Adding Your Bot to Telegram Groups

By default, Telegram bots can only receive direct messages. When added to a group, they won't see most messages — Telegram's Privacy Mode blocks them. This guide shows you how to fix that and control your bot's group behavior from the Agento dashboard.

Prerequisites

• Your agent is running and Telegram is connected
• You have access to the Telegram account that created the bot (for BotFather)

Step 1 — Disable Privacy Mode in BotFather

Privacy Mode is a Telegram setting that controls what messages your bot receives in groups. When enabled (the default), your bot only sees:

• Messages that @mention the bot
• Replies to the bot's own messages
• Service messages (member joined, etc.)

To let your bot see all group messages, you need to turn this off.

1. Open Telegram and search for @BotFather
2. Send /mybots
3. Select your bot
4. Tap Bot Settings
5. Tap Group Privacy
6. Tap Turn off

You'll see a confirmation: "Privacy mode is disabled."

Important: Changing privacy mode only takes effect in groups the bot joins after the change. For groups the bot is already in, remove it and add it back.

Alternative: If you make the bot a group admin, it receives all messages regardless of the privacy mode setting.

Step 2 — Add the Bot to a Group

1. Open the Telegram group (public or private — both work the same)
2. Tap the group name to open settings
3. Tap Add Members
4. Search for your bot's username (e.g. @my_agento_bot)
5. Add it to the group

The bot will appear in the member list and start receiving messages.

Step 3 — Configure Group Behavior in Agento

Open the Agento dashboard, go to your agent's Manage tab, and scroll to Telegram Access Control. You'll see a Group Chats section with two settings:

Group Policy

Policy	Behavior
Open (default)	Bot responds in any group it's added to
Disabled	Bot ignores all group messages — DMs only

Require @mention

When group policy is set to Open, you can toggle Require @mention:

• On (default) — The bot only responds when someone @mentions it or replies to one of its messages. All other group messages are ignored.
• Off — The bot responds to every message in the group.

For most use cases, leave this on. It keeps the bot from jumping into every conversation.

After changing settings, click Save. The agent restarts to apply the new configuration.

Testing

With Require @mention enabled (default):

• Send a regular message in the group → bot stays quiet
• Send a message with @your_bot_name → bot responds
• Reply to the bot's message → bot responds

With Require @mention disabled:

• Any message in the group → bot responds

Quick Reference

Step	Where	What
Disable Privacy Mode	Telegram → @BotFather → /mybots → Bot Settings → Group Privacy → Turn off	Lets the bot receive all group messages
Add bot to group	Telegram → Group → Add Members → search bot username	Works for public and private groups
Set group policy	Agento → Manage → Telegram Access Control → Group Chats	Open (respond in groups) or Disabled (DMs only)
Set mention behavior	Agento → Manage → Telegram Access Control → Require @mention	On = @mentions and replies only; Off = all messages

Troubleshooting

Bot doesn't respond in the group: Make sure Privacy Mode is disabled in BotFather. If you changed it after the bot was already in the group, remove the bot and re-add it.

Bot responds to everything: Check the Require @mention toggle in the Agento dashboard. If it's off, the bot responds to all messages.

Bot only works in some groups: Privacy Mode changes only apply to groups joined after the change. Remove and re-add the bot to older groups.