01 · Operator
Who operates TelegramBot
- Company
- Telegram
- Type
- Social preview bot
- Official docs
- radar.cloudflare.com
02 · Behavior
What TelegramBot does
When a message contains a URL, TelegramBot requests the page to render a link preview. Cloudflare Radar lists it as a verified link preview bot controlled directly by Telegram.
03 · Impact
Why TelegramBot matters for your site
If you allow it
- Links sent in Telegram show a preview
- Requests follow user shares, not bulk crawling
If you block it
- You do not want previews of your pages in Telegram
- You want to limit requests from messaging apps
04 · Allow
How to allow TelegramBot
robots.txt
User-agent: TelegramBot
Allow: /Cloudflare
# Security › WAF › Custom rules › Create rule
Expression: (http.user_agent contains "TelegramBot")
Action: Skip › All Super Bot Fight Mode rules
# Also check Security › Bots: "Block AI bots" can block it regardless of robots.txt.WordPress
# WordPress serves a virtual robots.txt. Edit it with your SEO plugin:
# Yoast: SEO › Tools › File editor · Rank Math: General Settings › Edit robots.txt
User-agent: TelegramBot
Allow: /nginx
# nginx serves every user agent by default.
# Make sure no rule like this blocks it:
# if ($http_user_agent ~* "TelegramBot") { return 403; }Apache
# Apache serves every user agent by default.
# Make sure .htaccess has no rule like this:
# RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} TelegramBot [NC]
# RewriteRule .* - [F,L]05 · Block
How to block TelegramBot
Start with robots.txt. If TelegramBot keeps showing up in your logs, block it at your CDN or web server.
robots.txt
User-agent: TelegramBot
Disallow: /Cloudflare
# Security › WAF › Custom rules › Create rule
Expression: (http.user_agent contains "TelegramBot")
Action: BlockWordPress
# WordPress serves a virtual robots.txt. Edit it with your SEO plugin:
# Yoast: SEO › Tools › File editor · Rank Math: General Settings › Edit robots.txt
User-agent: TelegramBot
Disallow: /nginx
# In your server { } block:
if ($http_user_agent ~* "TelegramBot") {
return 403;
}Apache
# .htaccess
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} TelegramBot [NC]
RewriteRule .* - [F,L]
</IfModule>06 · User agents
User agents we see for TelegramBot
The user agent published by the operator:
TelegramBot (like TwitterBot)07 · Verification
Is it really TelegramBot?
TelegramBot’s operator publishes no IP ranges or hostnames, so requests cannot be verified. Treat the user agent as a claim, and watch your logs for unusual request rates.
FAQ
Questions about TelegramBot
What does TelegramBot do on my website?
It fetches a page when someone sends its URL in Telegram. The data is used to render a link preview in the chat.
Why does the TelegramBot user agent say "like TwitterBot"?
The full user agent is "TelegramBot (like TwitterBot)". Telegram has not published an explanation for this wording.
Is TelegramBot a verified bot?
Yes. Cloudflare Radar lists Telegram Bot as a verified bot in the link preview category.
Last reviewed Oct 7, 2026