Send Telegram Messages with a JavaScript Bot

Hey everyone! Ever thought about automating messages on Telegram? Well, guess what? You can totally do it using JavaScript! Sending Telegram messages with a JavaScript bot is not only possible but also super cool and surprisingly straightforward. Whether you’re looking to send notifications, alerts, or just want to play around with bot development, this guide is for you. We’ll dive deep into how you can get your JavaScript bot up and running to send messages like a pro. So grab your coffee, and let’s get this party started!

Getting Started with Telegram Bots

Alright guys, before we can start sending messages, we need to set up our Telegram bot. Think of this as creating your bot’s identity on Telegram. It’s a pretty simple process, and Telegram makes it easy. First things first, you need to chat with the BotFather on Telegram. Seriously, that’s its name! Search for @BotFather in your Telegram app and start a chat. This official bot is your gateway to creating and managing all your Telegram bots. Once you’re chatting with BotFather, type /newbot and follow the instructions. It will ask you for a name for your bot (this is what users will see) and a username for your bot (this must end with ‘bot’, like myawesome_bot ).

After you’ve successfully created your bot, BotFather will give you an API token . This token is super important . It’s like a secret password that your JavaScript code will use to communicate with the Telegram API. Keep this token safe and never share it with anyone, as it gives full control over your bot. Store it securely, perhaps in environment variables, rather than hardcoding it directly into your script. This initial setup is crucial, so make sure you’ve got that token handy before we move on to the JavaScript part. Without it, your bot won’t be able to do anything!

The Power of the Telegram Bot API

So, you’ve got your bot token, awesome! Now, let’s talk about the Telegram Bot API . This is the magical bridge that allows your JavaScript code to interact with Telegram. The API is essentially a set of commands and methods that you can call to make your bot do things, like sending messages, receiving updates, creating keyboards, and much more. For sending messages, the primary method we’ll be interested in is sendMessage . This method requires a few key pieces of information: the chat_id (which is the unique identifier for the chat you want to send the message to) and the text (the actual message content).

But how do you get the chat_id ? Well, that’s where things get a little more interesting. If you want your bot to send messages to a specific user or group, you need that chat’s ID. A common way to get this is by having the user send a message to your bot first. When a user sends a message, your bot receives an update that contains information about the sender, including their chat_id . You can then store this chat_id for later use. For sending messages to a channel you own, you’ll need to add your bot as an administrator to that channel and use the channel’s username (preceded by @ ) as the chat_id . Understanding how to obtain and use chat_id is fundamental to sending Telegram messages with a JavaScript bot effectively.

Choosing Your JavaScript Library

Now, you could make direct HTTP requests to the Telegram Bot API using libraries like axios or the built-in fetch API in Node.js. This gives you maximum control but can be a bit verbose. For most folks, however, using a dedicated JavaScript library for Telegram bots makes life way easier. These libraries abstract away the low-level details of API calls, providing a cleaner, more developer-friendly interface. Some of the most popular options include node-telegram-bot-api and telegraf .

Let’s talk about node-telegram-bot-api . It’s a well-established library that provides a straightforward way to interact with the Telegram Bot API. You install it via npm ( npm install node-telegram-bot-api ), and then you can initialize it with your bot token. It handles polling for updates (messages sent to your bot) and provides methods to send messages, create inline keyboards, and more. On the other hand, telegraf is another fantastic choice, known for its middleware-like architecture, which makes handling complex bot logic quite elegant. It also offers a rich set of features and is actively maintained.

For the purpose of this guide, we’ll focus on node-telegram-bot-api because it’s incredibly beginner-friendly. It wraps the API nicely, making it simple to get your bot sending messages without getting bogged down in the API’s intricacies. Whichever library you choose, make sure to check its documentation for the most up-to-date usage examples and features. This decision point is important as it will shape how you write the actual code for sending Telegram messages with a JavaScript bot .

Sending Your First Message with node-telegram-bot-api

Alright, let’s get hands-on! We’re going to use the node-telegram-bot-api library to send our first message. Make sure you have Node.js installed on your machine. First, create a new directory for your project and navigate into it using your terminal. Then, initialize your project with npm init -y to create a package.json file. Next, install the library: npm install node-telegram-bot-api .

Now, create a JavaScript file, let’s call it bot.js . Inside this file, you’ll need to require the library and initialize your bot. Remember that API token you got from BotFather? You’ll need it here. It’s a good practice to store it in an environment variable, say TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN . So, your code might look something like this:

// Import the library
const TelegramBot = require('node-telegram-bot-api');

// Replace with your actual token (or use environment variables)
const token = process.env.TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN || 'YOUR_TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN';

// Create a bot that uses 'polling' to fetch new updates
const bot = new TelegramBot(token, { polling: true });

// // Listen for any kind of message. There are different kinds of
// // messages. The 'text' type is the most common. You can also receive
// // are_photo, are_audio, are_video, are_document, are_sticker, are_voice, are_location, are_contact, are_game, are_invoice, are_sticker, are_video_note, are_audio, are_voice, are_location, are_contact, are_game, are_poll, are_venue, are_animation, are_new_chat_members, are_left_chat_member, are_new_chat_photo, are_new_chat_title, are_pinned_message, are_successful_payment, are_sticker, are_voice_chat_scheduled, are_voice_chat_ended, are_voice_chat_participants_invited
// bot.on('message', (msg) => {
//   const chatId = msg.chat.id;
//   const messageText = msg.text;

//   // Send a message back to the chat
//   bot.sendMessage(chatId, `I received your message: ${messageText}`);
// });

// Let's create a specific command handler for '/start'
bot.onText(async (msg) => {
  const chatId = msg.chat.id;
  const resp = 'Welcome to the bot! Send me a message and I will echo it back.'; // Default message

  // Send the message
  await bot.sendMessage(chatId, resp);
});

// Now, let's handle text messages and echo them back
bot.on('text', async (msg) => {
  const chatId = msg.chat.id;
  const receivedText = msg.text;

  // Avoid echoing the welcome message again if the user typed '/start'
  if (receivedText === '/start') {
      return; // Do nothing if it's the start command
  }

  // Send the echoed message
  try {
    await bot.sendMessage(chatId, `You said: ${receivedText}`);
    console.log(`Message sent to chat ID ${chatId}: ${receivedText}`);
  } catch (error) {
    console.error(`Error sending message to chat ID ${chatId}:`, error);
  }
});

console.log('Bot is running...');

To run this, save it as bot.js , replace 'YOUR_TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN' with your actual token (or better, set the TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN environment variable), and then run node bot.js in your terminal. Now, when you send a message to your bot on Telegram, it should reply with an echo! This is the fundamental step in sending Telegram messages with a JavaScript bot .

Advanced Message Sending Techniques

Basic text messages are great, but the Telegram Bot API offers much more! Let’s explore some advanced ways of sending Telegram messages with a JavaScript bot . One common requirement is to send messages with rich formatting , like bold or italics . You can achieve this by using Markdown or HTML parsing modes. When calling sendMessage , you can specify the parse_mode option. For example, to send a bold message:

bot.sendMessage(chatId, '*This is a bold message*', { parse_mode: 'MarkdownV2' });

Or using HTML:

bot.sendMessage(chatId, '<b>This is a bold message</b>', { parse_mode: 'HTML' });

Remember to escape special characters when using MarkdownV2 ! HTML is often easier to work with.

Another powerful feature is sending inline keyboards or reply keyboards . These are custom buttons that users can interact with directly within the chat. Inline keyboards appear attached to a specific message, while reply keyboards replace the standard keyboard. This is fantastic for creating interactive menus or quick reply options. Here’s a quick example of sending a message with an inline keyboard:

”`javascript const TelegramBot = require(‘node-telegram-bot-api’); const token = process.env.TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN; const bot = new TelegramBot(token, { polling: true });

bot.onText(async (msg) => { const chatId = msg.chat.id;

const opts = {

reply_markup: JSON.stringify({
  inline_keyboard: [
    [{ text: 'Click Me!', callback_data: 'button_click' }]
  ]
})

};

await bot.sendMessage(chatId, ‘Here is an inline keyboard:’, opts); });

// Handle button clicks bot.on(‘callback_query’, async (callbackQuery) => { const message = callbackQuery.message; const chatId = message.chat.id; const data = callbackQuery.data;

if (data === ‘button_click’) {

await bot.sendMessage(chatId, 'You clicked the button!');
// Optionally answer the callback query to remove the