I didn’t include any SSL certificate in the setup. However, when users send messages to the bot, my endpoint at myserver.net/handler.php doesn’t receive any HTTP requests. The webhook seems to be set but messages aren’t being forwarded to my server.
Do I need to configure an SSL certificate for the webhook to work properly? What could be causing this issue where no requests reach my endpoint? I’m confused about whether certificates are mandatory for Telegram bot webhooks to function correctly.
Yes, SSL certificates are essential for Telegram webhooks. Telegram only interacts with HTTPS endpoints that have valid certificates; self-signed ones won’t work. I encountered this issue myself while setting up a bot and spent considerable time troubleshooting until I realized it was a certificate problem. Notably, setWebhook might succeed, but if there are SSL handshake issues, Telegram will not forward your messages. You can use getWebhookInfo in the API to check if calls are being made and if there are SSL errors. Using a legitimate certificate from Let’s Encrypt or your hosting provider will resolve the issue.
yep, u def need a valid SSL cert for the webhook to work! if ur setup looks good but msgs arent coming in, maybe there are issues with ur HTTPS setup or a firewall is blocking things. check that out!
The certificate requirement is definitely your main issue. Here’s what catches people off guard: even when setWebhook returns success, Telegram silently stops delivering messages if SSL validation fails on their end. I hit the same thing when I switched from polling to webhooks. Get a proper certificate first, but also make sure your server actually responds to POST requests at that endpoint. Test this by manually sending a POST request to your handler.php - see if it processes the data correctly. Check your server logs too. If Telegram’s trying to connect but failing on SSL, you’ll see failed connection attempts in your access logs.