Sending messages

The Channels API supports many of the features of Telegram; however, due to the omni-channel nature of the API, there may be some differences between the Channels API message and the native Telegram API.To send a Telegram message, you must have an active Telegram channel and perform an HTTP request to the following endpoint with a valid access key.

Send a message

Send a message to a channel

POST/workspaces/{workspaceId}/channels/{channelId}/messages

Authorization

Path parameters

workspaceId*string (uuid)

The ID of the workspace

channelId*string (uuid)

The ID for a channel

Body

senderSender (object)

receiver*Receiver (object)

referenceReference (string)

A reference to the message. This can be used to identify the message in the channel.

Example: "my-own-identifier"

templatenullable Template (object)

metaMeta (object)

replyToReplyTo (object)

bodyMessageBody

notificationChannelNotification

capFrequencyboolean

If set to true, the frequency capping settings of the platform will be used to either allow or reject the message to a contact. Can only be set to true if the message is sent to a contact and .meta.extraInformation.useCase is marketing.

enableLinkTrackingboolean

If set to true and message is a test/campaign message, web tracking parameters will be appended to the links in the message.

ignoreQuietHoursboolean

If set to true, quiet hours settings will be ignored and the message will be sent as soon as possible.

ignoreGlobalHoldoutboolean

Do not check if the recipient is part of global holdout. To be used to send transactional messages.

tagsTags (array of Name-3 (string))

Tags to associate with the message. Tags are converted to lower case and tags that do not exist are automatically created. You can view your created tags in the UI. You can specify up to 10 tags per message.

shortLinksnullable ShortLinks (object)

SMS link shortening options. When using templates, please refer to the template level shortLinks instead.

scheduledForScheduledFor (string (date-time))

Scheduled time to send message at. Must be formated as RFC3339 timestamp. When set, the message status will be scheduled until it's sent. Messages scheduled for a time in the past or within 10 minutes of the request may be sent immediately. Messages scheduled farther than 35 days will be rejected.

validityValidity (integer)

Validity determines for how many seconds a message is valid. If none is provided, the channel message type will be used to determine it. A promotional, conversational or transactional channel message is valid for 36 hours (129600 seconds). A message sent from a 2FA channel is valid for 10 minutes (600 seconds).

any of

Response

Message was accepted for processing

Body

id*Id-2 (string (uuid))

channelId*ChannelId (string (uuid))

sender*one of

receiver*one of

metaMeta (object)

referenceReference (string)

A reference to the message. This can be used to identify the message in the channel.

Example: "my-own-identifier"

partsParts (array of object)

status*Status-3 (enum)

acceptedrejectedprocessingscheduledsentsending_faileddelivereddelivery_faileddeletedskipped

reasonstring

directionDirection (enum)

incomingoutgoing

originnullable Origin (object)

replyToReplyTo (object)

lastStatusAt*string (date-time)

createdAt*string (date-time)

updatedAt*string (date-time)

detailsstring

This field is used to store additional information related to the message status.

failurenullable Failure (object)

tagsTags (array of Name-3 (string))

shortLinksnullable ShortLinks (object)

SMS link shortening options. When using templates, please refer to the template level shortLinks instead.

scheduledForScheduledFor (string (date-time))

any of

Request

Response

When sending outbound messages as well as setting the receiver information you must set message body field in all cases

Body

{
 "receiver": {
   "contacts": [
     {
       "identifierValue": "1033247360"
     }
   ]
 },
 "body": {...}
}

You can send messages to users who have interacted with your Telegram bot by either starting a conversation or responding to your messages. Telegram bots can also send messages in one-on-one chats, group chats, and channels where the bot has been added. However, users must initiate the interaction by messaging your bot, as bots cannot send unsolicited messages to users who have not engaged with them first.

The Channels API supports many of the features of the Telegram API. However, due to the omni-channel nature of the API, there may be some differences between the Channels API message formats and the native Telegram API. Here is an overview of Telegram message types and how they align with Channels API message types:

Telegram API type

Channels API

text

photo

audio / video

document

voice

location

venue

location

sticker

contact

poll

dice

game

animation

file

video note

file

Outbound messages

Markdown support

By default, all text and media messages sent through our platform are treated as plain text. However, we offer support for MarkdownV1 and MarkdownV2 formatting, which can be applied by specifying the parseMode option within message metadata.

MarkdownV1 enables basic formatting, such as bold, italic, and hyperlinks.
MarkdownV2 allows more complex formatting, with additional support for features like nested styles and stricter rules for escaping special characters (e.g., !, ?, *).

Message example using MarkdownV1 formatting

{
    "type": "text",
    "text": {
        "text": "*Bold Text* _Italic Text_ [Link](http://example.com)",
        "metadata": {
            "telegram": {
                "parseMode": "Markdown"
            }
        }
    }
}

Message example using MarkdownV2 formatting

{
    "type": "text",
    "text": {
        "text": "*Bold Text* _Italic Text_ [Link](http://example.com) `code` ~strikethrough~",
        "metadata": {
            "telegram": {
                "parseMode": "MarkdownV2"
            }
        }
    }
}

Text

Text message

{
  "type": "text",
  "text": {
    "text": "Single text message"
  }
}

Text message with reply buttons

{
  "type": "text",
  "text": {
    "text": "Single text message with reply actions",
    "actions": [
      {
        "type": "reply",
        "reply": {
          "text": "Reply action 1"
        }
      },
      {
        "type": "reply",
        "reply": {
          "text": "Reply action 2"
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

Text message with postback actions

{
  "type": "text",
  "text": {
    "text": "Single text message with postback actions",
    "actions": [
      {
        "type": "postback",
        "postback": {
          "text": "Postback action 1",
          "payload": "postback-payload-1"
        }
      },
      {
        "type": "postback",
        "postback": {
          "text": "Postback action 2",
          "payload": "postback-payload-2"
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

Text message with location request

{
  "type": "text",
  "text": {
    "text": "Single text message with location request",
    "actions": [
      {
        "type": "locationRequest",
        "locationRequest": {
          "text": "Please share location"
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

Image

Single image message

{
  "type": "image",
  "image": {
    "images": [
      {
        "altText": "Label of first image",
        "mediaUrl": "https://files.gitbook.com/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FdnJZeZvhOMhDQA8SpjQM%2Fuploads%2FrEM9zztd8SEiJS6RQuR3%2Fimage.png?alt=media"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Single image message with text

{
  "type": "image",
  "image": {
    "images": [
      {
        "altText": "Label of first image",
        "mediaUrl": "https://files.gitbook.com/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FdnJZeZvhOMhDQA8SpjQM%2Fuploads%2FrEM9zztd8SEiJS6RQuR3%2Fimage.png?alt=media"
      }
    ],
    "text": "Single image message"
  }
}

Multiple image message

{
  "type": "image",
  "image": {
    "images": [
      {
        "altText": "Label of first image",
        "mediaUrl": "https://files.gitbook.com/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FdnJZeZvhOMhDQA8SpjQM%2Fuploads%2FrEM9zztd8SEiJS6RQuR3%2Fimage.png?alt=media"
      },
      {
        "altText": "Label of second image",
        "mediaUrl": "https://files.gitbook.com/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FdnJZeZvhOMhDQA8SpjQM%2Fuploads%2FrEM9zztd8SEiJS6RQuR3%2Fimage.png?alt=media"
      }
    ],
    "text": "Multiple images message"
  }
}

Single image message with postback actions

{
  "type": "image",
  "image": {
    "images": [
      {
        "altText": "Image label",
        "mediaUrl": "https://files.gitbook.com/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FdnJZeZvhOMhDQA8SpjQM%2Fuploads%2FrEM9zztd8SEiJS6RQuR3%2Fimage.png?alt=media"
      }
    ],
    "text": "Single image message with postback actions",
    "actions": [
      {
        "type": "postback",
        "postback": {
          "payload": "postback-payload-1",
          "text": "Postback option 1"
        }
      },
      {
        "postback": {
          "payload": "postback-payload-2",
          "text": "Postback option 2"
        },
        "type": "postback"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Single image message with label and reply actions

{
    "type": "image",
    "image": {
        "images": [
            {
                "altText": "Image label",
                "mediaUrl": "https://files.gitbook.com/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FdnJZeZvhOMhDQA8SpjQM%2Fuploads%2FrEM9zztd8SEiJS6RQuR3%2Fimage.png?alt=media"
            }
        ],
        "text": "Single image message with reply actions",
        "actions": [
            {
                "type": "reply",
                "reply": {
                    "text": "Reply action 1"
                }
            },
            {
                "type": "reply",
                "reply": {
                    "text": "Reply action 2"
                }
            }
        ]
    }
}

Single image message with location request

{
    "type": "image",
    "image": {
        "images": [
            {
                "altText": "Label of first image",
                "mediaUrl": "https://files.gitbook.com/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FdnJZeZvhOMhDQA8SpjQM%2Fuploads%2FrEM9zztd8SEiJS6RQuR3%2Fimage.png?alt=media"
            }
        ],
        "actions": [
            {
                "type": "locationRequest",
                "locationRequest": {
                    "text": "Please share location"
                }
            }
        ]
    }
}

GIF

Gif message

{
    "type": "gif",
    "gif": {
        "mediaUrl": "https://files.gitbook.com/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FdnJZeZvhOMhDQA8SpjQM%2Fuploads%2FIEoLtO9E5bNsXkbC2D8A%2Fbird.gif?alt=media"
    }
}

File

Single file message

{
    "type": "file",
    "file": {
        "text": "Single file message",
        "files": [
            {
                "contentType": "video/mp4",
                "mediaUrl": "https://files.gitbook.com/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FdnJZeZvhOMhDQA8SpjQM%2Fuploads%2FtXMQ4lIinia9ehf4EpC4%2Fvideo.mp4?alt=media"
            }
        ]
    }
}

Multiple files message

{
  "type": "file",
  "file": {
    "text": "Multiple files message",
    "files": [
      {
        "contentType": "video/mp4",
        "mediaUrl": "https://files.gitbook.com/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FdnJZeZvhOMhDQA8SpjQM%2Fuploads%2FtXMQ4lIinia9ehf4EpC4%2Fvideo.mp4?alt=media"
      },
      {
        "contentType": "application/pdf",
        "mediaUrl": "https://files.gitbook.com/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FdnJZeZvhOMhDQA8SpjQM%2Fuploads%2FbgnxOoaF4aHSHUzMFCna%2Faudio.mp3?alt=media"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Location

{
    "type": "location",
    "location": {
        "coordinates": {
            "latitude": 52.37164323041201,
            "longitude": 4.884335169232767
        },
        "location": {
            "address": "Keizersgracht 268, 1016 EV, Amsterdam",
            "label": "MessageBird Amsterdam office"
        }
    }
}

Last updated 2 months ago

{ "id": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000", "channelId": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000", "sender": { "connector": { "id": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000", "identifierValue": "text", "annotations": { "name": "text" }, "types": [ "text" ] } }, "receiver": { "connector": { "id": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000", "identifierValue": "text", "annotations": { "name": "text" }, "types": [ "text" ] } }, "meta": { "referral": { "source": "text", "title": "text", "text": "text", "group": "text", "metadata": { "source_id": "text", "source_url": "text", "media_url": "text", "tracking_id": "text" } }, "order": { "products": [ { "externalCatalogId": "text", "externalProductId": "text", "quantity": 0, "price": { "amount": 0, "exponent": 0, "currencyCode": "text" } } ] }, "referredProduct": { "externalCatalogId": "text", "externalProductId": "text" }, "email": { "subject": "text", "from": { "username": "text", "displayName": "text" } }, "pushNotifications": { "gatewayTypeOverride": "apns" }, "navigatorId": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000", "navigatorMessageId": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000", "flow": { "id": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000", "name": "text", "stepId": "text", "runId": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000" }, "journey": { "id": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000", "name": "text", "stepId": "text", "runId": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000" }, "campaign": { "id": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000", "name": "text" } }, "reference": "my-own-identifier", "parts": [ { "platformReference": "text" } ], "status": "accepted", "reason": "text", "direction": "incoming", "origin": { "type": "text", "id": "text" }, "replyTo": { "id": "text", "order": 0, "type": "message" }, "lastStatusAt": "2024-12-22T02:19:57.916Z", "createdAt": "2024-12-22T02:19:57.916Z", "updatedAt": "2024-12-22T02:19:57.916Z", "details": "text", "failure": { "code": 0, "description": "Unsupported media type", "source": { "code": "text", "name": "text" } }, "tags": [ "text" ], "shortLinks": { "domain": "text" }, "scheduledFor": "2024-12-22T02:19:57.916Z", "body": { "type": "text", "text": { "text": "text", "attachments": [ { "mediaUrl": "https://example.com", "filename": "text", "inline": false } ], "actions": [ { "type": "link", "link": { "text": "text", "url": "text" } } ], "metadata": { "subject": "text", "whatsapp": { "previewUrl": false }, "line": { "emoji": { "items": [ { "index": 0, "productId": "text", "emojiId": "text", "length": 0 } ] } }, "telegram": { "parseMode": "Markdown" } } } } }