Connect Telegram to Bommelbot

Bommel Bot lets you save any link without ever opening the website. You just message a little helper bot — we call it your Bommelbot — and it files the bookmark into your library for you. This guide walks you all the way from "I don't even have Telegram" to "I just saved a bookmark by sending a message."

No coding. No technical background needed. If you can send a text message, you can do this.

The big picture (read this first)

Here's the whole idea in one breath:

• You create your own little bot on Telegram (that's your Bommelbot).
• Telegram gives you a secret token — think of it as the bot's password.
• You paste that token once into the **Channel Setup Wizard**.
• From then on, whenever you find a great link, you send it to your bot in Telegram, and it lands in your library automatically.

Why this is genuinely useful: Most of the interesting links you find are on your phone — in a chat, a browser, an app. Switching to a website to save each one is friction, so you don't do it. Messaging a bot is something you already do a hundred times a day. Your bookmarks get saved where you actually are.

Under the hood, your bot forwards each message to Bommel Bot through a webhook (a fancy word for "an automatic phone call between two apps"). Bommel Bot reads the link, understands what it is, gives it a title and tags, and stores it in your database. You don't have to think about any of that — it just happens.

What you'll need

• A phone or computer (Telegram works on both).
• About 10 minutes.
• A Bommel Bot account that is signed in and verified (free is fine). Connecting a channel needs a place to store your bookmarks in the cloud, because a bot has no browser of its own to save into.

That's it. Everything below is free on Telegram's side.

Step 1 — Create a Telegram account

If you already use Telegram, skip to Step 2.

1. Install Telegram from your phone's app store (or go to telegram.org on a computer).
2. Open it and tap Start Messaging.
3. Enter your phone number. Telegram sends you a code by SMS.
4. Type in the code, add your name, and you're in.

That's your normal, personal Telegram account. Your Bommelbot will be separate from this — you'll create it in the next step, and then you'll chat with it just like you'd chat with a friend.

Step 2 — Meet BotFather (Telegram's bot maker)

Every Telegram bot is born the same way: by talking to an official bot called BotFather. It's Telegram's free, built-in tool for creating bots — there's no other way, and it costs nothing.

1. In Telegram, tap the search bar at the top.
2. Type BotFather.
3. Open the result named @BotFather — make sure it has the blue verified checkmark next to it. (Imposters exist; the checkmark is how you spot the real one.)
4. Tap Start (or send /start). BotFather replies with a list of commands.

Tip: Don't worry about all those commands. You only need one of them, and we'll use it right now.

Step 3 — Create your Bommelbot

1. Send the message /newbot to BotFather.
2. BotFather asks for a name. This is the friendly display name you'll see in your chat list. Type something like Bommelbot (spaces and emoji are fine).
3. BotFather asks for a username. This has to be unique across all of Telegram and must end in `bot` — for example my_bommelbot or janes_bommel_bot. If your first choice is taken, just add a number or your name and try again.
4. Done! BotFather sends a "Congratulations" message that contains your token.

Your token looks like this (yours will be different):

123456789:AAdQsf8f-ThisIsJustAnExample-9KpQz1234abcd

Treat this token like a password. Anyone who has it can control your bot. Don't post it in screenshots or share it. If it ever leaks, send /revoke to BotFather to generate a fresh one.

Tap the token in the chat to copy it, or copy it by hand. Keep BotFather open for a moment in case you need it again.

Step 4 — Paste the token into Bommel Bot

1. Open Bommel Bot and sign in and verify your email (free is fine).
2. Open the **Channel Setup Wizard**.
3. Paste your token into the Paste your token field.
4. Click Connect.

When you click Connect, Bommel Bot checks the token with Telegram, then quietly sets up the webhook for you. There's nothing to configure by hand — if the token is valid, you're connected. Your token is stored securely on our servers only and is never shown back to you or to anyone else.

Don't see a Connect button, or it's greyed out? You need to be signed in and verified first (free is fine), because your bookmarks are saved to your cloud database. Sign in and come back.

Step 5 — Finish linking (send /start to your own bot)

Connecting tells Telegram where to deliver messages. Now you just need to tell your bot who you are so it only listens to you.

1. In Telegram, search for the username you chose in Step 3 (for example @my_bommelbot).
2. Open the chat with your bot and tap Start (or send /start).

The first /start links your Telegram account to your Bommel Bot library. From this moment on, your bot only accepts messages from you — nobody else can save into your library, even if they somehow find your bot.

Step 6 — Save your first bookmark

This is the fun part. In your chat with the bot:

1. Paste any link — say a YouTube video, an article, or a product page.
2. Send it.

Within a few seconds your bot replies to confirm it filed the bookmark, usually with the title and a tag or two it picked out. Open your Bommel Bot library and you'll see the new entry sitting there, neatly organized.

What can I send? Any message with a URL in it works — you can add a note in the same message too (for example: great gift idea https://example.com/watch). Bommel Bot reads the link, figures out what it is, writes a clean title and summary, and tags it for you.

Step 7 — Troubleshooting

"Messages I send the bot don't show up." Open Settings → Channels → Telegram. If it says the webhook isn't registered, click Reconnect. This re-establishes the automatic connection with Telegram.

"I reconnect, but it keeps breaking within seconds." This almost always means the same bot token is being used somewhere else at the same time (for example in another tool or script running in "polling" mode). A Telegram bot can only be connected to one place at a time. Stop the other tool, or create a brand-new bot in Step 3 just for Bommel Bot.

"Telegram rejected my token." Double-check you copied the whole token, including the numbers before the colon. If in doubt, send /token to BotFather to see it again, or /revoke to make a new one — then paste the new token and Connect again.

"The bot says I'm not linked yet." Go back to Step 5 and send /start to your bot. Only the first /start links your account.

Bookmarks saved but the library looks empty on another device. Bommel Bot pulls new bot-saved bookmarks into your library automatically when you sign in and every minute or so afterward. Give it a moment, or refresh the page.

You're done

You now have a personal Bommelbot on Telegram. Anytime you spot something worth keeping, just send it to your bot — no website, no forms, no fuss. Enjoy your tidy, always-growing library.