How to Create Telegram Bot in Minutes

A Beginner's Guide

bot telegram python

Telegram bots are powerful tools that can automate tasks, deliver content, and interact with users in real-time — all inside a chat interface. Whether you’re looking to build a personal assistant, a notification system, or a playful chatbot, this guide will help you get started with creating your own Telegram bot from scratch.

1. Prerequisites

Before diving in, make sure you have the following:

  • A Telegram account
  • Basic understanding of Python (we’ll use it in our example)
  • Python installed on your system (version 3.7+ recommended)
  • An internet connection

2. Create Your Bot via BotFather

Telegram provides a special bot called @BotFather to help you create and manage other bots.

Here’s how to set one up:

  1. Open Telegram and search for @BotFather.
  2. Start a chat and type /newbot.
  3. You’ll be asked to choose a name and a unique username (must end in “bot”, like MyTestBot).
  4. Once done, you’ll receive a message containing your Bot Token – a string that looks like this: 
    123456789:ABCDefGhIJKlmNoPQRstUvWXyz

Save this token! It’s your bot’s API key.

You can also personalize your bot:

  • /setdescription – short summary of what your bot does
  • /setabouttext – text shown in the bot’s profile
  • /setuserpic – upload a profile picture for your bot

3. Setting Up a Simple Bot in Python

To interact with Telegram’s API easily, install the official wrapper library:

pip install python-telegram-bot --upgrade

Let’s build a simple bot that replies to the /start command:

from telegram import Update
from telegram.ext import ApplicationBuilder, CommandHandler, ContextTypes

async def start(update: Update, context: ContextTypes.DEFAULT_TYPE):
    await update.message.reply_text("Hello! I’m your Telegram bot.")

app = ApplicationBuilder().token("YOUR_API_TOKEN_HERE").build()
app.add_handler(CommandHandler("start", start))
app.run_polling()

Replace "YOUR_API_TOKEN_HERE" with the token from BotFather.

4. Run and Test the Bot

  1. Save the script as bot.py.
  2. Run it:
python bot.py
  1. Go to Telegram, find your bot by username, and send the /start command.

You should receive a welcome message in return!

5. Add More Features

Now that your bot works, you can expand it:

  • Reply to text messages:
from telegram.ext import MessageHandler, filters

async def echo(update: Update, context: ContextTypes.DEFAULT_TYPE):
    await update.message.reply_text(update.message.text)

app.add_handler(MessageHandler(filters.TEXT & ~filters.COMMAND, echo))
  • Add buttons or menus
  • Schedule messages
  • Integrate with APIs (e.g., weather, news)

6. Going Live: Deployment Tips

Running your bot locally is great for testing. For 24/7 availability, deploy it on:

  • PythonAnywhere – easy, beginner-friendly
  • Render.com or Railway.app – free tiers for small bots
  • Your own VPS – more control, but more setup
  • Set up a Webhook – for efficient real-time updates in production

7. Final Thoughts

You’ve just created a working Telegram bot! 🎉

From here, the possibilities are endless. Explore the Telegram Bot API documentation for more commands and capabilities.

Whether you're building a fun side project or a productivity tool, Telegram bots are a great way to put your ideas into action.

Got stuck or want to go further?

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