How to include a Telegram bot in a group chat?

Other Questions Telegram bot
1

I’m talking to my bot one-on-one right now. I want it to show a button that lets users pick a chat. I got this part working:

var chooseGroupBtn = new InlineKeyboardButton("Join Group");
chooseGroupBtn.SwitchInlineQuery = "test123";
chooseGroupBtn.CallbackData = null;
chooseGroupBtn.Url = null;

var keyboardLayout = new InlineKeyboardMarkup(new[]
{
    new[] // top row
    {
        chooseGroupBtn
    },
});

But I’m stuck on the next step. How do I make the bot join the chat that the user picks? Any help would be great!

2

I’ve implemented this functionality in a recent project and found that the key is to use the exportChatInviteLink method to generate an invite link for the chosen group, then have the bot join using that link.

When the user selects a group, first capture the chat ID. Next, use bot.telegram.exportChatInviteLink(chatId) to obtain an invite link, and finally, join the chat with bot.telegram.joinChat(inviteLink). Remember to handle permissions since the bot requires admin rights in the group to generate invite links, and include robust error handling for scenarios where the bot cannot join or the invite creation fails. This approach has worked reliably across various bot implementations.

3

As someone who’s recently gone through this process, I can share what worked for me. After the user selects a group, you’ll need to handle the callback query. In my experience, it’s crucial to first check if the bot has the necessary permissions in the selected group.

Here’s a snippet that might help:

bot.on('callback_query', async (ctx) => {
  const chatId = ctx.callbackQuery.message.chat.id;
  
  try {
    const chatMember = await ctx.telegram.getChatMember(chatId, ctx.botInfo.id);
    if (chatMember.status === 'administrator') {
      await ctx.telegram.sendMessage(chatId, 'I\'ve joined the group!');
    } else {
      await ctx.answerCallbackQuery('I need to be an admin in the group to join.');
    }
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Error joining chat:', error);
    await ctx.answerCallbackQuery('Sorry, I couldn\'t join the group. Please try again.');
  }
});

This approach has been reliable in my projects. Remember to handle rate limiting and other potential API restrictions.

4

hey miar, i’ve done this before. after the user picks a group, you’ll need to use the bot API’s joinChat method. you’ll need the chat ID tho. here’s a rough idea:

bot.onChosenInlineResult(async (ctx) => {
  const chatId = ctx.chosenInlineResult.chat.id;
  await bot.telegram.joinChat(chatId);
});

hope that helps!