Telegram bot remains stuck on 'Fetching updates...' and fails to launch the game

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1

I’m in the process of creating a Telegram bot that successfully checks commands and sends replies. However, it does not initiate the game when the start button is clicked; instead, it gets stuck displaying ‘Fetching updates…’ and does not proceed to process further messages or callbacks. Below is a condensed version of my Python implementation:

import requests
import time
import json

BOT_TOKEN = 'TOKEN'
GAME_ENDPOINT = 'https://www.yyyyyyy.info/index.html'

API_URL = f'https://api.telegram.org/bot{BOT_TOKEN}'
last_update_id = None  # Initializing last_update_id

def send_message(chat_id, message, button=None):
    api_url = f'{API_URL}/sendMessage'
    payload = {'chat_id': chat_id, 'text': message}
    if button:
        payload['reply_markup'] = json.dumps(button)
    requests.post(api_url, json=payload)


def respond_callback(callback_id, endpoint):
    response_link = f'{endpoint}?game_url={GAME_ENDPOINT}'
    req = requests.get(f'{API_URL}/answerCallbackQuery', params={'callback_query_id': callback_id, 'url': response_link})
    print(f'Response to Callback: {req.text}')


def initiate_game(chat_id):
    game_notification = 'Game is launching! Hang tight...'
    send_message(chat_id, game_notification)

while True:
    try:
        print('Fetching updates...')
        response_data = requests.get(f'{API_URL}/getUpdates', params={'offset': last_update_id}).json()
        if response_data.get('ok'):
            messages = response_data['result']
            print(f'Received messages: {messages}')  # Debug log for messages received
            for message in messages:
                print(f'Processing message: {message}')
                if 'message' in message:
                    chat_id = message['message']['chat']['id']
                    content = message['message'].get('text', '')

                    button_layout = {
                        'inline_keyboard': [[{'text': 'Start game', 'callback_data': 'init_game'}]]
                    }
                    if content == '/start' or content.startswith('/'): 
                        print(f'Sending greeting to chat {chat_id}')
                        send_message(chat_id, 'Greetings! Tap the button to start the game.', button_layout)
                    else:
                        print(f'Unknown command to chat {chat_id}')
                        send_message(chat_id, 'Command not recognized. Tap the button to start the game.', button_layout)
                elif 'callback_query' in message:
                    callback_id = message['callback_query']['id']
                    if message['callback_query']['data'] == 'init_game':
                        print(f'Handling callback {callback_id} to initiate game')
                        initiate_game(message['callback_query']['message']['chat']['id'])
                        respond_callback(callback_id, GAME_ENDPOINT)

                    # Update last_update_id after processing each callback_query
                    last_update_id = message['callback_query']['id'] + 1

                # Update last_update_id after processing each message
                last_update_id = message['update_id'] + 1
        else:
            print(f'Error in fetching updates: {response_data}')
    except Exception as e:
        print(f'An error occurred: {e}')
    time.sleep(1)  # Pause before next retrieval

The problem appears to relate to the last_update_id not updating correctly, leading to the bot fetching the same updates repeatedly. What changes should I make to my code to resolve this issue and allow the game to start when the ‘Start game’ button is clicked?

Feel free to make any necessary adjustments. Best of luck with your bot development!

2

From what I can see, it seems like the last_update_id might not be updating correctly after a callback query. One thing you might want to try is setting the last_update_id just once at the end of processing each update. You can maintain a list of update IDs, and then after processing all messages in the current batch, set last_update_id to max(update_ids) + 1. This way, you ensure it correctly skips already processed updates and continuously fetches new ones. Also, confirm that your callback query URLs are properly formatted and valid to avoid fetch issues related to network response errors.

3

it could be that the callback isn’t configured correctly. make sure the callback data 'init_game' matches perfectly. also, try checking if there’s an issue with ur endpoint. sometimes what u think is bot isn’t responding can just be an endpoint problem.