Setting Up Telegram Bot Credentials

BotFather is Telegram's official bot for creating and managing other bots.

1. Open Telegram (mobile app or desktop)
2. In the search bar, type @BotFather
3. Select the verified BotFather bot (it has a blue checkmark)
4. Click "Start" to begin chatting with BotFather

Now let's create a new bot:

1. Send the command /newbot to BotFather
2. BotFather will ask for a name for your bot (e.g., "My Buzz8n Bot")
3. Then it will ask for a username. This must:
   • End with "bot" (e.g., "mybuzz8n_bot")
   • Be unique across all of Telegram
   • Only contain letters, numbers, and underscores
4. If the username is available, BotFather will create your bot and give you a token

After creating your bot, BotFather will send you a message containing your bot token. It looks like this:

1234567890:ABCdefGHIjklMNOpqrsTUVwxyz-1234567

Copy this token - you'll need it in the next steps.

To send messages to yourself, you need your Chat ID:

1. Open Telegram and search for your bot using the username you just created (e.g., @mybuzz8n_bot)
2. Click "Start" or send any message to your bot (e.g., "Hello")
3. Now, open this URL in your web browser (replace YOUR_BOT_TOKEN with your actual token):

https://api.telegram.org/botYOUR_BOT_TOKEN/getUpdates

You'll see JSON data that looks like this:

{
  "ok": true,
  "result": [
    {
      "update_id": 123456789,
      "message": {
        "message_id": 1,
        "from": {
          "id": 987654321,
          "is_bot": false,
          "first_name": "Your Name"
        },
        "chat": {
          "id": 987654321,
          "first_name": "Your Name",
          "type": "private"
        },
        "text": "Hello"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Look for the "id" field under "chat". In this example, it's 987654321. That's your Chat ID!

Now let's add your Telegram bot to Buzz8n:

1. Log in to your Buzz8n dashboard
2. Click "Credentials" in the top navigation
3. Click "Add Credential" or the "+" button
4. Select "Telegram" from the provider list
5. Fill in the form:
   • Name: Give it a memorable name (e.g., "My Telegram Bot")
   • Bot Token: Paste the token from Step 3
6. Click "Save"

Let's make sure everything works:

1. Create a new workflow or open an existing one
2. Add a Telegram "Send a message" node
3. Select your newly created credential
4. Enter your Chat ID from Step 4
5. Type a test message like "Testing my Telegram bot! 🎉"
6. Run the workflow

You should receive the message on Telegram!