No data received from Telegram Bot API webhook

Other Questions Telegram bot
1

I’m having trouble with my Telegram Bot API project in Laravel. I set up a webhook, but it’s not receiving any data from Telegram.

Here’s what I did:

  1. Created a route in web.php to send messages
  2. Set up an API route for the webhook
  3. Made a WebhookController to handle incoming data

I tested sending messages and clicking buttons in the bot. Then I tried making a POST request to my webhook URL using Postman. But I always get an empty response.

My main goal is to collect user chat IDs when they interact with the bot. Any ideas why I’m not getting any data?

Here’s a simplified version of my code:

// WebhookController
public function handleWebhook(Request $request) {
    $data = $request->all();
    Log::info('Webhook data:', $data);
    return response()->json(['status' => 'ok']);
}

// api.php
Route::post('/bot/webhook', [WebhookController::class, 'handleWebhook']);

What am I missing? How can I debug this?

2

hey mate, have u checked ur firewall settings? sometimes they can block incoming webhook requests. also, make sure ur webhook URL is correct and accessible. u could try using ngrok for testing if ur developing locally. good luck!

3

I’ve encountered similar issues with Telegram webhooks before. One crucial step you might have missed is setting the webhook URL on Telegram’s side. Use the setWebhook method in the Telegram Bot API to tell Telegram where to send updates.

Try this:
https://api.telegram.org/bot<YOUR_BOT_TOKEN>/setWebhook?url=https://your-domain.com/bot/webhook

Replace <YOUR_BOT_TOKEN> and the URL with your actual bot token and webhook endpoint.

Also, ensure your server is accessible from the internet and has a valid SSL certificate. Telegram only sends webhook requests over HTTPS.

If you’re still not receiving data, check your server logs for any incoming requests. Sometimes the issue is with how the data is being processed rather than it not being received at all.

4

I’ve been there, mate. Telegram webhooks can be tricky. One thing that helped me was double-checking the bot’s privacy settings. Make sure you’ve enabled the ability to read all messages for your bot in BotFather settings.

Also, have you tried logging the raw request data? Sometimes the data structure isn’t what you expect. Try this:

Log::info('Raw webhook data: ’ . $request->getContent());

This helped me spot some unexpected data formats.

Lastly, don’t forget to check your Laravel logs (/storage/logs/laravel.log) for any errors. Sometimes Laravel throws exceptions that don’t show up in the response.

Keep at it, you’ll crack it soon!