I’m having trouble with Markdown in my Python Telegram Bot. There are two versions (Markdown and Markdown_V2) and they don’t match the regular chat behavior. I’m confused about how to use bold and italic together, and if there are other formatting options like underline.
Here’s what I’ve tried:
test_string = '*Bold*, _italic_, *_bold and italic_*, **double bold**, __double italic__, __**double bold and double italic**__
bot.send_message(chat_id, test_string, parse_mode='Markdown')
bot.send_message(chat_id, test_string, parse_mode='MarkdownV2')
The results are different for each parse mode and also different from typing directly in the chat. Can someone explain how to use Markdown correctly in Telegram bots? Are there any good resources or documentation for this? Thanks for any help!
I’ve been down this Markdown rabbit hole with Telegram bots too. Here’s what I’ve learned:
MarkdownV2 is definitely the way to go. It’s more predictable and closer to what you see in the chat.
For formatting, stick to:
bold
italic
bold italic
Anything beyond that gets wonky. No double asterisks or underscores.
One gotcha to watch out for: MarkdownV2 is picky about special characters. You need to escape them with a backslash. So periods, exclamation marks, dashes - all that stuff needs a backslash in front.
The Telegram Bot API docs are your friend here. They’ve got all the nitty-gritty details on what works and what doesn’t.
Hope this helps you get your bot’s messages looking sharp!
yo tom, i feel ya. markdown in telegram can be a real pain. ive found that sticking to markdownv2 works best. just use bold and italic like this. combine em for both. dont bother with double asterisks or underscores, they dont work right. check out the telegram bot api docs for more info. good luck!
I’ve encountered similar issues with Markdown in Telegram bots. The key is to use MarkdownV2, which is more consistent. For bold, use asterisks (text), for italic use underscores (text), and combine them for both (text). Underline isn’t supported in bot messages.
Here’s a reliable format:
test_string = '*Bold*, _italic_, *_bold and italic_*'
bot.send_message(chat_id, test_string, parse_mode='MarkdownV2')
Remember to escape special characters with backslashes in MarkdownV2. The official Telegram Bot API documentation is the best resource for this. It details all supported formatting options and provides examples.