I’m working with Telegram bot API and I have concerns about security. When I make API calls to Telegram servers, my bot token gets included in the URL parameters for every request.
I’m wondering if this approach is safe from a security standpoint. Could someone potentially intercept my bot token while the request is traveling from my server to Telegram’s servers?
Basically, I need to understand whether HTTPS encryption covers the entire URL including query parameters, or if there’s any vulnerability during transmission that could expose my bot credentials to attackers.
Has anyone dealt with similar security concerns when building Telegram bots? What’s the best practice for keeping tokens secure during API communication?
HTTPS encrypts the full URL, but I’d worry more about your server logs. Most web servers log complete URLs by default, so your token’s probably sitting in plain text in the access logs. Just switch to POST instead of GET - keeps tokens out of URLs completely and it’s cleaner for production.
I’ve run several Telegram bots in production, and yeah, HTTPS protects your token during transmission, but there’s more to worry about. Found out the hard way that tokens in URLs can leak through referrer headers when your bot hits external APIs or loads resources from other domains. Plus, any monitoring tools or analytics you’re using might capture the full URLs with tokens.
What works for me is setting up a middleware layer that handles token auth separately from the main request flow. Use environment variables or secure config files and keep tokens out of URLs completely. Telegram’s docs actually recommend POST requests with tokens in headers for production anyway - kills most of these edge cases and works just as well.
HTTPS encrypts the entire URL including query parameters, ensuring that your bot token is safe during transmission to Telegram’s servers. However, you should be aware of certain security concerns. The token may appear in server logs on your end and could be present in proxy logs if you utilize intermediary services. When making requests from a browser, the URL containing the token can be visible in browser history or developer tools. For production bots, it is advisable to use POST requests with the token in the request body rather than in URL parameters, even though Telegram’s API permits both methods. Additionally, ensure that the token is stored securely on your server and not hardcoded in your source code. The HTTPS transmission is secure, but the token’s exposure in logs poses significant security risks.