Telegram Bot API Basics 2026 — BotFather, Token, First /start, Deploy

Building a working Telegram bot in 2026 takes around 30 minutes. There is no developer registration like Apple's — all you need is a Telegram account, BotFather, and any hosting (free tier is fine). Here is the full walkthrough.

Step 1. Get a token from BotFather

1. Find @BotFather in Telegram (official, blue checkmark).
2. Send /newbot.
3. Set a display name: "My First Bot".
4. Set a username — must end in bot. Example: myfirst_2026_bot.
5. BotFather returns a token like 7654321098:AAH-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.

Never share the token — it's the bot's password. If leaked, use /revoke to rotate it.

Step 2. First /start handler in Python

Install python-telegram-bot (the 2026 standard is version 21):

pip install python-telegram-bot==21.7

Create bot.py:

from telegram import Update
from telegram.ext import Application, CommandHandler, ContextTypes

TOKEN = "7654321098:AAH-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"

async def start(update: Update, context: ContextTypes.DEFAULT_TYPE):
    await update.message.reply_text(
        f"Hi, {update.effective_user.first_name}! I'm your first bot."
    )

app = Application.builder().token(TOKEN).build()
app.add_handler(CommandHandler("start", start))
app.run_polling()

Run python bot.py, find your bot in Telegram, hit Start, and get a reply.

Step 3. Useful BotFather commands

Command	What it does
/setdescription	Profile description
/setabouttext	Short "about" text
/setuserpic	Avatar
/setcommands	Command list (appears in Telegram menu)
/setinline	Enable inline mode
/setjoingroups	Allow adding the bot to groups
/setprivacy	Whether the bot sees all group messages

Step 4. Deploy the bot

Local Python runs only while your script is alive. For 24/7 operation you need hosting. Top 2026 options:

• Railway.app — $5/mo, GitHub deploy in 2 minutes. Best beginner choice.
• Render.com — has a free tier but "sleeps" after 15 idle minutes.
• Fly.io — $0-3/mo, slightly more setup.
• Generic VPS (Hetzner, Vultr) — $3-5/mo, full control but you configure systemd yourself.

Railway steps:

1. Create a GitHub repo with bot.py and requirements.txt.
2. Sign in at railway.app via GitHub.
3. New Project → Deploy from GitHub repo.
4. Add TOKEN to environment variables.
5. Change TOKEN = "..." to TOKEN = os.environ["TOKEN"].

Two minutes later your bot is running 24/7.

Step 5. What to add next

• Stars payments — built-in API, no Stripe required.
• Inline mode — call your bot in any chat with @yourbot.
• Mini Apps — full HTML + JS web apps inside Telegram.
• Webhooks instead of polling — far more efficient at scale.

Premium account for testing

For testing Stars payments, Mini Apps, and extended API features it helps to have Premium on a test account. On Marix you get Premium in your local currency in a few minutes — no foreign card needed. That's the standard infrastructure for any Telegram developer in 2026.