Connecting Telegram

A bot is a second Telegram account your agent speaks through. You make it in a chat with BotFather, Telegram’s helper.

Before you start#

• A free Telegram account, open on this computer as well as your phone.
• Somewhere safe for the token. Anyone who has it can message as your bot, so paste it only into Archie.

1. Start on the computer Archie is on. If Telegram is only on your phone, open it in this computer’s browser and sign in:

   https://web.telegram.orgCopy

   It shows a QR code: in Telegram on your phone, go to Settings, then Devices, then Link Desktop Device, and scan it. There’s also a desktop app at https://desktop.telegram.org. New to Telegram? Sign up on your phone first (it needs a phone number), then link this computer.

2. In Telegram on this computer, type @BotFather into the search box at the top of the chat list, and open the one with the blue checkmark.

   Your phone works too: it’s the same chat on both.

3. Send BotFather this message:

   /newbotCopy

4. When it asks for a name, use your agent’s name:

   My AgentCopy

5. Pick a username. It has to end in “bot”, so try this one:

   my_agent_botCopy

   Taken? Put a number before the underscore, like my_agent2_bot. A number on the very end (my_agent_bot2) gets rejected.

6. Your token is the long code on its own line, just under “Use this token to access the HTTP API” in BotFather’s reply. Copy it into the token box on Archie’s Chat app card.

   It looks like 123456789:AAEuLB9R2lkni4… Copy all of it, including the part before the colon. Made the bot on your phone? Don’t retype it: open BotFather on this computer and copy it from the same message.

7. Near the top of that reply, BotFather says “You will find it at t.me/…”. Click it to open your bot’s chat.

   Messages to BotFather never reach your agent. Scrolled past the link? Search Telegram for the username you chose.

8. Say hi there to start. (Your agent only replies while Archie is running on your computer.)

You’ll know it worked when#

The Telegram row on Archie’s Chat app card says connected in green. Your agent won’t answer until you claim it: say hi, and it asks for the six-digit code Archie shows once the agent is started. The Claim your agent guide covers this.

If something goes wrong#

• No reply to the claim code: you may have sent it to BotFather, which ignores it. Search Telegram for your bot’s username and send it there.
• Archie won’t accept the token: copy the whole line again, colon included. To see it again, send /token to BotFather.
• The bot never replies: Archie has to be open on your computer and the agent switched on. Check the button at the top of its page in Archie: it reads Switch off while the agent is on.
• The token leaked, or you want a fresh one: send /revoke to BotFather, then paste the new token into the token box on Archie’s Chat app card and press Save.