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Create a Free Telegram Bot in Ten Minutes ​

This article will show you how to quickly create a Telegram Bot and implement its backend service using Cloudflare Worker - the whole process is completely free and takes only 10 minutes.

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Why Do I Need a Telegram Bot ​

Viper integrated Telegram Bot functionality in its early versions for sending system notifications to users. In previous versions, users had to follow these steps to configure this feature:

  • Send /newbot to Telegram's BotFather to create a bot
  • Fill in the bot's name/username
  • Get the bot's token (a super long string)
  • Visit the newly created bot, send /start to initiate a new conversation
  • Fill in the token in Viper, click update to get the chat_id list
  • Select a chat_id in Viper, click update
  • Viper sends a test message using the token and chat_id, configuration complete

The whole process was like, well, imagine going to a restaurant but having to grow your own vegetables first - way too complicated.

In the new version, configuring Telegram Bot goes like this:

  • Search for viperrtp on Telegram, send /start to initiate a new conversation
  • Enter /chat_id to get your chat_id (10 digits)
  • Enter the chat_id you just got in the configuration page, Viper will automatically send a test message

The whole process is super smooth. While using it, I found several advantages of Telegram Bot:

  • Users only need to chat with the bot or send commands to access your services - no need to build a frontend interface, and users don't need to install apps or visit websites
  • The bot interacts with backend services using webhooks - developing bot backend services is no different from developing a REST API webserver
  • telegram + cloudflare worker comes at zero cost, completely free

Getting Started ​

Before starting, you'll need three accounts:

  • telegram account (obviously)
  • github account (for managing backend code)
  • cloudflare account (for deploying Bot backend service)

Creating Bot in Telegram ​

The bot created in telegram can be understood as the Bot's UI interface, used for interaction through dialogue with the Bot. All interface parts can be configured in BotFather.

  • Send /newbot to Telegram's BotFather to create bot
  • Enter bot's name/username
  • Get bot's token (a super long string)
  • Register a command (like chat_id)

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Creating Bot Backend Code ​

I recommend using the Cursor method, here's my prompt:

Help me create a cloudflare worker project and all code for a telegram bot called YYYbot backend service, with domain https://xxx.YYY.workers.dev in cloudflare
The bot has the following features:
1. When user sends /chat_id, return the current chat's chat_id
2. External code can send messages to specified chat_id through https://xxx.YYY.workers.dev/send_message using POST

The generated project can be uploaded to github without modifications.

Of course, you can also use my already created project free_telegram_bot

Deploying Backend (cloudflare worker) ​

  • Open cloudflare worker page, click create
  • Select Import a repository, choose the newly created code repository and click deploy

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  • Set the bot's webhook to point to the new worker
shell
curl -F "url=https://XXX.YYY.workers.dev" https://api.telegram.org/bot<YOUR_BOT_TOKEN>/setWebhook
  • All done! Now you can test by sending chat_id to your bot

Future Extensions ​

If your target audience overlaps with telegram users (like Viper), the combination of telegram bot and cloudflare worker can meet most needs.

As the internet's famous Cyber Buddha, cloudflare offers 1 million free access requests per day for workers, which is more than enough for interactive requests. If you need database functionality, you can also use cloudflare D1 or supabase.