# pyTelegramBotAPI
A simple, but extensible Python implementation for the [Telegram Bot API](https://core.telegram.org/bots/api).
[](https://pypi.python.org/pypi/pyTelegramBotAPI)
[](https://travis-ci.org/eternnoir/pyTelegramBotAPI)
[](https://pypi.python.org/pypi/pyTelegramBotAPI)
* [Getting started.](#getting-started)
* [Writing your first bot](#writing-your-first-bot)
* [Prerequisites](#prerequisites)
* [A simple echo bot](#a-simple-echo-bot)
* [General API Documentation](#general-api-documentation)
* [Types](#types)
* [Methods](#methods)
* [General use of the API](#general-use-of-the-api)
* [Message handlers](#message-handlers)
* [TeleBot](#telebot)
* [Reply markup](#reply-markup)
* [Inline Mode](#inline-mode)
* [Advanced use of the API](#advanced-use-of-the-api)
* [Asynchronous delivery of messages](#asynchronous-delivery-of-messages)
* [Sending large text messages](#sending-large-text-messages)
* [Controlling the amount of Threads used by TeleBot](#controlling-the-amount-of-threads-used-by-telebot)
* [The listener mechanism](#the-listener-mechanism)
* [Using web hooks](#using-web-hooks)
* [Logging](#logging)
* [F.A.Q.](#faq)
* [How can I distinguish a User and a GroupChat in message.chat?](#how-can-i-distinguish-a-user-and-a-groupchat-in-messagechat)
* [The Telegram Chat Group](#the-telegram-chat-group)
* [More examples](#more-examples)
* [Bots using this API](#bots-using-this-api)
## Getting started.
This API is tested with Python 2.6, Python 2.7, Python 3.4, Pypy and Pypy 3.
There are two ways to install the library:
* Installation using pip (a Python package manager)*:
```
$ pip install pyTelegramBotAPI
```
* Installation from source (requires git):
```
$ git clone https://github.com/eternnoir/pyTelegramBotAPI.git
$ cd pyTelegramBotAPI
$ python setup.py install
```
It is generally recommended to use the first option.
**While the API is production-ready, it is still under development and it has regular updates, do not forget to update it regularly by calling `pip install pytelegrambotapi --upgrade`*
## Writing your first bot
### Prerequisites
It is presumed that you [have obtained an API token with @BotFather](https://core.telegram.org/bots#botfather). We will call this token `TOKEN`.
Furthermore, you have basic knowledge of the Python programming language and more importantly [the Telegram Bot API](https://core.telegram.org/bots/api).
### A simple echo bot
The TeleBot class (defined in \__init__.py) encapsulates all API calls in a single class. It provides functions such as `send_xyz` (`send_message`, `send_document` etc.) and several ways to listen for incoming messages.
Create a file called `echo_bot.py`.
Then, open the file and create an instance of the TeleBot class.
```python
import telebot
bot = telebot.TeleBot("TOKEN")
```
*Note: Make sure to actually replace TOKEN with your own API token.*
After that declaration, we need to register some so-called message handlers. Message handlers define filters which a message must pass. If a message passes the filter, the decorated function is called and the incoming message is passed as an argument.
Let's define a message handler which handles incoming `/start` and `/help` commands.
```python
@bot.message_handler(commands=['start', 'help'])
def send_welcome(message):
bot.reply_to(message, "Howdy, how are you doing?")
```
A function which is decorated by a message handler __can have an arbitrary name, however, it must have only one parameter (the message)__.
Let's add another handler:
```python
@bot.message_handler(func=lambda m: True)
def echo_all(message):
bot.reply_to(message, message.text)
```
This one echoes all incoming text messages back to the sender. It uses a lambda function to test a message. If the lambda returns True, the message is handled by the decorated function. Since we want all messages to be handled by this function, we simply always return True.
*Note: all handlers are tested in the order in which they were declared*
We now have a basic bot which replies a static message to "/start" and "/help" commands and which echoes the rest of the sent messages. To start the bot, add the following to our source file:
```python
bot.polling()
```
Alright, that's it! Our source file now looks like this:
```python
import telebot
bot = telebot.TeleBot("TOKEN")
@bot.message_handler(commands=['start', 'help'])
def send_welcome(message):
bot.reply_to(message, "Howdy, how are you doing?")
@bot.message_handler(func=lambda message: True)
def echo_all(message):
bot.reply_to(message, message.text)
bot.polling()
```
To start the bot, simply open up a terminal and enter `python echo_bot.py` to run the bot! Test it by sending commands ('/start' and '/help') and arbitrary text messages.
## General API Documentation
### Types
All types are defined in types.py. They are all completely in line with the [Telegram API's definition of the types](https://core.telegram.org/bots/api#available-types), except for the Message's `from` field, which is renamed to `from_user` (because `from` is a Python reserved token). Thus, attributes such as `message_id` can be accessed directly with `message.message_id`. Note that `message.chat` can be either an instance of `User` or `GroupChat` (see [How can I distinguish a User and a GroupChat in message.chat?](#how-can-i-distinguish-a-user-and-a-groupchat-in-messagechat)).
The Message object also has a `content_types`attribute, which defines the type of the Message. `content_types` can be one of the following strings:
'text', 'audio', 'document', 'photo', 'sticker', 'video', 'voice', 'location', 'contact', 'new_chat_participant', 'left_chat_participant', 'new_chat_title', 'new_chat_photo', 'delete_chat_photo', 'group_chat_created'.
### Methods
All [API methods](https://core.telegram.org/bots/api#available-methods) are located in the TeleBot class. They are renamed to follow common Python naming conventions. E.g. `getMe` is renamed to `get_me` and `sendMessage` to `send_message`.
### General use of the API
Outlined below are some general use cases of the API.
#### Message handlers
A message handler is a function that is decorated with the `message_handler` decorator of a TeleBot instance. Message handlers consist of one or multiple filters.
Each filter much return True for a certain message in order for a message handler to become eligible to handle that message. A message handler is declared in the following way (provided `bot` is an instance of TeleBot):
```python
@bot.message_handler(filters)
def function_name(message):
bot.reply_to(message, "This is a message handler")
```
`function_name` is not bound to any restrictions. Any function name is permitted with message handlers. The function must accept at most one argument, which will be the message that the function must handle.
`filters` is a list of keyword arguments.
A filter is declared in the following manner: `name=argument`. One handler may have multiple filters.
TeleBot supports the following filters:
|name|argument(s)|Condition|
|:---:|---| ---|
|content_types|list of strings (default `['text']`)|`True` if message.content_type is in the list of strings.|
|regexp|a regular expression as a string|`True` if `re.search(regexp_arg)` returns `True` and `message.content_type == 'text'` (See [Python Regular Expressions](https://docs.python.org/2/library/re.html)|
|commands|list of strings|`True` if `message.content_type == 'text'` and `message.text` starts with a command that is in the list of strings.|
|func|a function (lambda or function reference)|`True` if the lambda or function reference returns `True`
Here are some examples of using the filters and message handlers:
```python
import telebot
bot = telebot.TeleBot("TOKEN")
# Handles all text messages that contains the commands '/start' or '/help'.
@bot.message_handler(commands=['start', 'help'])
def handle_start_help(message):
pass
# Handles all sent documents and audio files
@bot.message_handler(content_types=['document', 'audio'])
def handle_docs_audio(message):
pass
# Handles all text messages that match the regular expression
@bot.message_handler(regexp="SOME_REGEXP")
def handle_message(message):
pass
#Handles all messages for which the lambda returns True
@bot.message_handler(func=lambda message: message.document.mime_type == 'text/plain', content_types=['document'])
def handle_text_doc(message):
pass
#Which could also be defined as:
def test_message(message):
return message.document.mime_type == 'text/plan'
@bot.message_handler(func=test_message, content_types=['document'])
def handle_text_doc(message)
pass
# Handlers can be stacked to create a function which will be called if either message_handler is eligible
# This handler will be called if the message starts with '/hello' OR is some emoji
@bot.message_handler(commands=['hello'])
@bot.message_handler(func=lambda msg: msg.text.encode("utf-8") == SOME_FANCY_EMOJI)
def send_something(message):
pass
```
**Important: all handlers are tested in the order in which they were declared**
#### TeleBot
```python
import telebot
TOKEN = ''
tb = telebot.TeleBot(TOKEN) #create a new Telegram Bot object
# Upon calling this function, TeleBot starts polling the Telegram servers for new messages.
# - none_stop: True/False (default False) - Don't stop polling when receiving an error from the Telegram servers
# - interval: True/False (default False) - The interval between polling requests
# Note: Editing this parameter harms the bot's response time
# - block: True/False (default True) - Blocks upon calling this function
tb.polling(none_stop=False, interval=0, block=True)
# getMe
user = tb.get_me()
# setWebhook
tb.set_webhook(url="http://example.com", certificate=open('mycert.pem'))
# unset webhook
tb.remove_webhook()
# getUpdates
updates = tb.get_updates()
updates = tb.get_updates(1234,100,20) #get_Updates(offset, limit, timeout):
# sendMessage
tb.send_message(chatid, text)
# forwardMessage
tb.forward_message(to_chat_id, from_chat_id, message_id)
# All send_xyz functions which can take a file as an argument, can also take a file_id instead of a file.
# sendPhoto
photo = open('/tmp/photo.png', 'rb')
tb.send_photo(chat_id, photo)
tb.send_photo(chat_id, "FILEID")
# sendAudio
audio = open('/tmp/audio.mp3', 'rb')
tb.send_audio(chat_id, audio)
tb.send_audio(chat_id, "FILEID")
## sendAudio with duration, performer and title.
tb.send_audio(CHAT_ID, file_data, 1, 'eternnoir', 'pyTelegram')
# sendVoice
voice = open('/tmp/voice.ogg', 'rb')
tb.send_voice(chat_id, voice)
tb.send_voice(chat_id, "FILEID")
# sendDocument
doc = open('/tmp/file.txt', 'rb')
tb.send_document(chat_id, doc)
tb.send_document(chat_id, "FILEID")
# sendSticker
sti = open('/tmp/sti.webp', 'rb')
tb.send_sticker(chat_id, sti)
tb.send_sticker(chat_id, "FILEID")
# sendVideo
video = open('/tmp/video.mp4', 'rb')
tb.send_video(chat_id, video)
tb.send_video(chat_id, "FILEID")
# sendLocation
tb.send_location(chat_id, lat, lon)
# sendChatAction
# action_string can be one of the following strings: 'typing', 'upload_photo', 'record_video', 'upload_video',
# 'record_audio', 'upload_audio', 'upload_document' or 'find_location'.
tb.send_chat_action(chat_id, action_string)
# getFile
# Downloading a file is straightforward
# Returns a File object
import requests
file_info = tb.get_file(file_id)
file = requests.get('https://api.telegram.org/file/bot{0}/{1}'.format(API_TOKEN, file_info.file_path))
```
#### Reply markup
All `send_xyz` functions of TeleBot take an optional `reply_markup` argument. This argument must be an instance of `ReplyKeyboardMarkup`, `ReplyKeyboardHide` or `ForceReply`, which are defined in types.py.
```python
from telebot import types
# Using the ReplyKeyboardMarkup class
# It's constructor can take the following optional arguments:
# - resize_keyboard: True/False (default False)
# - one_time_keyboard: True/False (default False)
# - selective: True/False (default False)
# - row_width: integer (default 3)
# row_width is used in combination with the add() function.
# It defines how many buttons are fit on each row before continuing on the next row.
markup = types.ReplyKeyboardMarkup(row_width=2)
markup.add('a', 'v', 'd')
tb.send_message(chat_id, "Choose one letter:", reply_markup=markup)
# or add strings one row at a time:
markup = types.ReplyKeyboardMarkup()
markup.row('a', 'v')
markup.row('c', 'd', 'e')
tb.send_message(chat_id, "Choose one letter:", reply_markup=markup)
```
The last example yields this result:
```python
# ReplyKeyboardHide: hides a previously sent ReplyKeyboardMarkup
# Takes an optional selective argument (True/False, default False)
markup = types.ReplyKeyboardHide(selective=False)
tb.send_message(chat_id, message, reply_markup=markup)
```
```python
# ForceReply: forces a user to reply to a message
# Takes an optional selective argument (True/False, default False)
markup = types.ForceReply(selective=False)
tb.send_message(chat_id, "Send me another word:", reply_markup=markup)
```
ForceReply:
### Inline Mode
More information about [Inline mode](https://core.telegram.org/bots/inline).
#### inline_handler
Now, you can use inline_handler to get inline_query in telebot.
```python
@bot.inline_handler(lambda query: query.query == 'text')
def query_text(inline_query):
# Query message is text
```
#### chosen_inline_handler
Use chosen_inline_handler to get chosen_inline_result in telebot. Don't forgot add the /setinlinefeedback
command for @Botfather.
More information : [collecting-feedback](https://core.telegram.org/bots/inline#collecting-feedback)
```python
@bot.chosen_inline_handler(func=lambda chosen_inline_result: True)
def test_chosen(chosen_inline_result):
# Process all chosen_inline_result.
```
#### answer_inline_query
```python
@bot.inline_handler(lambda query: query.query == 'text')
def query_text(inline_query):
try:
r = types.InlineQueryResultArticle('1', 'Result', 'Result message.')
r2 = types.InlineQueryResultArticle('2', 'Result2', 'Result message2.')
bot.answer_inline_query(inline_query.id, [r, r2])
except Exception as e:
print(e)
```
## Advanced use of the API
### Asynchronous delivery of messages
There exists an implementation of TeleBot which executes all `send_xyz` and the `get_me` functions asynchronously. This can speed up you bot __significantly__, but it has unwanted side effects if used without caution.
To enable this behaviour, create an instance of AsyncTeleBot instead of TeleBot.
```python
tb = telebot.AsyncTeleBot("TOKEN")
```
Now, every function that calls the Telegram API is executed in a separate Thread. The functions are modified to return an AsyncTask instance (defined in util.py). Using AsyncTeleBot allows you to do the following:
```python
import telebot
tb = telebot.AsyncTeleBot("TOKEN")
task = tb.get_me() # Execute an API call
# Do some other operations...
a = 0
for a in range(100):
a += 10
result = task.wait() # Get the result of the execution
```
*Note: if you execute send_xyz functions after eachother without calling wait(), the order in which messages are delivered might be wrong.*
### Sending large text messages
Sometimes you must send messages that exceed 5000 characters. The Telegram API can not handle that many characters in one request, so we need to split the message in multiples. Here is how to do that using the API:
```python
from telebot import util
large_text = open("large_text.txt", "rb").read()
# Split the text each 3000 characters.
# split_string returns a list with the splitted text.
splitted_text = util.split_string(large_text, 3000)
for text in splitted_text:
tb.send_message(chat_id, text)
```
### Controlling the amount of Threads used by TeleBot
The TeleBot constructor takes the following optional arguments:
- create_threads: True/False (default True). A flag to indicate whether
TeleBot should execute message handlers on it's polling Thread.
- num_threads: integer (default 4). Controls the amount of WorkerThreads created for the internal thread pool that TeleBot uses to execute message handlers. Is not used when create_threads is False.
### The listener mechanism
As an alternative to the message handlers, one can also register a function as a listener to TeleBot. Example:
```python
def handle_messages(messages):
for message in messsages:
# Do something with the message
bot.reply_to(message, 'Hi')
bot.set_update_listener(handle_messages)
bot.polling()
```
### Using webhooks
When using webhooks telegram sends one Update per call, for processing it you should call process_new_messages([update.message]) when you recieve it.
There are some examples using webhooks in the *examples/webhook_examples* directory.
### Logging
You can use the Telebot module logger to log debug info about Telebot. Use `telebot.logger` to get the logger of the TeleBot module.
It is possible to add custom logging Handlers to the logger. Refer to the [Python logging module page](https://docs.python.org/2/library/logging.html) for more info.
```python
import logging
logger = telebot.logger
telebot.logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG) # Outputs debug messages to console.
```
## F.A.Q.
### How can I distinguish a User and a GroupChat in message.chat?
Telegram Bot API support new type Chat for message.chat.
- Check the ```type``` attribute in ```Chat``` object:
```python
if message.chat.type == “private”:
# private chat message
if message.chat.type == “group”:
# group chat message
if message.chat.type == “supergroup”:
# supergroup chat message
if message.chat.type == “channel”:
# channel message
```
## The Telegram Chat Group
Get help. Discuss. Chat.
* Join the pyTelegramBotAPI Telegram Chat Group
* Messge to @eternnoir by telegram for Invitation.
* We now have a Telegram Channel as well! Keep yourself up to date with API changes, and [join it](https://telegram.me/pytelegrambotapi).
## More examples
* [Echo Bot](https://github.com/eternnoir/pyTelegramBotAPI/blob/master/examples/echo_bot.py)
* [Deep Linking](https://github.com/eternnoir/pyTelegramBotAPI/blob/master/examples/deep_linking.py)
* [next_step_handler Example](https://github.com/eternnoir/pyTelegramBotAPI/blob/master/examples/step_example.py)
## Bots using this API
* [SiteAlert bot](https://telegram.me/SiteAlert_bot) ([source](https://github.com/ilteoood/SiteAlert-Python)) by *ilteoood* - Monitors websites and sends a notification on changes
* [TelegramLoggingBot](https://github.com/aRandomStranger/TelegramLoggingBot) by *aRandomStranger*
* [Telegram LMGTFY_bot](https://github.com/GabrielRF/telegram-lmgtfy_bot) by *GabrielRF*
* [Telegram UrlProBot](https://github.com/GabrielRF/telegram-urlprobot) by *GabrielRF*
* [Telegram Proxy Bot](https://bitbucket.org/master_groosha/telegram-proxy-bot) by *Groosha* - A simple BITM (bot-in-the-middle) for Telegram acting as some kind of "proxy".
* [RadRetroRobot](https://github.com/Tronikart/RadRetroRobot) by *Tronikart* - Multifunctional Telegram Bot RadRetroRobot.
* [League of Legends bot](https://telegram.me/League_of_Legends_bot) ([source](https://github.com/i32ropie/lol)) by *i32ropie*
* [NeoBot](https://github.com/neoranger/NeoBot) by *neoranger*
Want to have your bot listed here? Send a Telegram message to @eternnoir or @pevdh.