How to get Telegram Bot Chat ID

how_to_get_telegram_chat_id.md

How to get Telegram Bot Chat ID

Content :

1. Create a Telegram Bot and get a Bot Token
2. Get Chat ID for a Private Chat
3. Get Chat ID for a Channel
4. Get Chat ID for a Group Chat
5. Get Chat ID for a Topic in a Group Chat

Create a Telegram Bot and get a Bot Token

1. Open Telegram application then search for @BotFather
2. Click Start
3. Click Menu -> /newbot or type /newbot and hit Send
4. Follow the instruction until we get message like so

   Done! Congratulations on your new bot. You will find it at t.me/new_bot.
   You can now add a description.....
   
   Use this token to access the HTTP API:
   63xxxxxx71:AAFoxxxxn0hwA-2TVSxxxNf4c
   Keep your token secure and store it safely, it can be used by anyone to control your bot.
   
   For a description of the Bot API, see this page: https://core.telegram.org/bots/api
   

5. So here is our bot token 63xxxxxx71:AAFoxxxxn0hwA-2TVSxxxNf4c (make sure we don't share it to anyone).

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Get Chat ID for a Private Chat

1. Search and open our new Telegram bot
2. Click Start or send a message
3. Open this URL in a browser https://api.telegram.org/bot{our_bot_token}/getUpdates
   • See we need to prefix our token with a word bot
   • Eg: https://api.telegram.org/bot63xxxxxx71:AAFoxxxxn0hwA-2TVSxxxNf4c/getUpdates
4. We will see a json like so

   {
     "ok": true,
     "result": [
       {
         "update_id": 83xxxxx35,
         "message": {
           "message_id": 2643,
           "from": {...},
           "chat": {
             "id": 21xxxxx38,
             "first_name": "...",
             "last_name": "...",
             "username": "@username",
             "type": "private"
           },
           "date": 1703062972,
           "text": "/start"
         }
       }
     ]
   }
   

5. Check the value of result.0.message.chat.id, and here is our Chat ID: 21xxxxx38
6. Let's try to send a message: https://api.telegram.org/bot63xxxxxx71:AAFoxxxxn0hwA-2TVSxxxNf4c/sendMessage?chat_id=21xxxxx38&text=test123
7. When we set the bot token and chat id correctly, the message test123 should be arrived on our Telegram bot chat.

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Get Chat ID for a Channel

1. Add our Telegram bot into a channel
2. Send a message to the channel
3. Open this URL https://api.telegram.org/bot{our_bot_token}/getUpdates
4. We will see a json like so

   {
     "ok": true,
     "result": [
       {
         "update_id": 838xxxx36,
         "channel_post": {...},
           "chat": {
             "id": -1001xxxxxx062,
             "title": "....",
             "type": "channel"
           },
           "date": 1703065989,
           "text": "test"
         }
       }
     ]
   }
   

5. Check the value of result.0.channel_post.chat.id, and here is our Chat ID: -1001xxxxxx062
6. Let's try to send a message: https://api.telegram.org/bot63xxxxxx71:AAFoxxxxn0hwA-2TVSxxxNf4c/sendMessage?chat_id=-1001xxxxxx062&text=test123
7. When we set the bot token and chat id correctly, the message test123 should be arrived on our Telegram channel.

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Get Chat ID for a Group Chat

The easiest way to get a group chat ID is through a Telegram desktop application.

1. Open Telegram in a desktop app
2. Add our Telegram bot into a chat group
3. Send a message to the chat group
4. Right click on the message and click Copy Message Link
   • We will get a link like so: https://t.me/c/194xxxx987/11/13
   • The pattern: https://t.me/c/{group_chat_id}/{group_topic_id}/{message_id}
   • So here is our Chat ID: 194xxxx987
5. To use the group chat ID in the API, we need to prefix it with the number -100, like so: -100194xxxx987
6. Now let's try to send a message: https://api.telegram.org/bot63xxxxxx71:AAFoxxxxn0hwA-2TVSxxxNf4c/sendMessage?chat_id=-100194xxxx987&text=test123
7. When we set the bot token and chat id correctly, the message test123 should be arrived on our group chat.

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Get Chat ID for a Topic in a Group Chat

In order to send a message to a specific topic on Telegram group, we need to get the topic ID.

1. Similar to steps above, after we click the Copy Message Link, we will get a link like: https://t.me/c/194xxxx987/11/13, so the group Topic ID is 11.
2. Now we can use it like so (see message_thread_id): https://api.telegram.org/bot783114779:AAEuRWDTFD2UQ7agBtFSuhJf2-NmvHN3OPc/sendMessage?chat_id=-100194xxxx987&message_thread_id=11&text=test123
3. When we set the bot token and chat id correctly, the message test123 should be arrived inside our group chat topic.

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Can't I get a chat ID for private conversations from a bot that doesn't belong to me?

Ah I see, I was misunderstood your question. When you don't have the bot token, then you can't get the chat ID.

I tried the URL link method and included my bot token as well. But I keep getting this result back {"ok":true,"result":[]}. Does anyone know why and how I can retrieve the chatID?

I tried the URL link method and included my bot token as well. But I keep getting this result back {"ok":true,"result":[]}. Does anyone know why and how I can retrieve the chatID?

@lydnguyen I think you need to send message first. Ff it doesn't work, try to end conversation and start again. Sometimes I experience the same issue, too.

Thanks a lot!!!!

Helpful! Thank you, sir!