Telegram — The Most Popular Bot Platform

If you’ve ever wished your AI assistant could live inside your favorite messaging app, Telegram is the closest thing to magic—it’s like giving your agent a phone number that’s always on.

Why Telegram?

Telegram isn’t just for chatting with friends. It’s a full-blown platform where bots are first-class citizens. That means your Hermes Agent can become a conversational buddy you text from your couch, your desk, or a bus—no dashboards, no browser tabs, just chat.

Step 1: Get Your Bot Token

Every bot starts with a token—think of it as a key. You get it from @BotFather, Telegram’s official bot manager.

1. Open Telegram, search for @BotFather, or go to t.me/BotFather
2. Send /newbot
3. Pick a display name (e.g., “Hermes Agent”)
4. Pick a username that ends in bot (e.g., my_hermes_bot)
5. BotFather replies with your API token:

123456789:ABCdefGHIjklMNOpqrSTUvwxYZ

Warning: Keep that token secret. Anyone with it can control your bot. If it leaks, revoke it immediately with /revoke in BotFather.

Step 2: Make It Feel Polished (Optional)

BotFather lets you customize the user experience. Try these commands:

Command	What It Does
/setdescription	The “What can this bot do?” text before users start chatting
/setabouttext	Short bio on the bot’s profile page
/setuserpic	Upload an avatar
/setcommands	Define the menu users see when they tap the / button
/setprivacy	Control whether the bot sees all group messages

A handy starting command menu:

help - Show help information
new - Start a new conversation
sethome - Set this chat as the home channel

Step 3: Show Online/Offline Status (Optional)

Telegram bots don’t have a green “online” dot like user accounts. The closest thing is the bot’s short description—the line under its name on the profile page.

Enable status_indicator in your Hermes config, and the bot will set that line to Online when connected and Offline on a clean shutdown:

gateway:
  platforms:
    telegram:
      extra:
        status_indicator: true
        status_online: "🟢 Online"
        status_offline: "🔴 Offline"

Keep in mind: this is a global profile text, not a per-chat badge. And a hard crash won’t update it—only a clean stop will.

What You Get Once Connected

• Voice memos that get auto-transcribed
• Scheduled task results delivered straight to your chat
• Group chat support for team collaboration
• Images and file attachments shared with your agent

Final Thoughts

Telegram is the most popular bot platform because it’s simple, fast, and everywhere. The setup takes five minutes, and the payoff is huge: your agent becomes a text away.

Practical tip: Start with just text messages. Once that feels natural, turn on voice transcription and group chat. Don’t enable the status indicator until you’re sure you want your bot’s profile to change—it’s visible to everyone.