Connect Telegram as a widget and a team inbox

BYO BotFather token

Anhora does not ship a shared public bot. Each project creates its own bot with BotFather and pastes the token in Dashboard → Integrations → Team messaging → Telegram. Anhora registers the webhook automatically — do not paste a webhook URL into BotFather. A token is enough for the shopper widget. A forum bind is only for the operator inbox.

1. 1

   Create a bot with BotFather

   Open Telegram, talk to @BotFather, and run /newbot. Display name is what shoppers see (for example Acme). Username must end in Bot (for example AcmeShopBot). Copy the HTTP API token — treat it like a password.

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   Telegram → @BotFather
   /newbot
   Name: Acme
   Username: AcmeShopBot
   → copy the token (123456:ABC…)

2. 2

   Paste the token in the Anhora Dashboard

   Open https://app.anhora.net → Project → Integrations → Team messaging → Telegram. Paste the token and save. Anhora calls getMe, then setWebhook. The webhook URL is unique per connection and uses a secret header. This step does not replace Slack. Do not share the token or reuse it on staging and production.

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   Dashboard checklist:
   1. Integrations → Team messaging → Telegram
   2. Paste BotFather token
   3. Save & register webhook
   4. Confirm @username appears as connected
   
   Webhook (registered automatically):
   https://api.anhora.net/api/v1/handoff/telegram/webhook/{connectionId}

3. 3

   What this token is for

   The same bot can be the shopper widget, the team inbox, or both. Enable the shopper widget on Site Chat. Bind a forum only if operators should answer in Telegram instead of Slack.

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   Shopper widget
   → Site Chat → Telegram channel → Enable
   
   Team inbox (optional)
   → Bind site to Telegram forum
   → replaces Slack on that site