- Token revoked — on the very first send the channel gets the “Error” status, and the owner receives the email “Your bot “…” needs attention”, no more than once a day.
- There’s no periodic check: the status changes on connection, during conversations and when the token is rejected.
- You can connect several Telegram bots to one CHBT bot — there’s no channel limit on any plan.
- Deleted a channel — the message history stays, open conversations are closed, and contacts, tags and deals are left untouched.
What a Telegram bot has — and what it doesn’t
One flow works in all channels, but Telegram has its own rules. Here is what they mean for your messages:
| What | How it works in Telegram |
|---|---|
| Buttons | Under the message, one per row. Two types: “Leads to a flow step” and “Opens a link”. The “clock” on a pressed button is cleared right away |
| Starting a flow | “Command (/start)”, “Deeplink” by a tag from the link (up to 64 characters: Latin letters, digits, _ and -), “Keywords”, “Any message”, “Button press”, “AI intent”. If the tag matches no “Deeplink”, the regular /start greeting fires. In VK, CHBT does not read tags from links |
| Client name | The first and last name from the profile are saved to the contact and substituted into {{name}} — except in replies to a new client’s very first message: address people without a name in the /start greeting. @username is not saved |
| “typing…” | Turns on when the AI agent or AI seller takes the reply; Telegram shows it for up to 5 seconds. It does not turn on for replies from regular flow blocks |
| Photos and files | Not sent: the “Message” block sends only text, and the “Attachment” field is skipped. The exception is AI seller cards: a photo, a caption up to 1,024 characters and an “Open product” button |
| Quick replies | Not shown — they exist only in website chat. Use buttons in Telegram |
| Formatting | None: bold and italics are not supported, the text is sent as is |
| Client phone | There is no “Share phone number” button — the number is typed. “Data collection” checks the format; by default, after three failed attempts the flow continues |
| Your own commands | Catch /menu or /help with “Keywords” and “Exact match”: “Command (/start)” reacts only to /start |
| Payment | The “Payment” block sends an invoice in Telegram Stars right into the chat or a link to your provider — Prodamus, YooKassa or CloudPayments; after payment the flow continues through the “Paid” output. The bot will not know about a payment made via an “Opens link” button |
How Telegram differs from MAX in audience and limits — in the article MAX or Telegram; how one flow serves both messengers — a walkthrough. An overview of tasks businesses solve with a bot — Telegram bot for business.
Where your audience comes from and how broadcasts go out
Telegram only lets a bot message people who started the conversation themselves: tapped “Start”, followed a tagged link or wrote first. You can’t upload phone numbers and message them — neither in CHBT nor in any other service (why a bot can’t message first). So your audience grows through entry points: a link in your profile and on your website, tags in ads and posts, a QR code on the counter or a package insert, a code word. It’s handy to save the link tag as a contact tag: make “Action” → “Add a tag” the first block of the branch (for example, src:post12) — and filtering by tag in “Contacts” will show where the leads came from.
From the Basic plan, a broadcast goes to people who have already messaged the bot. In the “To” field — tags separated by commas, any one of them is enough; empty — all contacts in messengers. There’s no channel filter: without tags, the broadcast will also go to MAX and VK. More — broadcasts via a Telegram bot.
- Broadcasts are text only, without images or buttons.
- Counters: recipients, delivered, errors and “no channel”. People who blocked the bot are counted as errors.
- If there are several Telegram bots in the project, the contact will receive the newsletter once - from the bot to which he wrote last.
- Messages go out one by one with a pause. If Telegram asks to wait, there’s no retry — such a message also counts as an error.
- “Scheduled start” is checked once a minute.
What the Telegram bot doesn’t do
The limits are clear before you launch.
- Doesn’t message first and doesn’t send to phone numbers: Telegram only lets a bot message people who started the conversation themselves.
- Doesn’t send photos, videos or files — neither from a scenario nor from “Conversations”: only text goes out, and materials are shared as a link. The exception is the AI sales assistant’s product cards.
- Doesn’t read photos, voice messages, stickers or files from the customer: the bot understands only text, and in “Conversations” such a message will be empty.
- Isn’t designed for groups and comments and doesn’t process channel posts — the bot holds conversations in private messages. CHBT doesn’t publish posts or add buttons under them: what a bot can do for a channel.
- Doesn’t check channel subscription: the bot makes no subscription requests to Telegram. Subscription is confirmed with a button — a lead magnet without a fake check.
- No card payments inside Telegram (Telegram Payments) and no Telegram Business: the bot’s shop opens in the chat as a mini app, rubles are paid on your payment provider’s page, and digital products with Telegram Stars (shop in your bot). CHBT does not set up the command menu: it is configured in @BotFather, and commands are caught with “Keywords”.
Available plans
Telegram is included in every plan at no extra cost, and the number of connected Telegram bots isn’t limited. The price is per CHBT bot per month. The 30 conversations on Free are 30 different people a month across all channels combined. On Free you can’t invite a second person to the dashboard; from Basic — “Canvas” mode and unlimited operators. Sign up with email; no card needed for Free.
Works with
FAQ
Do I need my own server and webhook setup?
No. CHBT receives the messages: when you click “Connect Telegram”, it sets the webhook with a secret key itself, and there’s no address field in the dashboard. All you need is a token from @BotFather and a scenario. If another service has taken over the bot, click “Reinstall webhook” in the channel row.
Can the bot message a customer by phone number?
No. Telegram only lets a bot message people who tapped “Start” or wrote first. Bring people to the bot with a link, a tagged link or a QR code — after that you can reply to them and send broadcasts.
Does the bot send photos and files?
The “Message” block in Telegram, MAX and VK doesn’t — only text and buttons; materials are shared as a link in the text or with an “Opens a link” button, and files work in the website chat. The exception is AI sales assistant cards (from Basic): in Telegram they arrive as a photo with a caption and an “Open product” button, in MAX and VK — as text with a link.
Is this builder for Telegram only?
No. One bot scenario works in Telegram, MAX, VK and the website chat; channels are connected in the “Channels” section at no extra cost. If you need different texts for Telegram, add a “Condition” on the “Channel” field.
Does the bot work in a group or in channel comments?
No, a CHBT bot is designed for private messages: it doesn’t process channel posts, groups and comments aren’t supported, and it doesn’t publish anything to the channel itself. To bring channel readers to the bot, put the link t.me/your_bot?start=tag in a post — the tag will launch the right branch.
Can I move a bot from another service?
Yes, connect the same token: a bot has only one webhook, so the previous service will stop receiving messages, while subscribers and the link stay. People will appear in CHBT “Contacts” when they message the bot, or via “CSV import” — a broadcast will reach those who have already started this bot, if the project has only one Telegram bot.
Why isn’t the bot replying?
Most often it’s one of three things. The 30 conversations of the Free plan are used up — the bot replies to new people with a single message about the limit, while conversations started this month continue. The channel has the “Error” status — the reason is shown under the channel row; if the token was revoked, connect the bot again. The scenario isn’t turned on — the card shows the “Draft” badge.
Try it on your bot
Free plan forever, without linking a card. One flow - in Telegram, MAX, VKontakte and in chat on the site.