Node.js module to interact with official Telegram Bot API. A bot token is needed, to obtain one, talk to @botfather and create a new bot.

npm install node-telegram-bot-api

var TelegramBot = require('node-telegram-bot-api');

var token = 'YOUR_TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN';
// Setup polling way
var bot = new TelegramBot(token, {polling: true});

bot.onText(/\/echo (.+)/, function (msg, match) {
  var fromId = msg.from.id;
  var resp = match[1];
  bot.sendMessage(fromId, resp);
});

// Any kind of message
bot.on('message', function (msg) {
  var chatId = msg.chat.id;
  // photo can be: a file path, a stream or a Telegram file_id
  var photo = 'cats.png';
  bot.sendPhoto(chatId, photo, {caption: 'Lovely kittens'});
});

There are some other examples on examples.

Events

Every time TelegramBot receives a message, it emits a message. Depending on which message was received, emits an event from this ones: text, audio, document, photo, sticker, video, voice, contact, location, new_chat_participant, left_chat_participant, new_chat_title, new_chat_photo, delete_chat_photo, group_chat_created. Its much better to listen a specific event rather than a message in order to stay safe from the content.

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WebHooks

Telegram only supports HTTPS connections to WebHooks, in order to set a WebHook a private key file and public certificate must be used. Since August 29, 2015 Telegram supports self signed ones, to generate them:

# Our private cert will be key.pem, keep in private this file.
openssl genrsa -out key.pem 2048
# Our public certificate will be crt.pem
openssl req -new -sha256 -key key.pem -out crt.pem

Once they are generated, the crt.pem can be provided to telegramBot.setWebHook(url, crt) as crt.

API Reference

TelegramBot

TelegramBot

Kind: global class
See: https://core.telegram.org/bots/api

• TelegramBot
  • new TelegramBot(token, [options])
  • .getMe() ⇒ Promise
  • .setWebHook(url, [cert])
  • .getUpdates([timeout], [limit], [offset]) ⇒ Promise
  • .sendMessage(chatId, text, [options]) ⇒ Promise
  • .forwardMessage(chatId, fromChatId, messageId) ⇒ Promise
  • .sendPhoto(chatId, photo, [options]) ⇒ Promise
  • .sendAudio(chatId, audio, [options]) ⇒ Promise
  • .sendDocument(chatId, A, [options]) ⇒ Promise
  • .sendSticker(chatId, A, [options]) ⇒ Promise
  • .sendVideo(chatId, A, [options]) ⇒ Promise
  • .sendVoice(chatId, voice, [options]) ⇒ Promise
  • .sendChatAction(chatId, action) ⇒ Promise
  • .getUserProfilePhotos(userId, [offset], [limit]) ⇒ Promise
  • .sendLocation(chatId, latitude, longitude, [options]) ⇒ Promise
  • .getFile(fileId) ⇒ Promise
  • .getFileLink(fileId) ⇒ Promise
  • .downloadFile(fileId, downloadDir) ⇒ Promise
  • .onText(regexp, callback)

new TelegramBot(token, [options])

Both request method to obtain messages are implemented. To use standard polling, set polling: true on options. Notice that webHook will need a SSL certificate. Emits message when a message arrives.

Param	Type	Default	Description
token	String		Bot Token
[options]	Object
[options.polling]	Boolean | Object	false	Set true to enable polling or set options
[options.polling.timeout]	String | Number	4	Polling time
[options.polling.interval]	String | Number	2000	Interval between requests in miliseconds
[options.webHook]	Boolean | Object	false	Set true to enable WebHook or set options
[options.webHook.key]	String		PEM private key to webHook server.
[options.webHook.cert]	String		PEM certificate (public) to webHook server.

telegramBot.getMe() ⇒ Promise

Returns basic information about the bot in form of a User object.

Kind: instance method of TelegramBot
See: https://core.telegram.org/bots/api#getme

telegramBot.setWebHook(url, [cert])

Specify an url to receive incoming updates via an outgoing webHook.

Kind: instance method of TelegramBot
See: https://core.telegram.org/bots/api#setwebhook

Param	Type	Description
url	String	URL where Telegram will make HTTP Post. Leave empty to delete webHook.
[cert]	String | stream.Stream	PEM certificate key (public).

telegramBot.getUpdates([timeout], [limit], [offset]) ⇒ Promise

Use this method to receive incoming updates using long polling

Kind: instance method of TelegramBot
Returns: Promise - Updates
See: https://core.telegram.org/bots/api#getupdates

Param	Type	Description
[timeout]	Number | String	Timeout in seconds for long polling.
[limit]	Number | String	Limits the number of updates to be retrieved.
[offset]	Number | String	Identifier of the first update to be returned.

telegramBot.sendMessage(chatId, text, [options]) ⇒ Promise

Send text message.

Kind: instance method of TelegramBot
See: https://core.telegram.org/bots/api#sendmessage

Param	Type	Description
chatId	Number | String	Unique identifier for the message recipient
text	String	Text of the message to be sent
[options]	Object	Additional Telegram query options

telegramBot.forwardMessage(chatId, fromChatId, messageId) ⇒ Promise

Forward messages of any kind.

Kind: instance method of TelegramBot

Param	Type	Description
chatId	Number | String	Unique identifier for the message recipient
fromChatId	Number | String	Unique identifier for the chat where the original message was sent
messageId	Number | String	Unique message identifier

telegramBot.sendPhoto(chatId, photo, [options]) ⇒ Promise

Send photo

Kind: instance method of TelegramBot
See: https://core.telegram.org/bots/api#sendphoto

Param	Type	Description
chatId	Number | String	Unique identifier for the message recipient
photo	String | stream.Stream	A file path or a Stream. Can also be a file_id previously uploaded
[options]	Object	Additional Telegram query options

telegramBot.sendAudio(chatId, audio, [options]) ⇒ Promise

Send audio

Kind: instance method of TelegramBot
See: https://core.telegram.org/bots/api#sendaudio

Param	Type	Description
chatId	Number | String	Unique identifier for the message recipient
audio	String | stream.Stream	A file path or a Stream. Can also be a file_id previously uploaded.
[options]	Object	Additional Telegram query options

telegramBot.sendDocument(chatId, A, [options]) ⇒ Promise

Send Document

Kind: instance method of TelegramBot
See: https://core.telegram.org/bots/api#sendDocument

Param	Type	Description
chatId	Number | String	Unique identifier for the message recipient
A	String | stream.Stream	file path or a Stream. Can also be a file_id previously uploaded.
[options]	Object	Additional Telegram query options

telegramBot.sendSticker(chatId, A, [options]) ⇒ Promise

Send .webp stickers.

Kind: instance method of TelegramBot
See: https://core.telegram.org/bots/api#sendsticker

Param	Type	Description
chatId	Number | String	Unique identifier for the message recipient
A	String | stream.Stream	file path or a Stream. Can also be a file_id previously uploaded.
[options]	Object	Additional Telegram query options

telegramBot.sendVideo(chatId, A, [options]) ⇒ Promise

Use this method to send video files, Telegram clients support mp4 videos (other formats may be sent as Document).

Kind: instance method of TelegramBot
See: https://core.telegram.org/bots/api#sendvideo

Param	Type	Description
chatId	Number | String	Unique identifier for the message recipient
A	String | stream.Stream	file path or a Stream. Can also be a file_id previously uploaded.
[options]	Object	Additional Telegram query options

telegramBot.sendVoice(chatId, voice, [options]) ⇒ Promise

Send voice

Kind: instance method of TelegramBot
See: https://core.telegram.org/bots/api#sendvoice

Param	Type	Description
chatId	Number | String	Unique identifier for the message recipient
voice	String | stream.Stream	A file path or a Stream. Can also be a file_id previously uploaded.
[options]	Object	Additional Telegram query options

telegramBot.sendChatAction(chatId, action) ⇒ Promise

Send chat action. typing for text messages, upload_photo for photos, record_video or upload_video for videos, record_audio or upload_audio for audio files, upload_document for general files, find_location for location data.

Kind: instance method of TelegramBot
See: https://core.telegram.org/bots/api#sendchataction

Param	Type	Description
chatId	Number | String	Unique identifier for the message recipient
action	String	Type of action to broadcast.

telegramBot.getUserProfilePhotos(userId, [offset], [limit]) ⇒ Promise

Use this method to get a list of profile pictures for a user. Returns a UserProfilePhotos object.

Kind: instance method of TelegramBot
See: https://core.telegram.org/bots/api#getuserprofilephotos

Param	Type	Description
userId	Number | String	Unique identifier of the target user
[offset]	Number	Sequential number of the first photo to be returned. By default, all photos are returned.
[limit]	Number	Limits the number of photos to be retrieved. Values between 1—100 are accepted. Defaults to 100.

telegramBot.sendLocation(chatId, latitude, longitude, [options]) ⇒ Promise

Send location. Use this method to send point on the map.

Kind: instance method of TelegramBot
See: https://core.telegram.org/bots/api#sendlocation

Param	Type	Description
chatId	Number | String	Unique identifier for the message recipient
latitude	Float	Latitude of location
longitude	Float	Longitude of location
[options]	Object	Additional Telegram query options

telegramBot.getFile(fileId) ⇒ Promise

Get file. Use this method to get basic info about a file and prepare it for downloading. Attention: link will be valid for 1 hour.

Kind: instance method of TelegramBot
See: https://core.telegram.org/bots/api#getfile

Param	Type	Description
fileId	String	File identifier to get info about

telegramBot.getFileLink(fileId) ⇒ Promise

Get link for file. Use this method to get link for file for subsequent use. Attention: link will be valid for 1 hour.

This method is a sugar extension of the (getFile)[#getfilefileid] method, which returns just path to file on remote server (you will have to manually build full uri after that).

Kind: instance method of TelegramBot
Returns: Promise - promise Promise which will have fileURI in resolve callback
See: https://core.telegram.org/bots/api#getfile

Param	Type	Description
fileId	String	File identifier to get info about

telegramBot.downloadFile(fileId, downloadDir) ⇒ Promise

Downloads file in the specified folder. This is just a sugar for (getFile)[#getfilefiled] method

Kind: instance method of TelegramBot
Returns: Promise - promise Promise, which will have filePath of downloaded file in resolve callback

Param	Type	Description
fileId	String	File identifier to get info about
downloadDir	String	Absolute path to the folder in which file will be saved

telegramBot.onText(regexp, callback)

Register a RegExp to test against an incomming text message.

Kind: instance method of TelegramBot

Param	Type	Description
regexp	RegExp	RegExp to be executed with exec.
callback	function	Callback will be called with 2 parameters, the msg and the result of executing regexp.exec on message text.

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