Issues with Telegram bot message delivery

Other Questions Telegram bot
1 
#include <stdio.h>
#include <curl/curl.h>

int main() {
    CURL *handle;
    CURLcode result;

    const char *api_key = "your_bot_token_here";
    const char *group_id = "1234567890";
    char endpoint[100];

    snprintf(endpoint, sizeof(endpoint), "https://api.telegram.org/bot%s/sendMessage", api_key);
    
    char payload[100];
    snprintf(payload, sizeof(payload), "chat_id=%s&text=%s", group_id, "Greetings");

    handle = curl_easy_init();
    if (handle) {
        curl_easy_setopt(handle, CURLOPT_URL, endpoint);
        curl_easy_setopt(handle, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, payload);

        result = curl_easy_perform(handle);
        curl_easy_cleanup(handle);

        if (result != CURLE_OK) {
            printf("Error: %s\n", curl_easy_strerror(result));
        }
    }
    
    printf("Result code: %d\n", result);

    return 0;
}

I’m having trouble with my Telegram bot. It’s not sending messages to my channel. I’ve double-checked the channel ID and made sure the bot has admin rights. The code runs without errors but nothing happens. Any ideas what could be wrong? I’m stuck and could use some help figuring this out.

2

I’ve run into this exact problem before with my own Telegram bot. One thing that’s not immediately obvious is that Telegram actually has different chat IDs for channels versus groups. For channels, you need to use the channel’s username (with the @ symbol) instead of a numeric ID. So instead of ‘1234567890’, try ‘@YourChannelName’.

Another gotcha is that Telegram’s API can be finicky about URL encoding. Make sure you’re properly encoding the message text, especially if it contains any special characters. You might want to use curl_easy_escape() to handle this.

Lastly, don’t forget to check the API response. Sometimes Telegram will return a 200 OK status even if the message wasn’t actually sent. Parse the JSON response to see if there are any error messages hiding in there.

Hope this helps! Let me know if you’re still stuck after trying these tweaks.

3

hey mate, i had similar probs. try using the channel username with @ instead of the numeric ID. Also, make sure ur message is URL encoded properly. Sometimes the API throws a fit with special chars. Check the full JSON response too, it might give u more clues. good luck!

4

I have encountered similar issues before when working with Telegram bots. One thing to verify is that your API key is correct and that the token hasn’t expired. It is also important to check that the chat_id is formatted properly; for channels, the identifier may need a specific prefix such as an ‘@’ symbol. Additionally, ensuring that the bot has the appropriate permissions in the channel is essential. Testing the bot by sending a message to a private chat can help isolate the problem. Enhancing error handling to capture and inspect the full API response may reveal further insights.