Why isn't my Telegram bot detecting forwarded messages?

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1

Help! My Telegram bot is ignoring forwarded messages

I recently set up a Telegram bot and it’s working great for direct messages. But there’s a problem. When someone forwards a message to the bot, it doesn’t seem to pick it up at all. I’m stumped!

Here’s how I’m getting updates:

$updates = json_decode(file_get_contents('php://input'));

After this, I handle the updates as usual. But only direct messages come through. Forwarded ones are nowhere to be seen.

Has anyone run into this before? Any suggestions on how to fix it? I’m pretty new to Telegram bots, so I might be missing something obvious. Thanks in advance for any help!

2

I encountered a similar issue with forwarded messages in my Telegram bot. The problem is likely in how you’re processing the updates. Forwarded messages have a different structure in the update object.

Try checking for the ‘forward_from’ field in the message object. If it exists, you’re dealing with a forwarded message. You might need to adjust your parsing logic to handle these differently.

Also, make sure you’ve enabled the appropriate permissions for your bot to receive all message types. In the BotFather settings, there’s an option to allow your bot to read all messages, not just commands.

If you’re still stuck, consider using a Telegram Bot API library. They often handle these edge cases more robustly than raw API calls.

3

I’ve dealt with this exact issue before. The key is understanding how Telegram handles forwarded messages in the API.

First, make sure you’re looking at the right part of the update object. Forwarded messages are typically nested under ‘message.forward_from’ or ‘message.forward_from_chat’.

Here’s a quick fix that worked for me:

$update = json_decode(file_get_contents('php://input'), true);
if (isset($update['message']['forward_from'])) {
    // Handle forwarded message
    $forwardedFrom = $update['message']['forward_from'];
    // Process accordingly
}

This should catch most forwarded messages. If it doesn’t work, double-check your bot’s privacy settings in BotFather. Sometimes, you need to explicitly allow it to receive all message types.

Lastly, consider logging all incoming updates for a while. This can help you spot any patterns or issues you might be missing.

4

hey there! i’ve seen this before. check ur webhook settings in BotFather. sometimes it doesn’t include forwarded msgs by default. Also, try printing the entire update object to see whats actually coming through. u might need to dig deeper into the json structure for forwarded stuff.