Create a project and connect a Telegram bot

Start with a project. It holds your users, products, orders, materials and agent. A Telegram bot connects as a channel of that project. You can work with data and build a site before connecting a bot.

Create a project

1. Sign in to GeckoChat.
2. Open the project selector in the workspace.
3. Click Create project.
4. Enter a name.
5. Click Create project in the form.

If your account has no projects yet, the same button is on the start screen. See the workspace and project for the sections inside.

Getting a token

1. 1

   Open @BotFather in Telegram

2. 2

   Send /newbot and pick a name and a handle

3. 3

   Copy the 123456:AA… string — that's the token

4. 4

   Return to the right GeckoChat project

5. 5

   In the project selector, click "Connect Telegram"

6. 6

   Paste the token and click "Add"

A token gives full control over the bot. Treat it as a password and do not send it to users or public chats. A bot should not receive messages in several services at once, as this causes a connection conflict.

What happens next

The bot starts receiving messages immediately. Everyone who writes appears in Chats with their own card: name, when they joined, what they wrote, what they did on the site.

What to check

1. 1

   Write to the bot from your own account — the message must show up in the workspace

2. 2

   Reply from the workspace — it must arrive in Telegram

3. 3

   If the bot stays silent, check it isn't stopped in BotFather and the token was copied in full

Welcome message and auto reply

In Settings → Messages for the selected bot, you can set a welcome message for /start and a separate acknowledgement of a person's question. These are different messages.

See Welcome message and auto reply for the full instructions. The acknowledgement can be deleted automatically after 1–30 seconds to keep the conversation tidy.