tai/research/tui-framework-design/telegram-bot-api.md

Telegram Bot API — reply keyboards, inline keyboards, menu button, commands

Metadata

Field	Value
Institute	Molodetz Institute — Research & Retrieval Division
Subject	tui-framework-design
Document type	Source Dossier
Tier	1
Source title	Telegram Bot API (bot keyboards, menu button, and commands sections)
Source URL	https://core.telegram.org/bots/api
Source publisher / author	Telegram
Source type	vendor docs
Source date (published)	Unknown — not stated
Date researched	2026-10-11
Researched by	tai (agent), model: Muse Spark, on behalf of retoor
Research method	direct page fetch
Confidence	High
Status	Active

Summary

The official protocol reference for bot input surfaces: custom reply keyboards that replace the system keyboard, inline keyboards pinned under a message that send nothing by themselves, the menu button opening the command list, and up to 100 scoped commands with slash autocomplete.

Key findings

• Custom reply keyboards replace the system keyboard with rows of buttons; options include resize, one-time, persistent, and selective display, plus an input_field_placeholder of 1-64 characters.
• Inline keyboards sit under a message and send nothing on their own; buttons carry callback data, URLs, switch-inline queries, game, payment, styled, copy-text, or disabled actions, and are editable in place.
• The menu button near the input opens the command list; it has commands (default) and web_app variants.
• Commands are capped at 100, render highlighted, complete on /, and are set per scope and language via setMyCommands.
• Bots can also be invoked from the attachment menu and inline via @username queries.

Pros / strengths

• The authoritative protocol contract: exact option names, limits (100 commands, 64-char placeholder), and button taxonomies.
• Cleanly separates the three surfaces (reply keyboard, inline keyboard, menu), which map to distinct UI widgets.

Cons / limitations / caveats

• Protocol docs, not rendering guidance: how clients lay out keyboards (grid sizing, overflow, scrolling) is unspecified here.
• Only the keyboard/command/menu subset was synthesized; the page is far larger than what this subject needed.

Relevance to tai

The grammar tai's bot affordances must mirror: a reply-keyboard surface distinct from inline message buttons, a Menu-labeled command entry point, / autocomplete over a capped command list, and a 64-char input placeholder contract.

Changelog

Date	Change
2026-10-11	Initial dossier created.