Overview
Telegram is the recommended starting channel for ArgentOS. Setup takes under 5 minutes and the Bot API is reliable and well-documented.
Prerequisites
- A Telegram account
- ArgentOS gateway running (
argent gateway start)
Setup
Create a Bot with BotFather
- Open Telegram and search for @BotFather
- Send
/newbot
- Choose a display name (e.g., “My Argent Agent”)
- Choose a username ending in
bot (e.g., my_argent_bot)
- Copy the HTTP API token BotFather gives you
Add the Channel
argent channels add telegram
Configure (Optional)
Edit argent.json to customize Telegram-specific settings:{
"channels": {
"telegram": {
"enabled": true,
"token": "123456789:ABCdefGHIjklMNOpqrSTUvwxYZ",
"allowedUsers": [],
"polling": true,
"webhook": {
"enabled": false,
"url": "https://your-domain.com/webhook/telegram",
"port": 8443
}
}
}
}
Test
Send a message to your bot on Telegram. You should see it appear in the gateway logs and receive a response.argent gateway logs --follow
Polling vs Webhook
Polling (Default)
Webhook
The bot periodically checks for new messages. Simpler setup, works behind NAT.{
"channels": {
"telegram": {
"polling": true
}
}
}
Telegram pushes messages to your server. Lower latency, requires a public HTTPS endpoint.{
"channels": {
"telegram": {
"polling": false,
"webhook": {
"enabled": true,
"url": "https://your-domain.com/webhook/telegram",
"port": 8443
}
}
}
}
Security
Restricting Access
By default, anyone who finds your bot can message it. Use allowedUsers to restrict access.
{
"channels": {
"telegram": {
"allowedUsers": [123456789, 987654321]
}
}
}
Supported Features
| Feature | Supported |
|---|
| Text messages | Yes |
| Photos/images | Yes |
| Documents/files | Yes |
| Voice messages | Yes |
| Inline keyboards | Yes |
| Group chats | Partial |
| Threads/topics | No |
