NIVA
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Telegram Integration

How to Connect Telegram to NIVA · Complete Integration Guide

5–10 minutesEasy5 steps

Connect NIVA to Telegram so your AI bot responds to messages in private chats, groups, and channels. NIVA automatically registers the Telegram webhook when you save the configuration · no manual API calls needed.

Before you begin

  • ✓
    NIVA botmaster account with a bot configured
  • ✓
    A Telegram account

Step-by-step setup

  1. 1

    Create a Bot via BotFather

    • Open Telegram and search for @BotFather
    • Send /newbot
    • Enter a display name (e.g. NIVA Assistant)
    • Enter a username ending in bot (e.g. niva_assistant_bot)
    • Copy the Bot Token BotFather sends back (e.g. 1234567890:ABC...)
  2. 2

    Configure in NIVA Botmaster

    • Open your NIVA botmaster → Omnichannel
    • Click Configure on the Telegram card
    • Paste your Bot Token
    • Enter a Webhook Secret Token · any random string (A-Z, a-z, 0-9, _, - only)
    • Click Save & Activate
    Setting a secret token protects your webhook from fake requests. Use a strong random string.
  3. 3

    Verify Webhook Registration

    • NIVA automatically calls Telegram's setWebhook API when you save
    • Check your server logs for: [Telegram] Webhook registered: https://...
    • Optionally verify by visiting: https://api.telegram.org/bot<TOKEN>/getWebhookInfo
    • The url field should match your NIVA webhook URL
  4. 4

    Test the Integration

    • Open Telegram and search for your bot username
    • Click Start or send /start
    • Type any message · the bot should reply in 2–3 seconds
  5. 5

    Optional: Configure Bot via BotFather

    • Send /setdescription to BotFather to set the bot profile description
    • Send /setabouttext for the about text shown before first message
    • Send /setuserpic to set a bot avatar
    • Send /setcommands to define slash commands in the menu

Troubleshooting

Webhook not registered
Server must be publicly reachable via HTTPS. Use ngrok for local dev.
403 in logs
Secret token mismatch · re-save config to re-register webhook.
Bot does not reply in groups
Go to BotFather → /mybots → Bot Settings → Group Privacy → Turn off.
last_error_message in getWebhookInfo
Usually SSL certificate issue · must use a valid HTTPS cert.