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Telegram Bot Setup Guide

This guide explains how to create a Telegram bot and retrieve the required Bot API Token and Chat ID for sending messages from PowerShell.

🤖 Step 1: Create a Telegram Bot

Open Telegram
Search for @BotFather
Start a chat and run:

/start

Create a new bot:

/newbot

Enter:

Bot name (example: PRTGGraphAutomation)
Bot username (must end with bot)
```
PRTGGraphAutomationbot
```

BotFather will return a token:

123456789:AAE_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

📌 Save this token securely
This is your Telegram Bot API Token.

🔐 Step 2: Add the Bot to Telegram

Option A: Personal Chat

Open your bot using:

https://t.me/<your_bot_username>

Click Start

Option B: Group / Channel

Create a Telegram group or channel
Add your bot to the group
(Recommended) Promote bot to Admin

Required for sending messages in groups/channels

🆔 Step 3: Get Your Chat ID

Method 1: Using Telegram API (Recommended)

Send any message to the bot:

hello

Open in browser:

https://api.telegram.org/bot<YOUR_BOT_TOKEN>/getUpdates

Look for:

"chat": {
    "id": -1001234567890,
    "type": "group",
    "title": "PRTG Alerts"
}

📌 Chat ID examples

Personal chat: 123456789
Group / Channel: -1001234567890

🔒 Security Best Practices

Rotate token if exposed
Use private repos for production automation
Restrict bot to required groups only