Getting user details like username and name in a Python Telegram bot

Other Questions Telegram bot
1

I’m working on a Telegram bot using the Python-Telegram-Bot library. I’ve figured out how to get the user’s chat ID with update.message.chat_id, but I’m stuck on getting other user info.

What I really need is a way to fetch the username, first name, or last name of the person interacting with my bot. I checked Telegram’s docs and saw something about getChatMember, but I’m not sure how to use it in my code.

I tried bot.getChat(update.message.chat_id), but it didn’t work. Can anyone help me figure out the right way to get this user info in my Python Telegram bot? I’d really appreciate some code examples or tips on how to do this correctly.

Here’s a basic example of what I’m trying to do:

from telegram.ext import Updater, CommandHandler

def get_user_info(update, context):
    # This is where I need help
    user_id = update.message.from_user.id
    # How do I get username, first name, last name?
    context.bot.send_message(chat_id=update.effective_chat.id, text='User info here')

def main():
    updater = Updater('YOUR_BOT_TOKEN', use_context=True)
    dp = updater.dispatcher
    dp.add_handler(CommandHandler('userinfo', get_user_info))
    updater.start_polling()
    updater.idle()

if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

Any help would be great. Thanks!

2

hey AdventurousHiker17, i can help u with that! just use update.message.from_user to get the info ur after. like this:

username = update.message.from_user.username
first_name = update.message.from_user.first_name
last_name = update.message.from_user.last_name

easy peasy! hope that helps :slight_smile:

3

I’ve been working with Python Telegram bots for a while, and I can share some insights on getting user details. The simplest way is indeed using update.message.from_user, as mentioned before. However, it’s worth noting that some users might have privacy settings that restrict access to certain information.

In my experience, it’s good practice to handle cases where some attributes might be None. For example:

username = update.message.from_user.username or ‘Not set’
first_name = update.message.from_user.first_name or ‘Not provided’
last_name = update.message.from_user.last_name or ‘Not provided’

This approach ensures your bot doesn’t crash if a user hasn’t set a username or has restricted access to their name. Also, remember to respect user privacy and only collect information that’s necessary for your bot’s functionality. If you need more detailed info, you might want to look into using inline keyboards to request additional details from users directly.

4

As someone who’s been developing Telegram bots for a while, I can shed some light on your question. The simplest way to get user details is through the update.message.from_user object. It contains all the basic info you need.

Here’s how you can modify your get_user_info function:

def get_user_info(update, context):
    user = update.message.from_user
    user_info = f'ID: {user.id}\nUsername: {user.username}\nName: {user.first_name} {user.last_name}'
    context.bot.send_message(chat_id=update.effective_chat.id, text=user_info)

This approach is straightforward and reliable. Just remember, some users might have privacy settings that limit available information. It’s good practice to handle cases where certain fields might be None to avoid errors in your bot’s operation.