<p><strong>UPD:</strong> Check out the new <ahref="/blog/inline-bots">Inline bots</a> as well!</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Telegram is about freedom and openness – our code is open for everyone, as is our API. Today we’re making another step towards openness by launching a <ahref="https://core.telegram.org/bots/api">Bot API and platform</a> for third-party developers to <ahref="https://core.telegram.org/bots">create bots</a>. </p>
<p><strong>Bots</strong> are simply Telegram accounts operated by software – not people – and they'll often have AI features. They can do anything – teach, play, search, broadcast, remind, connect, integrate with other services, or even pass commands to the Internet of Things.</p>
<center><div>
<ahref="/file/811140930/1/-2j5fB6r0MA/e02975e21b1977a7db"target="_blank"><imgsrc="/file/811140930/1/-2j5fB6r0MA/e02975e21b1977a7db"title="An image bot integrated with the Bing Image search API"style="width: 245px; padding: 10px 5px"/></a>
<ahref="/file/811140690/1/T81U_kqVHsY/e30a06056bb48fa053"target="_blank"><imgsrc="/file/811140690/1/T81U_kqVHsY/e30a06056bb48fa053"title="An empty conversation with a Poll bot"style="width: 245px; padding: 10px 5px"/></a><br><br>
</div></center>
<p>Today’s <strong>3.0</strong> update to the <ahref="/apps">Telegram apps</a> makes interacting with bots super-easy. In most cases you won’t even have to type anything, because bots will provide you with a set of custom buttons.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><ahref="https://youtu.be/vN4U5FqrOdQ?t=356"><strong>"Every application needs a slightly optimized set of buttons, just for it.</strong>”</a><br>Steve Jobs, 2007 iPhone launch</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Bots can now provide you with custom keyboards for specialized tasks that could look like this for example:</p>
<center><div>
<ahref="/file/811140470/1/V7A84eVKQzs/8d2ede71e1c118ec69"target="_blank"><imgsrc="/file/811140470/1/V7A84eVKQzs/8d2ede71e1c118ec69"title="'Hot or Bot?' with a custom keyboard."style="width: 245px; padding: 10px 5px"/></a>
<ahref="/file/811140849/2/hBPe2YGBahk/3a45817b7e70d3e5f1"target="_blank"><imgsrc="/file/811140849/2/hBPe2YGBahk/3a45817b7e70d3e5f1"title="A sticker rating bot with a custom keyboard."style="width: 245px; padding: 10px 5px"/></a>
</div></center>
<div><br></div>
<p>Here are some sample bots that were built by the platform's beta testers this past weekend:</p>
<ul>
<li><ahref="https://telegram.me/imagebot"><strong>@ImageBot</strong></a>– send this bot a keyword and it’ll provide you with a relevant picture.</li>
<li><ahref="https://telegram.me/triviabot"><strong>@TriviaBot</strong></a>– test your trivia knowledge or add to groups to compete with friends.</li>
<li><ahref="https://telegram.me/pollbot"><strong>@PollBot</strong></a>– add this one to group chats to create polls.</li>
<li><ahref="https://telegram.me/ratestickerbot"><strong>@RateStickerBot</strong></a>– discover and rate new stickers.</li>
<li><ahref="https://telegram.me/alertbot"><strong>@AlertBot</strong></a>– set a time and this bot will send you a reminder for anything you like.</li>
<li><ahref="https://telegram.me/hotorbot"><strong>@HotOrBot</strong></a>– find friends with this Tinder-like dating bot.</li>
<li><ahref="https://telegram.me/storebot"><strong>@StoreBot</strong></a>– find new bots and rate them.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<ahref="/file/811140327/1/zlN4goPTupk/9ff2f2f01c4bd1b013"target="_blank"><imgsrc="/file/811140934/1/tbDSLHSaijc/fdcc7b6d5fb3354adf"title="The Botfather. Click for hi-res picture"style="max-width: 200px;float:right"/></a>
</div>
<p>Our beta testers needed only a few hours to build these bots – setting up a new bot is a breeze. Just generate a key with <ahref="https://telegram.me/botfather"><strong>@BotFather</strong></a> and use a simple <ahref="https://core.telegram.org/bots/api">https API</a> to control your bot. If you’re an engineer, check out our <ahref="https://core.telegram.org/bots"><strong>Introduction to bots</strong></a> for details.</p>
<p>Bots in Telegram will look different from human users: their chat and profile screens have a slightly different UI and they don't have access to <ahref="https://core.telegram.org/bots#privacy-mode">all messages</a> by default when added to groups.</p>
<h4><aclass="anchor"name="taking-over-the-world"href="#taking-over-the-world"><iclass="anchor-icon"></i></a>Taking over the world</h4>
<p>Once you've launched your bot, watch it spread. In Telegram, any forwarded message contains a link to its original sender. This means any message from your bot forwarded to a person or group is a messaging equivalent of a retweet – bots are viral.</p>
<p>Additionally, all bots have an <strong>Add To Group</strong> and a <strong>Share</strong> button in their profile. You can set up a description and link that will be used when people share your bot on Telegram or other platforms. </p>
<center><div>
<ahref="/file/811140953/2/dHhrj9y1jtc/345e500fc7e1ffa5cd"target="_blank"><imgsrc="/file/811140953/2/dHhrj9y1jtc/345e500fc7e1ffa5cd"title="Bot profile featuring the Add to Group, Share and Help buttons."style="width: 245px; padding: 10px 5px"/></a>
<ahref="/file/811140572/1/vVg8aeC7SuM/161b45e3907efe6bde"target="_blank"><imgsrc="/file/811140572/1/vVg8aeC7SuM/161b45e3907efe6bde"title="Telegram.me link and short info to easily share a bot."style="width: 245px; padding: 10px 5px"/></a>
<p>Opening such a link starts a chat with that bot if you have Telegram installed. These links are easy to identify because all bot usernames must end in <strong>bot</strong>.</p>
<p>If the bot developer wants to pass their bot some additional info (like an auth key for example, see <ahref="https://core.telegram.org/bots#deep-linking">deep linking</a>), the link might also look like this:</p>
<h3><aclass="anchor"name="the-bots-are-coming"href="#the-bots-are-coming"><iclass="anchor-icon"></i></a>The bots are coming</h3>
<p>Starting today, you'll see links like this in Telegram and elsewhere. Embrace them, they are bots! They will provide the services you asked us for – polls, news, games, integrations, e-butlers or cat images. Any dream can come true with bots.</p>
<p><strong>P.S.</strong> All bot developers are welcome to share ideas for our Bot API on <ahref="https://telegram.me/botsupport"><strong>@BotSupport</strong></a>.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>You can read more about the our bot platform in the <ahref="https://core.telegram.org/bots"><strong>Introduction to Bots</strong></a> and in the <ahref="https://core.telegram.org/bots/api"><strong>Bot API Manual</strong></a>.</p>
</blockquote>
</div>
</div>
<divclass="tl_main_share clearfix">
<ahref="https://t.me/share/url?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftelegram.org%2Fblog%2Fbot-revolution&text=Telegram%203.0%20introduces%20Bot%20Platform%20%E2%80%94%20free%2C%20open%20and%20super%20easy%20to%20use%20"class="tl_telegram_share_btn"id="tl_telegram_share_btn"data-text="Telegram 3.0 introduces Bot Platform — free, open and super easy to use "data-url="https://telegram.org/blog/bot-revolution"><iclass="tl_telegram_share_icon"></i><spanclass="tl_telegram_share_label"target="_blank">Forward</span></a>
<ahref="https://twitter.com/share"class="tl_twitter_share_btn"id="tl_twitter_share_btn"data-text="Telegram 3.0 introduces Bot Platform — free, open and super easy to use "data-url="https://telegram.org/blog/bot-revolution"data-via="Telegram">Tweet <spanclass="tl_twitter_share_cnt"></span></a>
<h4class="dev_blog_card_title">Star Giveaways and More</h4>
<divclass="dev_blog_card_lead">With today's update, groups and channels can use Telegram Stars as prizes in Giveaways. Also, any article you open in the Telegram Browser can now be converted to Instant View, making…</div>
<h4class="dev_blog_card_title">Super Channels, Star Reactions and Subscriptions</h4>
<divclass="dev_blog_card_lead">Today is Telegram's 11th anniversary. Meet Star Reactions and Star Subscriptions that let users support content creators, paid media for…</div>
<h4class="dev_blog_card_title">Telegram Browser, Mini App Store, Gifting Stars and More</h4>
<divclass="dev_blog_card_lead">Today's update brings a new in-app browser that supports multiple tabs and makes Web3 available to almost a billion users, a Mini App Store…</div>
<h4class="dev_blog_card_title">Mini App Bar, Paid Media, Story Search & More</h4>
<divclass="dev_blog_card_lead">Our June update adds a way to minimize mini apps into a compact bar, helps content creators monetize their channels with paid photos and…</div>
