Creating your own Telegram bot

You do not need to create a bot. Your welcome mail has a link: open it on your phone and press Start. That is the whole setup. The steps below are only for people who want a bot with its own name and picture.

Optional: a bot of your own

1. Open Telegram on your phone and search for BotFather (the account with the blue check). Press Start.
2. Send /newbot. It asks for a name: type your assistant's name. Then a username: it must end in bot, for example nova_assistant_bot. If it is taken, try a variant.
3. BotFather answers with a long line like 123456789:AAH…. Tap it to copy it.
4. On your page, under Account → Create your bot: paste the line and press Connect. We check it with Telegram and store it encrypted.
5. You get a link to your bot. Open it on the phone that has Telegram and press Start. From that moment it is your assistant, and only your account can talk to it.

Good to know

• Giving it a picture is done at BotFather too: /setuserpic. Optional.
• Changing the name or username later is done at BotFather; your page follows.
• That long line is a key. Share it with nobody. Leaked? Ask BotFather for a new one with /token and paste it on your page.
• Need quiet? /pause in the chat stops every unprompted message until /resume.