Secretary Bot - general Information

What is a Secretary Bot? A Secretary Bot is a bot that you can connect to your account and allow it to respond to private messages on your behalf in your absence.

IMPORTANT: for the Secretary Bot to work, you DON'T NEED Premium functionality on your account.

Sequence of creating a Secretary Bot

1. Create a bot in @BotFather

You can use an existing bot and simply activate Secretary Mode for it, but for beginners, we recommend creating a separate one to avoid confusion about the functionality.

The process of creating a new bot is described in the guide «How to create your first bot»

2. Enable Secretary mode

To enable Secretary mode:
1. Go to @BotFather and launch the Bot Management Web App (blue button in the lower left corner).
2. Select the bot you created from the list.
3. In the «Setting» section, select «Bot Settings»

4. In the «Mode Settings» section, enable «Secretary Mode».

3. Add the Secretary bot to your Telegram account profile

IMPORTANT: Previously, these bots were called «Business Bots» and were configured through the Business Bots menu as part of the paid Premium functionality. Telegram has now made this option FREE for everyone and placed it in the PROFILE SETTINGS of your Telegram Account. Therefore, you DO NOT need to look for it in the Business Bots section!

IMPORTANT: To connect the Secretary bot to your Telegram account, use the TELEGRAM-DESKTOP application, not the Mobile application (we have neither the slightest idea nor the desire to figure out where the "geniuses of design" placed this setting in the mobile application).

To add the bot you've created as an Secretary-autoresponder to your account:
1. Go to «My Profile» section in the left menu and click the «Pencil» icon to edit your profile.
2. Find the «Chat Automation» section.
3. In the first segment, select the bot you've created.
4. The following settings will be specific to each of you, depending on your scenarios:
- Select where the bot will have access to (Chats the bot can access) - all personal chats or only selected ones. Normally, only selected ones («Only selected chats»).
- Select the chat categories (or individual chats) in which your bot will work («Included chats») - usually «New Chats» and «Non-Contacts».
- Set bot's permissions («Bot permissions»): at the moment, it is enough to just specify all the items in the «Manage Messages» option (the required minimum).

After this, you can exit the Profile settings.

4. Add the bot to the MenuBuilderBot bot constructor

If you didn't do this in the first step, you can do it now.

Brief instructions on adding a bot to the constructor are in the manual: «Create a New Bot». 

5. Add behavior logic

The logic and rules of behavior of the Secretary Bot (like any other bot created using the @MenuBuilderBot constructor ) are defined within the bot you created.

For a detailed description of how to create a Secretary Bot, see the guide: «Creating a Secretary Bot».

Peculiarities of work

Business bots created using the @MenuBuilderBot constructor have their own features and limitations.
 ● Buttons in the «Admin Only» mode are only available to users by commands.
 ● «Invisible» buttons are available by name.
● It is recommended to write the names of menu buttons in LOWER case (see explanation below).
● Commands in messages of private chats are NOT displayed - it is advisable to make them copyable.
● Error message (Unknown command) - is not shown.
● No functionality except messages works.
● Inline buttons and the lower menu are not shown.
● Forms (questions) do not work.
● Buttons closed by Condition and buttons with functionality (Actions, Bonuses, etc.) are ignored.

IMPORTANT: All messages sent by the user are forced to lowercase. Therefore, the names of the Business Bot menu buttons must also be written in lowercase. In this case, it will not matter how the user wrote this or that word - the bot will be able to process it correctly.

Two approaches to the work of a business bot.

There are two fundamentally different approaches to how your business bot will interact with the user.

APPROACH 1. The bot will ignore all user messages, the reaction to which is not directly included in its logic.

In other words, the bot will remain silent on an unknown user message. The bot will respond with a corresponding message if the user sends a command or button name known to the bot. In these bot messages, you can place additional commands to the user that, if necessary, will help him follow the specified scenario.

APPROACH 2. The second approach assumes that the bot will guide the user according to the logic known to it, responding with a default message to ANY unknown message from the user - transferring it to the beginning of the specified scenario if the user sends an unknown command.

At the same time, in the messages themselves, you can also place commands that will allow the user to move further along the script and return him to the beginning if the user deviates from that script by sending unknown message or command.

Frequently Asked Questions

NOTE: The Secretary Bots (formerly Business Bots) feature was added to the constructor almost immediately after its release in Telegram. At that time, we weren't sure how much interest this feature would have. Therefore, we implemented it in the simplest possible way - using the constructor abilities itself. If Secretary Bots generate interest, we will continue to develop this feature. It is currently in its infancy stage.

QUESTION: Is it possible to connect ChatGPT or Assistant based on neural network?
ANSWER: Currently, no. We added Secretary Bots (formerly Business Bots) at the end of 2024, and so far, we haven't encountered any users who are seriously interested in them - mostly, everyone is just asking, but they don't have their own LLMs or Agents. If there's real demand, we'll consider this option (it's technically feasible).