How to implement reply functionality in Telegram bot API?

Other Questions Telegram bot
1

I’m having trouble figuring out how to use the reply_to_message feature in the Telegram bot API. Here’s my current PHP code:

function sendBotMessage($method, $data = []) {
    $apiUrl = 'https://api.telegram.org/bot' . BOT_TOKEN . '/' . $method;
    $curl = curl_init($apiUrl);
    curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_POST, true);
    curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, http_build_query($data));
    curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
    $response = curl_exec($curl);
    curl_close($curl);
    return json_decode($response, true);
}

$incomingMessage = json_decode(file_get_contents('php://input'), true);

if ($incomingMessage['message']['text'] === '/start') {
    sendBotMessage('sendMessage', [
        'chat_id' => $incomingMessage['message']['chat']['id'],
        'text' => 'Welcome!'
    ]);
}

Right now, when a user sends /start, the bot just sends a new message saying ‘Welcome!’. What I want is for the bot to reply directly to the user’s /start message with ‘Welcome!’. How can I modify my code to make this happen? I’m using a webhook setup. Thanks for any help!

2

Having worked with the Telegram Bot API, I can offer some advice on implementing the reply functionality. The key is to use the ‘reply_to_message_id’ parameter in your API call. Modify your sendBotMessage function to include this parameter:

function sendBotMessage($method, $data = []) {
    // ... existing code ...
    if (isset($incomingMessage['message']['message_id'])) {
        $data['reply_to_message_id'] = $incomingMessage['message']['message_id'];
    }
    // ... rest of the function ...
}

Then, your existing call to sendBotMessage will automatically reply to the user’s message. This approach is more flexible as it allows you to use the reply functionality for any message, not just the /start command. Remember to handle potential errors and edge cases in your implementation.

3

hey there! i’ve dealt with this before. you just need to add the ‘reply_to_message_id’ parameter to your sendBotMessage function. like this:

$data[‘reply_to_message_id’] = $incomingMessage[‘message’][‘message_id’];

add that before the curl stuff. then your bot will reply directly to the user’s message. easy peasy!

4

I’ve implemented reply functionality in Telegram bots before, and I can share some insights. The key is using the reply_to_message_id parameter in your API call. Here’s how you can modify your existing code:

In your sendBotMessage function, add reply_to_message_id to the $data array:

$data['reply_to_message_id'] = $incomingMessage['message']['message_id'];

Then, when calling sendBotMessage, you don’t need to specify it again:

sendBotMessage('sendMessage', [
    'chat_id' => $incomingMessage['message']['chat']['id'],
    'text' => 'Welcome!'
]);

This way, your bot will reply directly to the user’s message. Remember to handle cases where ‘message_id’ might not exist to avoid errors. Also, consider implementing error handling for API requests to make your bot more robust.