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You can use your Telegram bot to broadcast updates, news, or alerts to a Telegram Channel automatically. This requires adding your bot as an administrator to the channel and using the External API Request action in Chatbot Builder AI.

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Part 1: Telegram Setup

Before configuring the bot, you must set up the channel permissions.
1

Create a Channel

  1. Open Telegram.
  2. Click the Edit (pencil) icon -> New Channel.
  3. Name your channel and create it.
2

Add Bot as Administrator

  1. Open your new channel info settings.
  2. Go to Administrators.
  3. Click Add Admin.
  4. Search for your bot (by its username) and select it.
  5. Grant Permission: Ensure “Post Messages” is enabled.
3

Get Channel ID

You need the unique numeric ID of your channel.
  1. Open Telegram Web (web.telegram.org) in your browser.
  2. Click on your channel.
  3. Look at the URL in your browser address bar.
  4. It will look like .../#-123456789.
  5. Copy the ID, including the - (hyphen) and the 100 prefix if present (e.g., -100123456789).
Crucial Format: The Channel ID must usually start with -100 for public/private channels. If you copied 123456789 from the URL, try adding -100 in front: -100123456789.

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Part 2: Chatbot Builder AI Configuration

Now, use the External API Request action to instruct the bot to post to that channel ID.
1

Add External API Action

In your Flow Builder:
  1. Add an Action block.
  2. Select External API Request.
2

Configure Endpoint

  • Method: POST or GET
  • URL: 
    [https://api.telegram.org/bot](https://api.telegram.org/bot)<YOUR_BOT_TOKEN>/sendMessage
Replace <YOUR_BOT_TOKEN> with the token you received from @BotFather when you created the bot.
3

Set JSON Body

Click on Body and enter the following JSON structure:
{
  "chat_id": "-1001234567890",
  "text": "Hello! This is a test broadcast from Chatbot Builder AI."
}
  • chat_id: The ID you retrieved in Part 1.
  • text: The content of the post. You can use Custom Fields like {{variable_name}} here.
4

Test and Save

  1. Click Test Request.
  2. Check your Telegram Channel. If the message appears, the setup is correct.
  3. Click Save.

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Triggering the Post

You can now trigger this flow using any standard method:
  • Keywords: User types “announcement” -> Bot asks for text -> Bot posts to channel.
  • Triggers: Automatically post when a specific event happens (e.g., “New Order Received”).
  • Broadcast: Send this flow to yourself to manually trigger a channel post.