I’m building a Telegram bot for tracking car fuel expenses. When users log their data, they need to enter numbers like cost, fuel amount, and mileage.
My bot workflow works like this:
- Bot asks user for a number (like fuel cost or kilometers driven)
- User types their answer
- Bot converts the text to a number and moves to next question
Since users only enter numbers, I want to show them a number keypad to make typing faster and easier. I found one approach online but it creates a new message for every digit pressed, which isn’t practical.
Is there a way to display a numeric keypad in Telegram bots that lets users type complete numbers without creating multiple messages? I’d prefer not to build a separate web application if possible.
yep, its a bummer that you cant modify user keyboard. but using the reply keyboard with some quick number options could help. things like “under 50” or “50-100” make it faster. not ideal, but maybe a good compromise for your users.
Unfortunately, Telegram Bot API doesn’t support custom input methods or keyboards that modify the user’s device keyboard behavior. The numeric keypad display is controlled entirely by the user’s device and input field type, not by the bot itself. What you’re seeing with digit-by-digit inline keyboards is indeed the standard approach, but as you noted, it’s not practical for multi-digit numbers. The most efficient solution is actually to stick with regular text input and add input validation on your bot’s side. I’ve implemented similar expense tracking bots and found that users adapt quickly to typing numbers normally. You can improve the experience by providing clear format examples in your prompts (“Enter fuel cost in dollars, e.g. 45.30”) and implementing robust error handling that gently corrects invalid inputs without restarting the entire flow. Some developers use ReplyKeyboardMarkup with pre-set common values as shortcuts, but for precise tracking like mileage, free text input remains the most practical approach despite not having a numeric keypad.
I ran into this exact same issue when developing a bot for my small business invoicing. After trying various workarounds, I ended up implementing a hybrid approach that worked surprisingly well. Instead of forcing users through complex inline keyboards, I added quick-select buttons for common ranges alongside the regular text input option. For fuel costs, buttons like “$20-40”, “$40-60”, “$60+” let users either tap for approximate values or ignore them completely and type exact amounts. The key insight was that most users don’t mind typing numbers on mobile keyboards as much as we developers think they do. What really improved user experience was adding smart input parsing that accepts various formats like “45.5”, “45,50”, or even “45 dollars” and converts them automatically. Also implemented a simple correction feature where users can quickly fix mistakes without restarting the entire input sequence. This approach eliminated the frustration of multi-message digit selection while still providing shortcuts for quick entries.