How to connect a Telegram bot to BOTBuild in 5 minutes

If you’re even thinking about launching a Telegram shop, this is the first and shortest article worth reading. We’ll walk the whole path: from an empty bot inside Telegram to one that’s answering its first customer.

The whole thing takes about 5 minutes. No code, no servers, no hosting setup. All you need is Telegram, a BOTBuild account, and a little patience.

What “a bot” actually is, and why your shop needs one

A Telegram bot is, in essence, a separate account that’s controlled by software instead of a person. Customers chat with it like a regular contact — they tap buttons, browse the catalogue, place an order, and pay. On the other side, BOTBuild handles all of it.

The key idea: one shop = one bot. Each bot has its own name, avatar, description, and token — a secret key that BOTBuild uses to operate it.

Step 1. Create a bot with @BotFather

@BotFather is the official Telegram bot that issues every other bot. It’s free and takes a minute.

1. Open Telegram and search for @BotFather (mind the blue verified checkmark — there are impostors).
2. Hit Start.
3. Send the /newbot command.
4. BotFather will ask for a name — this is the display name customers see in chats. For example: My Clothing Shop.
5. Then it asks for a username — a technical handle that must end with bot. For example: my_clothing_shop_bot. If it’s taken, try another.
6. On success, BotFather sends a token that looks like this:

1234567890:AAEhBP0av28_M5l5fzZuKv6Vw...

That’s the key. Don’t share it. Anyone with this token can control your bot exactly like you can.

Step 2. Polish the bot’s profile (optional but recommended)

Right in the BotFather chat you can dress your bot up — it directly affects how much customers trust it:

• /setdescription — short description shown on the bot’s profile.
• /setabouttext — the “About” text shown before the first /start.
• /setuserpic — the avatar. Upload your logo or a hero product shot.
• /setcommands — the command list (BOTBuild sets these for you, but you can add custom ones).

You can change all of this any time later — none of it affects how BOTBuild works.

Step 3. Connect the bot in BOTBuild

Now the easy part.

1. Sign in to the BOTBuild admin panel.
2. Go to Stores → Create store.
3. Enter a store name (this is just for you, customers won’t see it) and paste the token you got from BotFather.
4. Click Create.

In a few seconds BOTBuild will connect to the bot and the store will turn green in the list — that means it’s live.

If it won’t connect, it’s usually a typo in the token. Copy it again from the BotFather message and paste it fresh.

Step 4. Sanity-check that the bot is alive

Open your bot via a link like t.me/your_username_bot and press Start. If the bot replies with a welcome message, congratulations — it’s connected.

At this point the bot is still bare: empty catalogue, no payments wired up, default texts. That’s expected — store setup is the next step.

Step 5. What comes next

Once the bot is connected, you land in the store dashboard. The minimum to start taking orders:

• Catalogue — add at least one category and one product. It’s usually faster to assemble than people expect.
• Payment methods — wire up at least one. YooMoney, CryptoBot, manual payments — pick what fits.
• Texts & buttons — the visual constructor lets you rewrite any bot message without touching code.

Each of those is its own article. But if you’re impatient, just open the bot and play with it — anything you change in the admin shows up in the bot instantly.

Common mistakes

“Unauthorized” on connect. The token has a stray space or got cut off. Open the BotFather chat, tap the token, and it’ll copy in full.

The bot doesn’t respond to /start. Make sure the store is marked active in BOTBuild. If you just connected it, give it 5–10 seconds to warm up.

Accidentally revoked the token with /revoke. The old one stops working. Get a new one from BotFather, open the store settings in BOTBuild, and update it. All your store data stays intact.

I want a second bot. BOTBuild lets you connect as many stores as you want — each with its own bot. Just create another store and repeat steps 1–3.

Wrapping up

Five minutes ago you had nothing but an idea. Now you have a working bot, ready to take its first orders the moment you fill the catalogue. Everything that comes next is product and sales — the interesting part.