Telegram Bot API
Free HTTP API for building Telegram bots, one of the most-used notification and community channels among Singapore developers, businesses and even government services. Instant setup with a single token from BotFather.
How to authenticate
4 stops to a working call
- 1In Telegram, message @BotFather and send /newbot.
- 2Choose a name and username; BotFather replies with your bot token.
- 3Call methods as https://api.telegram.org/bot<TOKEN>/METHOD.
- 4Get your chat id by messaging the bot and calling getUpdates.
Example request
curl 'https://api.telegram.org/botTOKEN/sendMessage?chat_id=123456789&text=Deploy+complete'Example response
{"ok":true,"result":{"message_id":42,"chat":{"id":123456789,"type":"private"},"text":"Deploy complete"}}Telegram Bot API: common questions
Is the Telegram Bot API free?
Yes. Telegram offers the Telegram Bot API free of charge.
Does the Telegram Bot API need an API key?
Yes. It uses Token. In Telegram, message @BotFather and send /newbot. Choose a name and username; BotFather replies with your bot token. Call methods as https://api.telegram.org/bot<TOKEN>/METHOD. Get your chat id by messaging the bot and calling getUpdates.
What is the Telegram Bot API endpoint?
The base URL is https://api.telegram.org. A working example: curl 'https://api.telegram.org/botTOKEN/sendMessage?chat_id=123456789&text=Deploy+complete'
Notes for AI agents
Zero-friction: no review, no billing, works in seconds, which is why SG teams default to it for internal alerts. Use webhooks (setWebhook) instead of polling in production.
Machine-readable version: /api/apis/telegram-bot-api
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