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This page is auto-generated from plugins/adapters/telegram/README.md. Please edit the in-package README and then run pnpm sync:adapter-docs.

@zhin.js/adapter-telegram

Zhin.js Telegram Bot API adapter (Plugin Runtime). By default, it sends and receives messages via long polling getUpdates (no host required).

Features

• Long polling getUpdates inbound (default; no public IP / host-http required)
• Parses text / image / video / audio / voice / document / sticker / location / callback_query
• Supports private chat and groups
• Outbound send({ target, payload }) -> Bot API (text / media / keyboard)
• Convention-based defineAdapter / definePlugin (no usePlugin needed)
• Webhook mode deferred (requires httpHostToken); configuring polling: false will produce an explicit error

Installation

pnpm add @zhin.js/adapter-telegram

Plugin Runtime

• @zhin.js/adapter — convention-based adapters/telegram.ts (defineAdapter)
• @zhin.js/core — messageGatewayToken inbound/outbound
• @zhin.js/plugin-runtime — plugin.ts (definePlugin)
• Configuration goes to plugins.<instanceKey> via the plugin's schema.json
• Does not require @zhin.js/host-http (polling path)

Inbound: gateway.receive({ adapter, target: chatId, content: text, sender, metadata }) Outbound: send({ target, payload }) -> Telegram Bot API

Platform Permissions (platform permit)

• Sender role has been restored: for group messages, inbound uses getChatMember (60s cache) to resolve the sender, writing to metadata.senderRole / metadata.senderPermissions.
• plugin.ts registers a checker during generation setup and unregisters on dispose; Plugin Runtime CapabilityIngress and ToolSystem uniformly consume permissions via Core's canAccessTool().

Prerequisites

Requirement	Description
Bot Token	Create and obtain a Token via @BotFather
Polling (default)	Works for both local and production; actively pulls updates, no public HTTPS needed
Network	Outbound must be able to reach api.telegram.org
host-http	Not needed for Polling; Webhook deferred to next milestone

Required fields (endpoints[i]): name, token.

Minimal Configuration

# zhin.config.yml (Plugin Runtime)
plugins:
  telegram:
    # polling: true   # default
    endpoints:
      - name: my-telegram-bot
        token: ${TELEGRAM_TOKEN}

The root plugin zhin.plugins (or project graph) must reference @zhin.js/adapter-telegram (instanceKey: telegram).

Environment Variables

Variable	Description
TELEGRAM_TOKEN / TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN	Bot Token
TELEGRAM_BOT_NAME	Optional, default endpoint name

Webhook (deferred)

polling: false + webhook currently throws an explicit error:

Telegram webhook mode is deferred until httpHostToken wiring; use polling: true (default) for now

The next milestone will register a POST route via httpHostToken, instead of using Telegraf's self-hosted listener or the legacy host-router.

Message Type Mapping

Telegram	Inbound content (text summary)	Outbound wire
text	Original text	sendMessage
photo	[image] / caption	sendPhoto (file_id / url)
video	[video]	sendVideo
audio / voice	[audio] / [voice]	sendAudio / sendVoice
document	[file: name]	sendDocument
sticker	[sticker: ...]	sendSticker
location	[location: lat,lon]	sendLocation
callback_query	[action: data]	—

AI Tools

Kind	Path
Platform tools (10)	agent/tools/ (invite / pin / admins / sticker / poll, etc.)
Skill doc	agent/skills/telegram.md

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Investigation
Not receiving messages	Check if the token is correct; ensure the process has called open(); do not run multiple processes polling with the same token
Polling errors	Check if api.telegram.org is reachable; review logs for op: poll
Webhook configuration error	Only polling is currently supported; remove polling: false
Send failure	Check if the token has been revoked; review the Bot API error description

Documentation

• Telegram adapter on zhin.js.org
• Adapters overview

License

MIT