What starts a funnel — and why a random message doesn't restart it
A funnel is started only by /start, the bot link and a keyword. Any other message from a subscriber — even a reply to a broadcast — leaves it alone.
What starts a funnel#
A funnel starts only when a person takes a step to enter it themselves: taps "Start" in the bot, follows the link, or sends a keyword. Everything else — "thanks", a question, a reply to a broadcast — neither starts the funnel nor restarts it.
Telegram#
Three things start a Telegram funnel:
- The "Start" button and the /start command — the classic way into a bot.
- The bot link from the "Start" panel. A person who follows it lands in exactly this funnel, even if the bot has several.
- A keyword, if one is set in the "Start" panel. "Contains" — the word can appear anywhere in the message; "exactly equals" — the whole message matches the word. Upper and lower case don't matter.
Without a keyword, only /start and the link start the funnel.
The /start command restarts the funnel from the first step at any moment — even if the bot was waiting for the person to answer a question.
If the bot has several funnels, turn off "Start on /start without a link" in the "Start" panel for all of them but one (or for all). Otherwise /start without a link launches whichever comes first. With the switch off, a funnel opens only from its link and a keyword.
💡 Everything inside the funnel works as before. Tapping a button, answering a funnel question (an e-mail, for example) and paying continue the funnel the person is already in. The rule only affects how a funnel starts.
Instagram#
An Instagram funnel is started by a keyword — in a comment under a post or in a direct message. Without a keyword an Instagram funnel doesn't start at all.
Why "any message" can no longer be chosen#
The "Start" panel used to offer "Any message starts the funnel". It did exactly that: every message the funnel wasn't waiting for started it from the first step. Someone who replied "thanks" to a broadcast got the funnel's first message again, and on a bot with several such funnels a random message went to whichever came first.
Funnels that had this option switched to the new rule on their own: without a keyword they are started only by /start and the link, and if keywords were set — by a message with those words.
If a funnel doesn't start#
| What you see | What's going on |
|---|---|
| A person sends the bot a word and the funnel stays silent | That word isn't set as a keyword in the "Start" panel of the right funnel. Add it. |
| "Start" launches the wrong funnel | The bot has several funnels, and plain /start launches one of them. Share the link from the right funnel's "Start" panel — it always leads to its own funnel — or turn off "Start on /start without a link" for the others. |
| The bot stays silent on /start | "Start on /start without a link" is off for the funnels — only their links open them. Turn the switch on for the funnel that should answer /start. |
| An Instagram funnel doesn't reply | It has no keyword, or the message doesn't contain it. |