If you are using a self-hosted instance of the Bot API, please update to version 5.3.3 that supports user identifiers larger than 2^31-1 as soon as possible.

Otherwise, please make sure that your code can correctly handle such user identifiers.

New payment providers added:

• PSB
• Portmone
• Paymega
• Cascad

More about bot payments:
https://core.telegram.org/bots/payments

Bot API 5.4

• Added support for new invite links with Join Requests. Bots can now manage users who requested to join a group or channel.
• And more, see the full changelog for details:
https://core.telegram.org/bots/api#november-5-2021

New payment provider added: LeoGaming 🇺🇦

More about bot payments:
https://core.telegram.org/bots/payments

Bot API 5.5

• Bots can now contact users who sent a join request to a chat where the bot is an admin – even if the user never interacted with the bot before.
• Added support for protected content in groups and channels.
• Added support for users posting as a channel in public groups and channel comments.
• Added support for mentioning users by their ID in inline keyboards.
• And more, see the full changelog for details:
https://core.telegram.org/bots/api#december-7-2021


Warning: As previously announced, user identifiers can now have up to 52 significant bits and require a 64-bit integer or double-precision float type to be stored safely.

Bot API 5.6

• Improved support for protected content: bots can now send it to any chat via the protect_content parameter.
• Implemented spoiler entities both as a new MessageEntity and a supported MarkdownV2 and HTML formatting option.

• See the full changelog for details:

https://core.telegram.org/bots/api-changelog#december-30-2021

Warning: Clients released before December 30, 2021 will display messages containing spoilers as "unsupported message".

Bot API 5.7

• Added support for Video Stickers.

https://core.telegram.org/bots/api-changelog#january-31-2022

Note: Clients released before January 31, 2022 will display messages containing video stickers as "unsupported message".

Bot API 6.0

• Added support for Web Apps.
• KeyboardButton and InlineKeyboardButton can now be used to launch Web Apps.
• Added control over the bot's menu button via setChatMenuButton and getChatMenuButton.
• Added control over the bot's default admin rights via setMyDefaultAdministratorRights and getMyDefaultAdministratorRights.
• Added support for t.me links to add bots as admins.

• And more, see the full changelog for details:

https://core.telegram.org/bots/api-changelog#april-16-2022

Warning: After the next update, login_url will only allow HTTPS links.

New payment providers added:

• Smart Glocal 🌎
• Bank 131

More about bot payments:
https://core.telegram.org/bots/payments

New payment providers added:

• Unlimint 🌎
• ipay88 🇰🇭

More about bot payments:
https://core.telegram.org/bots/payments

As of the next update, it will no longer be possible to store the value of file_size fields in a signed 32-bit integer type. This change is necessary to support 4GB files which some users will be able to upload. We expect this update to arrive in June 2022.

Bot API 6.1

Telegram Premium
• To support 4GB files uploaded by premium accounts, file_size in most media classes can no longer be stored in a signed 32-bit integer type.
• Bots can now distinguish premium Users and Stickers with the new respective fields is_premium and premium_animation.

Web Apps
• Added several methods and fields to the class WebApp to handle API version, additional colors, haptic feedback and more.
• Added the events backButtonClicked, settingsButtonClicked and invoiceClosed.
• Updated ThemeParams, MainButton and WebAppInitData with new fields and methods.

Groups, Payments and Attachment Menu
• Bots can now process join requests created without an invite link – they will still receive a chat_join_request update.
• HTTP links for invoices can be generated with the new createInvoiceLink method.
• Bots can now detect when a user added them to their attachment menu via the new added_to_attachment_menu field. Integrated bots can now also be used in groups, supergroups and channels.

• Check that your bot's webhook was set by you with the new secret_token parameter.

• And more, see the full changelog for details:

https://core.telegram.org/bots/api-changelog#june-20-2022

Warning: Only HTTPS links are now allowed in login_url.

Bot API 6.2

Custom Emoji
• Bots can identify custom emoji sent by Telegram Premium users via the new type "custom_emoji" and field custom_emoji_id added to the MessageEntity class.
• Added the method getCustomEmojiStickers to obtain information about specific emoji.
• Added the fields type and custom_emoji_id to the Sticker class.
• Added sticker_type as a new field for StickerSet and as a new parameter for createNewStickerSet.

Web Apps
• Implemented support for native dialog windows including alerts, popups with custom buttons and confirmation messages.
• A confirmation dialog can now be shown when users close the web app. The dialog can be toggled via the enableClosingConfirmation and disableClosingConfirmation functions.
• Added the field is_premium to the WebAppUser class — the standard User class already included this field, see version 6.1.

• Added has_restricted_voice_and_video_messages to the Chat class to support the new premium setting.

• And more, see the full changelog for details:

https://core.telegram.org/bots/api-changelog#august-12-2022

Note: The documentation for createNewStickerSet and StickerSet no longer mentions the contains_masks parameter and field respectively. In both instances, contains_masks will continue to work for backward compatibility but developers should use sticker_type instead.

New payment provider added:

• Paykassma 🇮🇳

More about bot payments:
https://core.telegram.org/bots/payments

General Documentation about Bots Updated!

• Introduction for Developers
Shows how bots can bring any idea to life – replacing websites, creating shops, automating tasks and integrating services.

• Telegram Bot Features
Explains bot features in depth with tips, quick-start guides and cheat sheets on all possible inputs, interfaces, commands and more.

• Tutorial: From BotFather to ‘Hello World’
Teaches how to build your own bot with a step-by-step tutorial – and explores advanced topics like improving logic and navigation.

Check out the new docs to find more tips, features and ideas for your next project.

Bot API 6.3

Topics

• Bots now support Topics in Groups.
• Added the fields is_forum and is_topic_message to Chat and Message respectively.
• Bots can send messages to a topic via the new message_thread_id parameter.
• Added service messages about new, closed and reopened topics, each with an optional field in Message.
• Bots can now create, close, edit and delete topics.
• Added chat member permissions for topic management, see can_manage_topics as a field in all relevant classes and as a parameter in promoteChatMember.

Multiple Usernames and Emoji Status
• Multiple Usernames are listed by the active_usernames field in the Chat class.
• Custom user statuses are now shown in the emoji_status_custom_emoji_id field returned from getChat.

• And more, see the full changelog for details:

https://core.telegram.org/bots/api-changelog#november-5-2022

Bot API 6.4

Forums
• Bots can now open, close, edit and toggle the visibility of the General Topic.
• Added support for new service messages, like ForumTopicEdited, GeneralForumTopicHidden and more.
• The method sendChatAction can now send actions to any thread or topic via the message_thread_id parameter.

Spoilers
• Added spoiler detection via the new has_media_spoiler field in the Message class.
• Bots can send media covered by a spoiler animation via the has_spoiler field in sendPhoto, sendVideo and sendAnimation.

Web Apps
• Added a native QR scanner popup, controllable via showScanQrPopup and closeScanQrPopup.
• Web Apps launched from the attachment menu can request clipboard text via readTextFromClipboard.
• Added a platform field, showing which platform the web app is being used on.

General
• Added the is_persistent field, to keep ReplyKeyboards open by default.


• And more, see the full changelog for details:

https://core.telegram.org/bots/api-changelog#december-30-2022

Bot API 6.5

Chat and User Selection
• Bots can now show a friendly interface that can be used to select any channel, group or user.
• Added the KeyboardButtonRequestUser and KeyboardButtonRequestChat keyboard buttons for private chats.
• Added support for "user_shared" and "chat_shared" service messages, which hold the identifiers of users and chats shared via the buttons.

Improved Permissions
• Added support for granular media permissions by replacing can_send_media_messages in ChatMemberRestricted and ChatPermissions with several separate fields for the respective media type.
• Added the parameter use_independent_chat_permissions to the methods restrictChatMember and setChatPermissions.


• Added the field user_chat_id to the class ChatJoinRequest.

• And more, see the full changelog for details:

https://core.telegram.org/bots/api-changelog#february-3-2023

New payment providers added:

• bill_line
• Freedom Pay
• PayBox.money

More about bot payments:
https://core.telegram.org/bots/payments

Bot API 6.6

Localized Descriptions
• Bots now support localized descriptions that are shown based on the user's language.
• Added the methods setMyDescription and setMyShortDescription to set the bot's localized description and short description.
• Added the methods getMyDescription and getMyShortDescription to obtain the bot's description or short description for a given language.

Stickers and Emoji
• Bots can now create custom emoji sticker sets with createNewStickerSet.
• Added support for adaptive custom emoji colors via the needs_repainting parameter in the createNewStickerSet method.
• Added the ability to specify search keywords for stickers added to sticker sets.
• Improved editing options for sticker sets, including changing the title, deleting a pack, editing emoji lists and more.

https://core.telegram.org/bots/api-changelog#march-9-2023

Note: Mentions of thumb across all methods and classes have been updated to thumbnail.