How to add a bot to a Telegram group and make it an admin

A bot joins a Telegram group like a person does. Some bots only need to be members. Others must be admins, because they delete messages, mute people or approve join requests. If you give a bot every right, it can do more than its job, so give it only what it needs.

This guide shows two ways to add a bot, how to pick its admin rights, what a bot can and cannot see, and how to fix the usual problems. The examples are bots from the maker of this site.

How to add a bot to a Telegram group

You add a bot to a Telegram group the same way you add a person. Use “Add to Group” on the bot’s profile, or the group’s Add members screen. You need the right to add members in that group. In a group you own, you have it. Type the bot’s full @username, because bots are not in your contacts.

From the bot’s profile

1. Open the bot. Search for its username, or open it from its page on this site (for example Group Gate).
2. Open the bot’s profile. Tap the bot’s name at the top of the chat.
3. Tap the add option. In most apps it is called “Add to Group” or “Add to Group or Channel”. Menu names differ between apps.
4. Pick the group. Telegram shows your groups. Choose one and confirm.

Some bots give you a button that does this for you. Join Approve answers /start with buttons that add it to a channel or group with the right it needs.

From the group

1. Open the group info. Tap the group name.
2. Tap Add members. On some apps this is a person icon with a plus.
3. Search for the bot’s username. Type the full @username, because bots are not in your contacts.
4. Add it. The bot now shows in the member list with a “bot” label.

Tip: Some bots do not need to be added at all. WhisperLockBot works inline: you type its @username in any chat, and it posts there without being a member.

How to make a bot an admin in Telegram

To make a bot an admin in Telegram, open the group’s Administrators list and tap Add admin. Pick the bot and turn on only the rights its job needs. Group Gate needs 2 rights: Ban users and Delete messages. Game bots like Spy Party need none. Fewer rights mean less harm if a bot misbehaves.

1. Open the group info and go to Administrators. On some apps it is under Edit or Manage group.
2. Tap Add admin. Pick the bot from the member list.
3. Turn off every right first. Then turn on only the rights from the table below.
4. Save the changes.
5. Test with a second account. Admins are often skipped by moderation bots, so a test from your own admin account proves nothing.

Telegram lets you set an admin’s rights one by one. The names change a little between apps. For example, the right to add members is sometimes called “Invite users via link”.

Telegram uses one admin right for banning and for restricting (muting) members. Most apps show it as “Ban users”. Telegram’s developer documentation says a bot must have the “invite users” right to approve join requests, which is the right the apps show as Add members.

Warning: Do not give a bot the right to add new admins unless you fully trust it. An admin with that right can give admin rights to others.

Set up Group Gate: an example

Group Gate is a good first bot to set up, because it shows the whole admin flow in 5 steps. It mutes each new member until they tap the button I’m human. If a member does not tap within 5 minutes, the bot removes them. They can join again later, and the group stays free of accounts that never tap.

1. Add Group Gate to the group. Use either way above.
2. Make it an admin. Turn on Ban users and Delete messages only.
3. Send /gate in the group. The bot shows the status of the check. Use /gate off to stop it.
4. Set your welcome text. Send /welcome Hello {name}, tap the button to chat. (500 characters at most).
5. Test it. Join from a second account that is not an admin and watch the card appear.

Pro for one group costs 150 Stars (about $3) once, paid in a private chat with the bot. It gives a 10-minute tap window, your own button, and a link filter for new members. See How to buy Stars and pay a bot, or compare every Pro upgrade on the Pro page.

What can a bot see in a Telegram group?

By default, a bot in a Telegram group runs in privacy mode and sees only messages meant for it. Those are its commands, replies to its messages, messages sent through it inline and service messages. A bot that is an admin receives all messages. Telegram turns privacy mode on by default for every bot.

In privacy mode, Telegram sends the bot only:

• commands meant for it, such as /command@this_bot
• general commands such as /start, if this bot was the last bot to post in the group
• messages sent through the bot inline
• replies to the bot’s messages
• service messages, such as “a member joined”

A bot that is an admin receives all messages in the group. That is why a link filter must be an admin: it must see each message to check it. A bot’s maker can also turn privacy mode off, and then the bot sees all messages even without admin rights. You can see a bot’s privacy setting in the group’s member list.

Note: Group Shield and Group Gate say in their privacy notes that they do not store the text of ordinary group messages. Read the privacy notes on a bot’s page before you make it an admin.

Why a bot cannot message you first

Telegram does not let bots start conversations. A person must add the bot to a group or send it a message first. So a bot in a group cannot send you a private message until you open a chat with it and press Start once. The rule applies to every bot, including ours.

Game bots depend on this. In Spy Party and Mafia Night, each player gets a secret role by private message. The Join button opens the chat with the bot. A player who never pressed Start gets no role.

Join Approve has a similar limit: it can write a welcome message only within 5 minutes of the join request.

Common problems

When a bot in a Telegram group seems broken, check two things first: its admin rights and the account you test with. Group Gate cannot mute or remove anyone without Ban users and Delete messages. Moderation bots skip admins, so test from a regular member account. The fixes for other problems are below.

• The bot does not answer a command. In a group with several bots, add the bot’s username to the command, for example /spy@SpyPartyProBot. Also check that the bot is still in the group.
• The bot does nothing to spam or new members. Check its admin rights. Group Gate cannot mute or remove anyone without Ban users and Delete messages.
• Your test does not work. Moderation bots skip admins. Test with a regular member account.
• Group Shield deletes nothing. Every switch starts off. Send /links on, /clean on or /flood on, then /status.
• You cannot add the bot. Ask the group owner for the right to add members. Some bots are made for private chats only, and their maker turns off group use.
• A player got no role. Ask them to open the bot, press Start, and join the next round.

Next, read How to stop spam in a Telegram group to put these bots to work.