Telegram Upload Guide

Post text, photos (single or as an album) and videos to a Telegram channel or group using the IndReelForge API. Telegram connects with a bot token and the channel or chat to post to — the bot must be an admin of that channel or group with permission to post.

Supported Content Types

Type	Endpoint	Notes
Text message	POST /api/upload_text	Up to 4,096 characters
Photo / album	POST /api/upload_photos	Several photos are sent as an album
Video	POST /api/upload	Max 50 MB

Limits

Limit	Value
Message length	4,096 characters (Telegram limits captions on photos and videos to 1,024)
Max file size	50 MB (Telegram Bot API upload limit)
Posting rate	Telegram allows roughly 20 messages per minute per group or channel

Get the Credentials

1. Create a bot

1. In Telegram, open a chat with @BotFather.
2. Send /newbot and follow the prompts to choose a name and a username.
3. BotFather replies with the bot token, which looks like 123456789:AA…. Copy it.

2. Make the bot an admin

1. Open your channel or group → Manage / Edit → Administrators → Add Admin.
2. Search for your bot's username and add it.
3. Make sure it can post messages (for channels: Post Messages; for groups: Send Messages).

3. Find the channel or chat ID

• Public channel: use its username, e.g. @mychannel.
• Private channel or group: use the numeric chat ID, which starts with -100 (e.g. -1001234567890). One way to find it is to forward a message from the channel to a bot such as @userinfobot, or read it from the channel's web link in Telegram Web.

Connect Telegram

From the dashboard

1. Dashboard → Profiles → select your profile
2. Click Connect next to Telegram
3. Enter the Bot token and the Channel or chat (@username or numeric ID)
4. IndReelForge checks the bot and its access to the chat before saving — status shows Connected

With the API

curl -X POST https://api.indreelforge.com/api/profiles/my-brand/connect/telegram/credentials \
  -H 'Authorization: Apikey YOUR_KEY' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"bot_token": "123456789:AA...", "chat_id": "@mychannel"}'

Field	Required	Description
bot_token	Yes	Token from @BotFather
chat_id	Yes	Public channel @username, or the numeric ID of a private channel or group

See Connect with Credentials for the full request and response format.

Post a Text Message

curl -X POST https://api.indreelforge.com/api/upload_text \
  -H 'Authorization: Apikey YOUR_KEY' \
  -F 'user=my-brand' \
  -F 'title=Today only: 20% off everything in the store.' \
  -F 'platform[]=telegram'

Post a Photo Album

curl -X POST https://api.indreelforge.com/api/upload_photos \
  -H 'Authorization: Apikey YOUR_KEY' \
  -F 'user=my-brand' \
  -F 'title=Behind the scenes from this week' \
  -F 'photos[]=@/path/to/photo1.jpg' \
  -F 'photos[]=@/path/to/photo2.jpg' \
  -F 'photos[]=@/path/to/photo3.jpg' \
  -F 'platform[]=telegram'

Post a Video

curl -X POST https://api.indreelforge.com/api/upload \
  -H 'Authorization: Apikey YOUR_KEY' \
  -F 'user=my-brand' \
  -F 'title=Product walkthrough' \
  -F 'video=@/path/to/video.mp4' \
  -F 'platform[]=telegram'

Use telegram_title to send Telegram different text than the other platforms in the same request.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Cause	Fix
Connect fails with INVALID_CREDENTIALS	Wrong bot token, unknown chat, or the bot is not an admin that can post	Check the token with @BotFather, double-check the @username / chat ID, and give the bot posting rights
"chat not found"	The bot was never added to the chat, or the ID is wrong	Add the bot as an admin; private chats need the numeric -100… ID
File rejected as too large	File is over 50 MB	Compress or trim the video
Posts stop arriving	The bot was removed or lost admin rights, or the token was revoked in @BotFather	Restore its rights or reconnect with a new token