Telegram

Telegram is a great channel for reaching your Selu agents from virtually any device. You’ll create a Telegram bot and connect it to Selu — the whole process takes about five minutes.

Step 1: Create a Telegram bot

1. Open Telegram and search for @BotFather.
2. Send /newbot and follow the prompts to name your bot.
3. BotFather will give you a bot token — a long string that looks like 123456:ABC-DEF1234ghIkl-zyx57W2v1u123ew11. Copy it and keep it safe.

Tip

Pick a descriptive bot name like “My Selu Assistant” so it’s easy to find in your chat list.

Step 2: Connect to Selu

1. Open the Selu dashboard and go to Settings → Channels → Telegram.
2. Paste your bot token into the token field.
3. Click Test Connection to make sure Selu can reach the Telegram API.
4. Choose which agent should respond to Telegram messages.
5. Save your settings.

Step 3: Start chatting

Find your bot in Telegram by searching for the username you chose during setup. Send it a message, and your Selu agent will reply.

Configuration options

Privacy

By default, your bot only sees messages that are sent directly to it or that mention it with @botname. In group chats, you can disable privacy mode via BotFather (/setprivacy) if you want the agent to see all messages.

Commands

You can register bot commands with BotFather using /setcommands. Common ones include:

• /start — Begin a new conversation
• /reset — Clear the current session
• /help — Show available commands

Webhook vs. polling

Selu uses webhook mode by default for lower latency. If your server isn’t reachable from the internet, switch to polling mode in Settings → Channels → Telegram → Advanced.

Group chat support

Your bot can join Telegram groups and respond to messages. To add it to a group:

1. Open the group settings in Telegram.
2. Add your bot as a member.
3. The agent will respond when mentioned by name or when a message starts with /.

Troubleshooting

• Bot not responding — Double-check the bot token in Selu settings. If you regenerated the token in BotFather, update it in Selu too.
• Webhook errors — Make sure your Selu instance is reachable over HTTPS. Telegram requires a valid SSL certificate for webhooks.
• Slow replies — If you’re using polling mode, responses may take a few seconds longer. Switch to webhook mode if possible.