Developing Telegram Bots for Forums ​

Forums are groups splitted into multiple topics.

How topics work ​

Forum is simply a group with a special user interface. You can view a forum as a regular chat in the official apps using forum menu. (This mode indicates a topic of every message.)

Technically, topics work as following.

When a topic is created, a system message "Topic created" appears. Replies to this message fall into the topic.

Topic ID is the system message ID.

The #general topic is the topic where all other messages go. It has ID 1.

Usage ​

If your bot works in groups, then you probably should consider the case when the group is the forum. For example, if a user sends a command, the bot should answer in the same topic (otherwise the response will appear in #general.)

Managing topics ​

Bots can open, edit, and close topics just like users. Depending on the forum settings this may require an admin right.