Telegram Bot API: Polls, Checklists, Dice, and User Selection

Purpose

Use this skill when the bot needs structured input or lightweight interaction widgets.

Core API surface

• sendPoll
• poll updates and poll answers
• checklist objects and checklist send/edit flows
• sendDice
• keyboard buttons that request:
  • contact
  • location
  • poll creation
  • users
  • chats

Developer guidance

• Prefer native widgets when they reduce parsing ambiguity.
• Store poll IDs and map them to domain objects.
• For quizzes, persist correct-answer state outside the message itself.
• Treat shared chat/user identifiers as user-selected references, not as proof of future access.

Checklists

• Use checklists when a task list is part of the actual product, not just bot-internal state.
• Model task IDs carefully because replies can target specific checklist tasks.
• Consider whether other users may add or complete tasks.

Common mistakes

• Assuming every poll answer update arrives for every poll in Telegram.
• Forgetting that some widgets are private-chat only.
• Treating shared chat/user IDs as if the bot automatically has full access to them.
• Using dice as business logic randomness without considering UX expectations.

Read next

• 05-commands-keyboards-and-input
• 03-messages-and-formatting
• 21-schema-and-type-modeling