See every channel and its status on Channels. Step-by-step help is in the Telegram guide.

Connect your channel

You need a Telegram channel or group you manage:

1. In Telegram, talk to @BotFather and create a bot. It gives you a bot token.
2. Add the bot to your channel as an admin with permission to post.
3. In OmniPosts, choose Telegram on the Channels screen and paste the bot token and the channel's @username (or its numeric id, for a private channel). A t.me/yourchannel link works too.

Before it saves anything, OmniPosts checks three things: the token works, the chat exists and is not a private one-to-one chat, and the bot is an admin who can post. If one fails, the connection is refused and nothing is saved.

What you can post to Telegram

• Text up to 4096 characters, sent exactly as you wrote it. OmniPosts does not apply Telegram formatting, so nothing you type is read as markup.
• Up to 10 images per post, JPEG, PNG or WebP, up to 10 MB each. One image is sent as a photo; two to ten as one album.
• Captions up to 1024 characters. When images are attached your text becomes the caption, which Telegram limits. OmniPosts checks this before sending.
• Show link preview (on by default) and Send silently (off by default).
• Video is not supported yet, and Telegram has no field for alt text.

What happens after you post

The result for your Telegram channel is one of: posted, with a link to the message (public channels only, since a private one has no public address); failed, with the reason and one thing to do about it; or still being checked.

One thing is different on Telegram: a bot cannot read its channel's history, so if Telegram does not give a clear answer, OmniPosts cannot look the post up. Instead of sending it again and risking a duplicate, it marks the post for you to check by hand. If you revoke the token, remove the bot or take away its right to post, the channel asks to be reconnected.

Numbers

None. Telegram does not tell bots how many people viewed a message, and OmniPosts does not collect reactions or replies. Every number says "Not available" with the reason, never a made-up zero. Your publishing record (what went out, when, and what failed) is still kept. See Honest numbers.

Post to Telegram from your code

Everything above works through the HTTP API, with idempotency keys and signed webhooks. Telegram allows about one message per second in a chat and 20 per minute in a group; an album counts as several messages.

Questions

Can I schedule posts to a Telegram channel?

Yes. Post now, pick a date and time, or add the post to your queue and it takes your next free posting time. Posts go out from our servers, so your computer can be off.

Why do I need a bot?

Telegram lets apps post to a channel only through a bot. You create the bot with @BotFather, so it is yours, and you add it to your channel as an admin who can post. You can remove it at any time.

Does it work with private channels and groups?

Yes. Use the numeric id of a private channel instead of its @username. Groups work too. A private one-to-one chat does not.

Can I post silently?

Yes. Turn on "Send silently" and subscribers get the post without a notification sound. You can also turn the link preview off for a text post.

Why does OmniPosts show no views for Telegram?

Telegram does not tell bots how many people saw a message. Rather than guess, every number for a Telegram channel says "Not available" and gives that reason.