Telegram Bot API: Inline Mode and Callbacks

Purpose

Use this skill when the bot must work outside its own chat or when buttons drive stateful interactions.

Core API surface

• inline_query
• chosen_inline_result
• answerInlineQuery
• callback_query
• answerCallbackQuery
• inline result types
• inline keyboards and callback_data

Inline mode guidance

• Enable inline mode in @BotFather.
• Build stateless or lightly stateful search flows.
• Use compact result identifiers and stable pagination offsets.
• Treat every URL in inline results as public.
• Personalize only when justified and set caching flags accordingly.

Callback-query guidance

• Always call answerCallbackQuery, even for silent acknowledgements.
• Keep callback_data compact and versioned.
• Design callbacks so they can be replayed safely.
• Prefer editing the original message over sending a new one.

Design patterns

• Search-select-send for inline content pickers
• Inline search plus deep link back to private chat for auth/setup
• Callback-driven settings menu with message edits
• Pagination using encoded cursor state

Common mistakes

• Forgetting to acknowledge callback queries.
• Storing too much mutable state in callback_data.
• Returning overly large or slow inline result sets.
• Assuming inline messages can always upload new files during edits.

Read next

• 03-messages-and-formatting
• 14-mini-apps-and-attachment-menu
• 15-web-login-and-deep-linking