Bring your own Telegram bot

Shared workspaces need a way for team members to chat with the workspace Cloa. The standard way is via your own Telegram bot. You create the bot in Telegram's BotFather, paste the token into Cloa, and your team can DM the bot to talk to the workspace's Cloa.

This guide walks through the full setup, from creating the bot to inviting your team.

Why bring your own bot

When you bring your own bot, your team chats with a bot you own and brand. The bot carries your team's name, your icon, and your description. Cloa doesn't run the bot under its own name; it's your bot that Cloa drives behind the scenes.

The result is better for trust and team identity. Members see a familiar handle in their Telegram chat list, not a generic third-party name. The bot feels like part of your workspace, because it is.

What you'll need

A Telegram account — the one that will own the bot. The owning account can manage the bot later in BotFather, so use an account that the right person on your team controls.
About 5 minutes.

Step 1: Create the bot in BotFather

BotFather is Telegram's official tool for creating and managing bots. You'll talk to it like any other Telegram contact.

Open Telegram and search for @BotFather.
Tap the verified BotFather account and start a conversation.
Send /newbot.
Pick a name for your bot. This is the display name your team will see — for example, "Acme Team Cloa".
Pick a username. It must end in bot — for example, acme_team_cloa_bot. Usernames are unique across Telegram, so you may need a second try if your first pick is taken.
BotFather replies with the bot's HTTP API token. It looks like a long string of letters and numbers separated by a colon. Copy it.

Treat the token like a password. Anyone who has it can act as the bot.

Step 2: Paste the token into Cloa

Back in Cloa, head to your workspace's agent.

From the agent's home, open Manage → Channels.
Tap Connect a Channel, then pick Telegram.
Paste the token into the input field.

Cloa checks the token against Telegram on its own as soon as you paste it — no separate button to tap. Once it confirms the bot is valid (a second or two), tap Connect to link it to your workspace.

Step 3: Customize the bot (optional)

You can give the bot a description, an about line, and a profile picture so it feels like part of your team. All of this happens back in BotFather.

Send /setdescription to write the text members see when they first open the bot.
Send /setabouttext to set the short bio shown on the bot's profile.
Send /setuserpic to upload a profile picture. A square image works best.

BotFather will ask which bot you're editing — pick the one you just created. Changes take effect immediately.

Step 4: Invite team members to chat with the bot

Share the bot's @username with the members of your workspace. They open Telegram, search for the handle, and start a chat.

When a member sends their first message, Cloa checks that they're part of your workspace. If they are, the conversation begins and they're now talking to the workspace's Cloa through your bot.

Managing the bot

You can manage the connected bot at any time from Manage → Channels — tap the bot to open its detail screen. From there you can add it to Telegram groups, link your own DM, and disconnect it.

Disconnect. Disconnecting the bot from Cloa stops it from responding to your team and removes its connections. The bot itself stays in BotFather; you can reconnect it later or delete it from BotFather entirely.
Change the token. If the existing token has been shared too widely, ask BotFather to revoke it and issue a new one (use /token or /revoke), then disconnect the old bot in Cloa and reconnect with the fresh token.

Privacy

Only people you've invited to your workspace can chat with the bot. Cloa verifies each member's identity before any conversation starts, so a Telegram user who isn't part of your workspace can't read or send messages through your bot. If a random user finds the bot's username and sends a message, they're turned away.

Your bot's token stays inside Cloa and is never shared with other workspaces or members.

Coming soon

Managed bots are on the way. With managed bots, Cloa provides the bot for you — no BotFather step, no token to paste. Stay tuned.