Hi everyone! I’m working on a Telegram bot and I’m stuck on something. How can I get the chat IDs for all past conversations with my bot? Even the ones from previous runs?
Here’s my problem:
My bot chats with User A
I stop the bot and restart it
Now I want to find User A’s chat ID
I know I can get the ID when a user messages the bot. But what if User A doesn’t send any new messages? Is there a way to get their old chat ID?
Do I have to save the IDs somewhere myself? Or is there a built-in way to access this info?
I’d really appreciate any help or ideas! Thanks in advance!
As someone who’s worked on Telegram bots before, I can tell you that accessing past chat IDs after a restart isn’t straightforward. The Telegram API doesn’t provide a built-in method for this.
Your best bet is to implement a persistent storage solution. Every time a user interacts with your bot, save their chat ID to a database (SQL or NoSQL, depending on your needs). This way, you can retrieve these IDs even after restarting the bot.
Remember to handle this data responsibly, complying with privacy regulations. Also, consider implementing a cleanup mechanism to remove inactive users’ IDs after a certain period.
This approach has worked well for me in production environments, ensuring continuity in bot interactions across restarts.
As someone who’s been in your shoes, I can tell you that accessing past chat IDs after a bot restart isn’t built into the Telegram API. Your best bet is to implement your own storage solution.
What I’ve found works well is setting up a simple database (even a JSON file can do the trick for smaller projects) to store chat IDs as users interact with your bot. This way, you can easily retrieve these IDs after a restart.
Just remember to handle the data carefully - you don’t want to run afoul of privacy regulations. Also, consider implementing a system to clean out inactive users’ IDs periodically to keep your storage manageable.
This approach has served me well in my projects, ensuring I can maintain user interactions across bot restarts without a hitch.
hey mate, i’ve dealt with this before. u gotta save those chat IDs urself, telegram doesn’t keep em for u after restarts. best bet is to use a database (even a simple one) to store IDs when users chat with ur bot. that way u can grab em anytime, even after restarts. just be careful with the data, ya know?