Why isn't my Telegram inline bot showing results despite successful API response?

Other Questions Telegram bot
1

Hey everyone! I’m struggling with my Telegram inline bot. It’s weird because the API says everything’s fine, but no results show up when I use it. The bot even gives me the ‘switch to PM’ button, so it’s kinda working?

I think the problem might be how I’m setting up the results array. Here’s a simplified version of what I’m doing:

bot.on_inline_query do |query|
  results = [
    {type: 'article', id: '1', title: 'First Option', message_text: 'You picked the first option'},
    {type: 'article', id: '2', title: 'Second Option', message_text: 'You chose the second option'}
  ]
  
  bot.answer_inline_query(query.id, results, cache_time: 1.day)
end

Can anyone spot what I’m doing wrong? Or suggest a better way to handle this? I’m totally stuck!

2

I experienced a similar issue recently and discovered that the problem wasn’t with the API response itself but how the result data was being handled. In my case, I realized that even minor oversights like a mistyped token or missing secure HTTPS calls could affect the display of results. I opted to add extra descriptive details into my result objects, which surprisingly contributed to resolving the issue. Additionally, I implemented logging for the API responses to catch subtle errors in the data structure. This approach ultimately led to the inline results appearing as expected.

3

hey mate, had same prob before. check ur bot settings in botfather, make sure inline mode is on. also, try adding a description to ur results like this:

results = [
{type: ‘article’, id: ‘1’, title: ‘First Option’, description: ‘Pick this one’, message_text: ‘You picked the first option’},

… rest of ur code

]

hope this helps!

4

I’ve encountered a similar issue before. The problem might be in how you’re structuring the results array. Telegram expects a specific format for inline query results. Try modifying your code to use InlineQueryResultArticle objects instead of plain hashes. Here’s an example:

bot.on_inline_query do |query|
  results = [
    Telegram::Bot::Types::InlineQueryResultArticle.new(
      id: '1',
      title: 'First Option',
      input_message_content: Telegram::Bot::Types::InputTextMessageContent.new(message_text: 'You picked the first option')
    ),
    Telegram::Bot::Types::InlineQueryResultArticle.new(
      id: '2',
      title: 'Second Option',
      input_message_content: Telegram::Bot::Types::InputTextMessageContent.new(message_text: 'You chose the second option')
    )
  ]

  bot.answer_inline_query(query.id, results)
end

This structure aligns more closely with what Telegram expects. Give it a try and see if it resolves your issue.