Retrieving Telegram usernames: Dealing with missing data

Other Questions Telegram bot
1

Help needed with Telegram Bot API and usernames

I’m working on a project that involves getting usernames from Telegram updates. But I’ve run into a weird problem.

When I try to access the username like this:

$username = $update['message']['from']['username'];

It works for some users, but for others, it’s just not there! It’s like the username field doesn’t exist for certain accounts.

Does anyone know why this happens? Is there a better way to get usernames that works for everyone? Maybe there’s some setting I’m missing or a different approach I should try?

I’d really appreciate any tips or explanations. It’s driving me crazy trying to figure out why some users have usernames and others don’t. Thanks in advance for any help!

2

hey jack, i’ve dealt with this before. some users just don’t set a username in telegram, so that field won’t exist. you could try using the user’s first name instead:

$username = $update[‘message’][‘from’][‘first_name’] ?? ‘Unknown’;

this way you’ll always get something, even if it’s not perfect. hope that helps!

3

I’ve been working with the Telegram Bot API for a while now, and this username issue is pretty common. Here’s what I’ve learned:

Not all Telegram users set a username, so you can’t rely on it being there. Instead, I’ve found it’s best to use a combination of fields to identify users.

In my projects, I typically use this approach:

$user_identifier = $update[‘message’][‘from’][‘id’];
$display_name = $update[‘message’][‘from’][‘username’] ?? $update[‘message’][‘from’][‘first_name’] . ’ ’ . ($update[‘message’][‘from’][‘last_name’] ?? ‘’);

This way, you always have a unique identifier (the user_id) for database operations, and a human-readable name for display purposes. It’s been pretty foolproof in my experience.

Just remember to handle cases where even first_name might be missing – it’s rare, but it can happen with some bot accounts.

4

Jack81, I’ve encountered this issue as well. It’s not a bug, but a feature of Telegram. Users aren’t required to set a username, which explains the inconsistency you’re experiencing. To handle this, you should implement a fallback mechanism. Here’s a robust approach:

$identifier = $update[‘message’][‘from’][‘username’] ?? $update[‘message’][‘from’][‘first_name’] ?? $update[‘message’][‘from’][‘id’] ?? ‘Unknown’;

This cascading method ensures you always get a unique identifier for each user, regardless of their profile settings. It prioritizes username, then falls back to first name, user ID, and finally ‘Unknown’ if all else fails. Remember to validate and sanitize this data before using it in your application.