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Telegram Setup

Receive customer messages as Telegram notifications using Forum Topics for organized conversations.

Why Forum Topics?

Each customer conversation becomes a separate topic in your Telegram group, making it easy to manage multiple conversations without clutter.

Step 1: Create a Telegram Bot​

  1. Open Telegram and search for @BotFather
  2. Send /newbot and follow the prompts
  3. Choose a name (e.g., "Acme Support Bot")
  4. Choose a username (must end in "bot", e.g., "acme_support_bot")
  5. Save the bot token - it looks like 123456789:ABCdefGHIjklMNOpqrsTUVwxyz

Step 2: Create a Supergroup with Topics​

  1. Create a new group in Telegram
  2. Go to Group Settings → Edit → Group Type
  3. Enable "Topics" (this converts it to a supergroup with forum topics)
  4. Add your team members to this group

Step 3: Add Bot to Group​

  1. In your group, go to Settings → Administrators
  2. Click "Add Administrator" and search for your bot
  3. Grant these permissions:
    • ✅ Manage Topics
    • ✅ Post Messages
    • ✅ Edit Messages
    • ✅ Delete Messages

Step 4: Get Chat ID​

You need the chat ID of your supergroup. Here's how to get it:

Option A: Use @userinfobot​

  1. Forward any message from your group to @userinfobot
  2. It will reply with the chat ID (starts with -100)

Option B: Use the API​

# Send a message in your group, then run:
curl "https://api.telegram.org/bot<YOUR_BOT_TOKEN>/getUpdates"

# Look for "chat":{"id":-100xxxxxxxxxx}

Step 5: Configure PocketPing​

SaaS Users​

Go to your Bridge Settings and enter your Bot Token and Chat ID.

Self-Hosted Users​

Add to your .env file:

.env
TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=123456789:ABCdefGHIjklMNOpqrsTUVwxyz
TELEGRAM_FORUM_CHAT_ID=-1001234567890

How It Works​

Each website visitor gets their own topic thread in your Telegram group. Messages sync in real-time between the widget and Telegram.

Bot Commands​

Inside a conversation topic, you can use these commands:

CommandDescription
/infoShow session details (IP, browser, page)
/closeClose the conversation
/ai onEnable AI for this conversation
/ai offDisable AI for this conversation

Troubleshooting​

Bot not responding?​

  • Check the bot token is correct
  • Verify the bot is admin in the group
  • Make sure the chat ID starts with -100
  • Check bridge server logs: docker logs pocketping-bridge

Topics not being created?​

  • Ensure the group has Topics enabled
  • Verify bot has "Manage Topics" permission
  • The group must be a supergroup (chat ID starts with -100)

Next Steps​