Creating a Telegram bot using python-telegram-bot for group item management

Other Questions Telegram bot
1

I’m working on building a Telegram bot using the python-telegram-bot library and running into some issues. I want to create a bot that lets group members add items to a shared collection using a /register command. Each item should be stored with the owner’s name.

Right now I’m storing items in a dictionary where the item name is the key and the owner’s username is the value. Here’s my current code:

import logging
from telegram.ext import Updater
from telegram.ext import CommandHandler
from telegram.ext import MessageHandler, Filters

item_collection = {}

bot_updater = Updater(token='YOUR_BOT_TOKEN') 

bot_dispatcher = bot_updater.dispatcher

logging.basicConfig(format='%(asctime)s - %(name)s - %(levelname)s - %(message)s', level=logging.INFO)

bot_updater.start_polling()

def welcome(bot, update):
    bot.send_message(chat_id=update.message.chat_id, text="Hello! I'm here to help manage your group items!")

def store_item(bot, update):
    item_collection[update.message.text] = update.message.from_user.username

def handle_unknown(bot, update):
    bot.send_message(chat_id=update.message.chat_id, text="I don't recognize that command.")

def register(bot, update):
    bot.send_message(chat_id=update.message.chat_id, text="What item would you like to register?")
    bot_dispatcher.add_handler(MessageHandler(Filters.text, store_item))

bot_dispatcher.add_handler(CommandHandler('start', welcome))
bot_dispatcher.add_handler(CommandHandler('register', register))
bot_dispatcher.add_handler(MessageHandler(Filters.command, handle_unknown))

My problem is that I want the /register command to collect both the item name and owner name in sequence. I need the bot to ask for the item first, wait for the user’s response, then ask for the owner name, and wait for that response too. Is there a way to handle multiple message inputs synchronously within a single command function?

2

You’re facing a common challenge with conversational bots. The issue with your approach is that you’re adding handlers dynamically, which can lead to conflicts and disrupt the conversation flow. I’ve encountered a similar issue while developing an inventory bot. Implementing a state management system is key here. When a user invokes the /register command, store their user ID along with a status like ‘waiting_for_item’. By using a global state dictionary, you can manage the registration process for multiple users simultaneously without overlap.

3

Your problem is adding message handlers inside command functions - that creates conflicts and breaks conversation state tracking. I hit this same issue building a registration bot for my gaming community. Don’t add handlers dynamically. Use ConversationHandler from python-telegram-bot instead. Set up conversation states and transitions between them. Make separate functions for each registration step and use constants for states like WAITING_FOR_ITEM and WAITING_FOR_OWNER. ConversationHandler automatically manages the flow and keeps responses in the right context for each user, even when multiple people register at once.

4

Yeah, adding handlers inside functions is messy and breaks things. I ran into this with my Discord bot too. Use context.user_data to track each user’s registration progress instead of global dictionaries - way cleaner and handles multiple users registering at once without conflicts.