I’m working with Telegram bot API and I noticed that the bot token gets sent as part of the URL in every API call. This makes me worried about security. I’m wondering if there’s any chance that hackers could grab my token while the request travels to Telegram’s servers.
Basically what I want to know is this: when I make HTTPS requests, does the encryption protect the entire URL including my bot token? Or is there still some risk that the token could be stolen during transmission?
I’ve been building a bot for my project and want to make sure I’m not exposing my credentials by accident. Any insights on how secure this setup really is would be helpful.
for sure, HTTPS does encrypt your token, but be careful not to leak it in other ways like saving in logs or pushing to Github. have seen peeps lose their bots this way haha. always better to be safe than sorry!
HTTPS encrypts the full URL path including your bot token, ensuring secure transmission to Telegram servers. However, actual security risks extend beyond just the transmission. Over my two years of experience managing production Telegram bots, I’ve learned that token exposure often occurs in server logs, browser history, and monitoring tools, which are critical vulnerabilities.
A significant concern is how and where your token is stored. Developers sometimes unintentionally expose tokens by committing them to public repositories or saving them in plain-text configuration files. Instead, it’s wise to use environment variables and regularly rotate your tokens via BotFather.
Keep in mind that possession of your token grants full control of your bot. Implement rigorous logging to detect unauthorized access patterns, and continuously monitor your bot’s activity for any signs of suspicious behavior, as this might indicate your token has been compromised.
HTTPS protects your token during transmission, but there’s another issue nobody’s mentioned yet. Your bot token will show up in server access logs on proxy servers or load balancers between you and Telegram’s API. This includes your own infrastructure logs if you’re running behind a reverse proxy. I’ve deployed bots in production and learned to use POST requests with the token in the request body instead of GET requests with tokens in URLs. This keeps sensitive data out of URL parameters that usually get logged. Telegram’s API supports both methods for most endpoints anyway. Also, add token validation checks when your app starts up. If your token gets compromised, you’ll spot weird activity patterns fast and can regenerate it through BotFather before any real damage happens.