Telegram channel — publish posts from Craft

How to connect your Telegram channel to Craft and post to it — posts, carousels and videos, now or on schedule.

What it is#

Craft posts to your Telegram channel the same way it posts to Instagram or Threads: from Publishing, right away or on schedule. Posts come out as the channel — subscribers see neither Craft nor the bot.

A channel takes one account slot on your plan, like any other network.

How to connect a channel#

1. Open My accounts → Telegram channels → Connect a channel.
2. Tap "Open the bot" and then "Start" in Telegram. This tells Craft the Telegram is yours. If you signed in to Craft with Google or email, the channel has nobody to belong to without this step.
3. Tap "Add to channel". Telegram will ask you to pick a channel and make the bot an admin. Keep "Post", "Edit" and "Delete messages" on.
4. In a couple of seconds the channel shows up in Craft, and the bot messages you that it's done.

With your own bot#

If your bot is already connected to Craft (for funnels), you can post with it: add it to the channel as an admin with "Post messages", and the channel shows up in Telegram channels on its own.

How to publish#

Open Publishing → New post and tick the channel among your accounts. You can pick the channel together with Instagram, TikTok and Threads — the post goes to all of them.

• Carousel — goes to the channel as an album of up to 10 images.
• Video — as a regular video in the channel.
• Text — the Text tab: a post with no images or with one image. Pick it too when you want the same post in Threads and the channel.

The post goes out right away or at the time you choose.

Other post types#

When only Telegram channels are selected, the settings show "Post type":

• Album with video — photos and videos mixed, up to 10 in one album.
• Article — one message built from blocks: text, headings, photos, a gallery, video, GIFs, lists, quotes, hidden text, a table, a divider, buttons inside the text, a footer. Subscribers get it as a single message. The post text isn’t included — write inside the blocks.
• Poll — a question and up to 12 options; you can allow several answers. Quiz — mark the right answer and add an explanation if you like.
• File — any file up to 50 MB: PDF, spreadsheet, archive. The post text becomes the file caption.
• Audio — music or a recording with a player in the channel.
• Voice — a recording in OGG, MP3 or M4A; Craft converts it to Telegram's format.
• Video message — a round video up to a minute; Craft crops it square. Video messages have no caption, so the text goes right after as a separate message.
• GIF — plays on its own.
• Paid — photos or videos for Telegram Stars: subscribers see a blurred preview and unlock it for a fee.

Text formatting#

When a channel is selected, a bar appears above the text field: bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, spoiler, monospace, quote and link. Only Telegram subscribers see the formatting — Instagram, TikTok and Threads get the same text without it.

Post settings#

• Buttons under the post — text and link, several per row if you like. The 🤖 icon next to the link fills in a link to your Telegram funnel — pick it from a list instead of copying.
• Silent — subscribers get the post without a sound.
• Pin the post — and notify subscribers about the pin if you want.
• Block forwarding and saving — the post can't be forwarded, copied or downloaded.
• Caption above the photo or video and media under a spoiler — when the post has images or video.
• Link preview — as is, none, small or large, above or below the text.

Telegram limits#

• A caption under a photo or video is up to 1024 characters. If the text is longer, Craft warns you and asks what to do: post the media without a caption and the full text right after, or the start as the caption and the rest after.
• Albums can't have buttons. If you have both an album and buttons, Craft asks: post the album and then the text with buttons, or go without buttons.
• One message holds up to 4096 characters. Longer text goes out as several messages in a row, split by paragraphs.

After publishing#

The post card in Publishing gets buttons:

• Edit — change the text and buttons, or replace photos and videos. The edit changes the post right in the channel. If the new text doesn't fit into the same messages (for example, the caption grew past 1024 characters), Craft tells you — shorten the text, or delete the post and publish again.
• Pin or Unpin.
• Delete from channel — all messages of the post disappear. You can't bring them back, only publish again.

Telegram doesn't let you edit a poll, a video message or an article — only their buttons.

Common issues#

• The bot says it doesn't know which Craft account this is. You skipped step 2 or more than a day passed. Open Connect a channel again and tap "Open the bot".
• The bot says you're out of accounts. Your plan has no free slot. Disconnect an account in My accounts or, on Solo, buy an extra account for 990 ₽ a month: “My accounts” → “Add account” (see “How to add an extra account”), then remove the bot from the channel admins and add it again.
• The bot is in the channel but the channel isn't in Craft. Most likely "Post messages" is off for the bot. Turn it on in the channel's admin settings.
• You removed the bot from the channel — the channel disconnects in Craft on its own, and scheduled posts to it won't go out.