Channels: Telegram, WhatsApp, VK

A GetMyBot bot can run in several messengers at once — Telegram, WhatsApp, and VK. You build the behavior once (reactions, conditions, actions), and the platform delivers it to whichever channel the event came from. That way a single builder serves every channel instead of being set up separately for each one.

What a channel is

A channel is a connected delivery surface: a specific Telegram bot, a WhatsApp Business number, or a VK community. A single GetMyBot bot can have several channels. Reactions are shared: when a subscriber writes on WhatsApp, the event is processed by the same reactions as on Telegram, and the reply goes back to WhatsApp.

Different channels support different messenger capabilities (buttons, editing, templates, and so on). The builder takes this into account: actions unavailable for a channel are either not offered or gracefully degrade to the closest equivalent.

Primary channel (primary_channel)

Every bot has a primary channel (primary_channel) — the surface the bot is chiefly associated with. It is usually Telegram, but a bot can be created straight away as a WhatsApp or VK bot, with no Telegram at all. The primary channel is set at creation time and shown in the bot list; other channels are added to the bot later.

Channel capability matrix

Below is which messenger capabilities each channel supports. The up-to-date matrix in machine-readable form is served by the API: GET /api/channels/capabilities.

Telegram — the reference channel with the full set of capabilities: inline buttons and reply keyboard, callbacks (button press → reaction), emoji reactions, /start deep links, editing, deleting, and forwarding messages, reply as a trigger, member events, permissions, and moderation. Text formatting — Plain / HTML / Markdown. There are no templates, lists, carousels, or session window (they aren't needed in Telegram).

WhatsApp (via the WhatsApp Cloud API) — with its own specifics: inline buttons, callbacks, emoji reactions, /start deep links, message templates, lists (interactive list), and a 24-hour session window. Formatting — Plain / Markdown. It does not support a reply keyboard, editing, deleting, or forwarding messages, reply as a trigger, member events, permissions/moderation, or carousels. See the WhatsApp page for details.

VK — messages and attachments, inline buttons and reply keyboard, callbacks, emoji reactions, /start deep links, editing and deleting messages, forwarding, member events, ban/unban. Formatting — plain text only (HTML/Markdown is stripped on render). VK has no WhatsApp templates, lists, carousels, or session window.

Common to all channels: inline buttons, callbacks, emoji reactions, and /start deep links. Carousels aren't supported by any channel yet.

How to connect a channel

Channels are added on the Bots page (/app/bots).

  1. Open Bots and find the bot you need.
  2. Click "Add channel" on the bot card.
  3. Choose a platform — Telegram, WhatsApp, or VK.
  4. Enter the channel credentials (for Telegram — a token, for WhatsApp — a set of Meta credentials, for VK — community credentials).
  5. Click "Verify" — the platform checks the credentials on the messenger side.
  6. Click "Connect".

For WhatsApp and VK, after connecting the channel gets a webhook address (the 🔗 icon). You need to register this address on the platform side (in the Meta app for WhatsApp, in the community settings for VK) so that incoming events reach the bot. How to do this for WhatsApp — see WhatsApp → Configuring the webhook.

What's next