Can a Telegram Bot send messages that only the command sender sees in a group chat? Is it possible to hide bot responses from other members of the chat?
hey dancingbird, u cant really hide a bot reply in grps. you can send a pvt message tho, so only the user sees it. group msgs are always public
Telegram does not provide a mechanism for sending hidden messages directly in group chats. In my experience developing bots, the only effective approach is to use the private messaging method. Once a command is detected in the group, the bot should send the response in a private chat. This requires tracking the sender’s identification and then initiating a separate conversation. Unfortunately, group messages are inherently public, so shifting to private messages is the only viable solution to maintain some level of confidentiality for the command sender.
During my time working on Telegram bots for several projects, I encountered the same challenge. I had to implement a mechanism whereby, upon receiving a command in a group, the bot immediately triggered a separate private message. While this ensured that the response was not visible to the entire group, it required careful handling of the user IDs and message synchronization. Learning the limitations of group messaging pushed me to explore alternative formatting, such as inline buttons, to make the bot more interactive while still maintaining confidentiality.
Telegram groups do not allow messages to be concealed once posted. In one project, I experimented with an approach where the bot posted a message in the group and then immediately deleted it after sending a private reply. This method showed slight improvement by limiting the exposure window, but it is not foolproof because of timing issues and the need for administrative rights. The most reliable method remains extracting the user information and sending a direct message in response to the command, ensuring that the details are only visible to the intended recipient.
hey dancingbird, tried using inline mode but it still doesn’t mask msgs. really, pvt messages are your only safe bet. sorry, but thats how telegram works atm.