Getting Started with Soruki: Build Your First Telegram Bot

Welcome to Soruki! Telegram bots are an incredibly powerful way to automate customer support, capture leads, and engage users. In this tutorial, we will walk you through setting up your first bot using the real tools available on our platform.

Step 1: Create a Bot via BotFather

First, we need to register a new bot on Telegram.

1. Open Telegram and search for the official @BotFather.
2. Start the chat and send the /newbot command.
3. Choose a name for your bot (e.g., My Company).
4. Choose a username that ends in "bot" (e.g., my_company_bot).
5. Copy the HTTP API token provided. Keep this token secret!

Step 2: Connect BotFather Token to Soruki

Now, let's link the bot token to Soruki:

1. Log in to your Soruki Dashboard.
2. Click Add Bot in the left sidebar.
3. Paste the token from BotFather.
4. Our platform will automatically configure a secure webhook connection to the Telegram API to listen for new messages instantly.

Step 3: Design the Scenario in the Flow Builder

Unlike basic block-based platforms, Soruki offers a full visual Flow Builder to orchestrate branching conversation paths (branching scenarios):

1. Navigate to the Flow Builder tab.
2. Locate the Start Screen which triggers automatically when a user sends the /start command.
3. Add a text block and enter your welcome message:

   "Hello! Welcome to our bot. How can we help you today?"

4. Connect new custom screens to create deep, interactive conversational steps on the canvas.

Step 4: Add Keyboard Layouts (Keyboard Templates)

For each screen, you can attach navigation buttons:

• Inline Keyboards: Attached directly to the message. They let users trigger screen transitions or open external URL links.
• Reply Keyboards: Standard bottom menus replacing the user's native text entry area.

Create layouts directly in the screen editor or select one of the premade templates from your library.

Step 5: Test and Collaborate

1. Click Publish in the top right corner. Changes are applied immediately.
2. Open your bot in Telegram and send /start to test the visual flow.
3. Invite your teammates to the workspace under Team settings and assign them roles so they can reply to user inquiries in real-time using our shared live chat Inbox.