Connect Telegram Bot

Buda connects to Telegram via long-polling — the bot actively pulls updates from Telegram's servers. This means you do not need a public HTTPS endpoint or any webhook configuration. By simply providing a Bot Token, Buda will automatically maintain the connection in the background.

Step 1: Create a Bot via BotFather

1. Open Telegram and search for @BotFather, or click the link directly.
2. Send the command /newbot.
3. Follow the prompts: enter a display name (e.g., Buda Assistant), then a username ending in bot (e.g., buda_assistant_bot).
4. BotFather will reply with your Bot Token — a string like 1234567890:AAFxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.
5. Copy and save this token — you will paste it into Buda shortly.

Step 2: (Optional) Configure Bot Settings

You can optionally configure the bot's description and commands via BotFather:

• /setdescription — set a description shown on the bot's profile page
• /setcommands — register command hints shown in the chat input. Suggested commands:

  start - Start or resume the current session
  help - Show help information
  new - Start a new session

Step 3: Configure the Channel in Buda

1. Open Channels Settings in Buda (Settings → Channels).
2. Click Add Channel and select Telegram.
3. Paste the Bot Token you copied from BotFather.
4. Optionally set a Label and select a Target Agent.
5. Click Connect.

Once saved, Buda will immediately start polling Telegram for new messages in the background. You will see the following in the server logs:

[telegram-bot] Connected polling gateway for channel <id>

Step 4: Start Chatting

• Direct message: search for your bot by username in Telegram and send it any message.
• In a group: add the bot to a group, then @mention it with your message (e.g., @buda_assistant_bot What is the weather today?).

Available commands:

Notes

• No HTTPS required: unlike webhook mode, long-polling works in local development without ngrok or a public URL.
• Allowed senders: you can restrict which Telegram user IDs can interact with the bot by setting allowedSenderIds in the channel credentials (comma-separated numeric IDs).
• Groups: the bot only responds when directly @mentioned in group chats. In direct messages, all messages are processed.
• Reconnection: if the network connection drops, Buda will automatically retry with exponential backoff.