I’m building a Telegram bot using Python and running into issues with handling multiple users at once. Here’s my problem: when my bot asks user A a question and waits for their reply, user B might send a message before user A responds. This creates a mess because the bot doesn’t know which response belongs to which user.
The tricky part is how Telegram’s update system works. Each update has an offset number, and when you process updates with a certain offset, all previous updates get deleted automatically. So if I handle update #5, updates #1-4 disappear forever.
What’s the cleanest way to manage this situation? I need my bot to track questions for different users simultaneously without losing messages or mixing up responses. Any suggestions for handling this multi-user scenario properly?
That offset thing is actually a common misconception. When you use getUpdates with an offset, you’re not losing messages - you’re just acknowledging you’ve processed them. The trick is processing ALL updates in each batch before moving to the next offset. For multiple users, I’d go with a state machine approach. Make a UserState class that tracks where each user is in the conversation and what input type they should send next. Store these states in memory using user_id as the key. When an update comes in, check the user’s current state first, then process their message. One thing I learned the hard way: always validate that the incoming message type matches what you expect for that user’s state. If user A should send a photo but sends text instead, handle it gracefully instead of breaking everything.
yeah, i totally agree! using dictionary with user_id is super helpful. that way, you won’t mix up replies. just make sure to update their state as they respond. has worked well for me too!
Hit this exact issue building my first bot. A proper conversation handler fixes everything. Treat each user as their own session instead of wrestling with global state. I built a simple ConversationManager class that keeps separate contexts for each user_id. When messages come in: grab the user, pull their current state, process the message based on that state, then update it. The crucial bit is keeping your message processing stateless - each update needs everything required to generate the right response. Don’t forget timeouts for stale conversations or you’ll leak memory from users who bail mid-chat. Also watch out for users sending random commands during conversations - decide upfront whether you’ll reset their state or queue the command.