Connect Telegram

What you’ll set up

When someone chats on your website, the message appears in a Telegram chat or group you choose. You tap Reply on that message, write your answer, and the visitor sees it on the site.

This usually takes under 10 minutes. Telegram creates the bot for you through BotFather — no code required. CanWeChat wires up the connection automatically when you save.

Step 1 — Create a bot with BotFather

Open Telegram and search for @BotFather (the official bot from Telegram).

Send /newbot and follow the prompts for a name and username.

BotFather will reply with a token (a long string). Copy it — that’s your bot password. Don’t share it publicly.

Step 2 — Pick where messages should go

Decide whether chats should go to a private chat with the bot, or to a group with your team.

For a group: add the bot as a member and make sure it can send messages (and photos/files).

For a private chat: open the bot and tap Start (or send any message) so Telegram creates the chat.

Step 3 — Find the chat ID

You need the chat’s numeric ID (not the group title). Easy options:

Private chat with the bot: message the bot, then open https://api.telegram.org/bot<YOUR_TOKEN>/getUpdates in a browser (replace <YOUR_TOKEN> with the BotFather token). Look for "chat":{"id": … } and copy that number.

Group: add the bot, send a message mentioning it, then use the same getUpdates URL. Group IDs are often negative (like -100…). Copy the exact number, including the minus sign.

You can also use a helper bot such as @RawDataBot in the same chat — it prints the chat id.

Step 4 — Connect in CanWeChat

In CanWeChat, go to Integrations → Telegram → Connect.

Paste the bot token and chat ID. Chat name is optional. Click Connect Telegram.

That’s it for setup — CanWeChat registers the connection for you. You don’t paste any URL into BotFather.

How to reply

Send a test message from your website. You’ll get a clear card like “New chat — Visitor 266D” with page details, then later lines like “Visitor 266D: Where are you” — each visitor is labeled so multiple chats in one Telegram chat stay readable.

On any CanWeChat bot message for that visitor, tap Reply (or swipe to reply), type your answer, and send. You don’t have to reply only to the first card — any message from that visitor works.

If you send a new message without using Reply, CanWeChat won’t know which website visitor it belongs to.

If something goes wrong

Nothing arrives in Telegram: Confirm Telegram is your active destination, the bot is in the chat, and the chat ID is exact (including the minus sign for groups).

Files don’t show: Make sure the bot is allowed to send media in that group, then try another website message with an attachment.

Visitor doesn’t see my reply: You must Reply to a CanWeChat bot message for that visitor (not a standalone message in the chat).

You changed the bot token: Open Integrations → Telegram again, paste the new token, and save so CanWeChat can reconnect.