Telegram · Send a message — Sends a message from your Telegram bot — posts text to a chat your bot is in: a person who has started it, a group, or a channel where it is an administrator.

Who can do this

Workspace Admins and Editors, on every plan. Viewers see the step's settings but cannot change them.

Before you start

  • A Telegram connection in this workspace — see Connect Telegram.
  • The bot let into the chat: the person has selected Start in the bot, or the bot is a member of the group, or an administrator of the channel.

Steps

  1. Select + where the message should be sent. In the step picker, open Apps, select Telegram, then Send a message. Or search Telegram.
  2. In Connection, choose your Telegram connection. If it is the only one, it is already chosen.
  3. In Chat, choose the chat — Chats the bot has seen. Or use a value — a chat id from the trigger. The list reads Loading your chats… first; each chat shows its name with Person, Group or Channel beside it.
  4. In Text, type the message. Use {{ }} for values from earlier steps.
  5. Under Format, choose Plain (the default), Markdown or HTML — see Formatting below.
  6. Optional: in Reply to message, a message id — Optional — a message id in the same chat. The message shows as a reply to it.
  7. Optional: under Buttons, select Add a field. Type the button's label — Open the order — and in Value the link it opens. A label and the link it opens.
  8. Optional: switch on Silent — Delivers without a sound.
  9. Select Run this step to send a test.

To take the chat from an earlier step instead, select Use a value beside Chat and type {{ }} — a chat id, or a public channel's username such as @consulace_updates. Choose from the list goes back. Refresh reloads the list after the bot joins a chat.

Formatting

  • Plain sends the text as it is.
  • Markdown uses Telegram's MarkdownV2: *bold*, _italic_, `code`, [a link](https://www.consulace.com). In this format Telegram reserves these characters, and each one meant literally needs a \ before it: _ * [ ] ( ) ~ > # + - = | { } . ! and the backtick — so Total: ₹4,999.00 is written Total: ₹4,999\.00.
  • HTML uses <b>bold</b>, <i>italic</i>, <code>code</code> and <a href="https://www.consulace.com">a link</a>. Write &lt; and &amp; for a literal < and &.

When a value from an earlier step might contain those characters, Plain is the safe choice.

Output

Field What it is
id The message's id in the chat. Edit, delete, pin or reply to it with this.
chatId The chat's id.
chat The chat's title, or the person's username or first name.
text The message as sent.
date When Telegram took it, in UTC — for example 2026-10-02T09:30:00Z.

Later steps read it as, for example, {{ steps.send_a_message.id }}.

Good to know

  • Runs once per item. Ten items send ten messages.
  • Up to 4,096 characters in one message — Telegram's limit.
  • Buttons only open links. Each button sits on its own row; only https and http links are used, and a row without a link is left out.
  • The message comes from the bot, with its name and picture — not from you.
  • A person must start the bot first. A bot cannot write to someone who has never opened it.

If something goes wrong

What you see Why What to do
Telegram refused: Bad Request: chat not found The id is wrong, or the bot is not in that chat. Choose the chat from the list, or add the bot to it.
Telegram refused: Forbidden: bot can't initiate conversation with a user. The person has never selected Start in the bot. Ask them to open the bot and select Start. The connection is fine.
Telegram refused: Forbidden: bot was blocked by the user. The person blocked the bot. They unblock it in Telegram. The connection is fine.
Telegram refused: Forbidden: bot is not a member of the channel chat. The bot is not an administrator of the channel. Add it as an administrator with Post messages.
Telegram refused: Bad Request: can't parse entities: … Markdown or HTML text with a character that needs escaping, or a tag left open. Escape the character, or choose Plain.
Telegram refused: Bad Request: message to be replied not found Reply to message names a message not in this chat. Check the id, or clear the field.
Telegram refused: Too Many Requests: retry after 5 The bot sent too fast to one chat. Set If this step fails to try again, or send fewer messages.
Chat is empty when the step ran — an earlier step may not have given the value it names. / Text is empty when the step ran — … The value came out empty. Check the values it reads.
Telegram refused: Unauthorized. Check the connection's details on Connections. The bot's token was changed with /revoke. Revoke the connection and reconnect it with the new token.