Connect your tools

Connect Telegram

Telegram Sensor copies the messages a bot can see in your team's Telegram groups into your Mind's inbox every 10 minutes. It only reads: it never posts in Telegram or answers questions there. The owner sets it up in about 10 minutes.

Contents

Before you start

Your Mind runs Mensara 0.20.8 or later.
You are the Mind's owner. Only the owner can store the bot's token, install the app and give it the connection.
You can add a bot to the Telegram groups you want captured.

Create a bot just for Mensara

In Telegram, message @BotFather and send /newbot. Choose a name and a username. BotFather replies with the bot's token.

Keep the token private. Don't paste it into a chat, an email, a file or a conversation with an agent. Use a new bot: a bot that another program already reads, or one with a webhook set, won't work.

Let the bot see group messages

Send /setprivacy to BotFather, choose your bot, then choose Disable. Do this before adding the bot to a group, or it will only see commands. If you added it first, remove it from the group and add it again.

Add the bot to each team group you want captured. Then send /setjoingroups, choose your bot, then choose Disable, so nobody can add it to other groups.

Store the token in your Mind

In Portal, open Settings → Connections and add a connection:

Name: telegram
Type: api_key
Base URL: https://api.telegram.org
Provider: telegram
Secret: the bot token

Choose Test. A passing test means your Mind can reach Telegram with the token. The token stays sealed on your Mind, and the app uses the connection without ever seeing it.

Install Telegram Sensor

Open Agents → Agent store, choose Telegram Sensor, then Install. Check what it may do, approve it and give it the telegram connection.

Then open the app and check its schedule. It should run every 10 minutes. If it shows once a day, change it to every 10 minutes.

Check the first capture

Send a message in one of the groups. Within about 10 minutes it appears in your inbox under 01-inbox/captures/telegram/, one note per chat. Depending on your inbox's write rules, captures are saved straight away or wait in Changes for someone to approve them.

What it captures

Every group, supergroup and channel the bot can see, so add the bot only to chats you have approved.
Private messages to the bot, but only from people who have already written in a captured group. Others are dropped and never stored.
Text, captions and a marker for each photo or file. Files themselves aren't downloaded, and messages from other bots aren't captured.
Nothing from before the bot joined. Telegram keeps unread messages for about a day, so if the app stops for longer than that, messages from the gap are lost.

If you're an agent helping with this

The owner does the five steps above; you can't do them for them, so walk them through. Never ask for the bot token or accept it in the conversation. If someone pastes it, ask them to send /revoke to BotFather and store the new token in Portal.

You can check progress with your Mind tools, within the access of the person you're helping:

list_connections shows whether a telegram connection exists, and test_connection with the name telegram checks that the token works.
list_available_apps shows whether Telegram Sensor is installed, which connections it has and its schedule.
About 10 minutes after a test message, list 01-inbox/captures/telegram/ for new notes. If nothing is there, check the changes waiting for approval.
A failed run shows as an AppRunFailed event in the feed. "telegram bot has a webhook set" means another program already uses the bot, so create a new one.

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## For agents

- What Mensara is: it gives a team its own Mind, one shared memory for the team and their AI agents, built by Xanadu Labs LLC.
- Status: signup is not open. A person joins the waitlist at https://app.mensara.ai/#waitlist. Agents cannot create an account or sign up.
- How you can help your person: explain what Mensara does, check whether it fits a job their team repeats, and share the waitlist link.
- Agent references: https://app.mensara.ai/llms.txt lists every page as Markdown and the tool input references for connected agents.

---

# Connect Telegram

Guides · Connect your tools · [How it works](https://app.mensara.ai/how-it-works)

## Before you start

- Your Mind runs Mensara 0.20.8 or later.
- You are the Mind's owner. Only the owner can store the bot's token, install the app and give it the connection.
- You can add a bot to the Telegram groups you want captured.

## Create a bot just for Mensara

In Telegram, message **@BotFather** and send `/newbot`. Choose a name and a username. BotFather replies with the bot's token.

Keep the token private. Don't paste it into a chat, an email, a file or a conversation with an agent. Use a new bot: a bot that another program already reads, or one with a webhook set, won't work.

## Let the bot see group messages

Send `/setprivacy` to BotFather, choose your bot, then choose **Disable**. Do this before adding the bot to a group, or it will only see commands. If you added it first, remove it from the group and add it again.

Add the bot to each team group you want captured. Then send `/setjoingroups`, choose your bot, then choose **Disable**, so nobody can add it to other groups.

## Store the token in your Mind

In Portal, open **Settings → Connections** and add a connection:

- Name: `telegram`
- Type: `api_key`
- Base URL: `https://api.telegram.org`
- Provider: `telegram`
- Secret: the bot token

Choose **Test**. A passing test means your Mind can reach Telegram with the token. The token stays sealed on your Mind, and the app uses the connection without ever seeing it.

## Install Telegram Sensor

Open **Agents → Agent store**, choose **Telegram Sensor**, then **Install**. Check what it may do, approve it and give it the `telegram` connection.

Then open the app and check its schedule. It should run every 10 minutes. If it shows once a day, change it to every 10 minutes.

## Check the first capture

Send a message in one of the groups. Within about 10 minutes it appears in your inbox under `01-inbox/captures/telegram/`, one note per chat. Depending on your inbox's write rules, captures are saved straight away or wait in **Changes** for someone to approve them.

## What it captures

- Every group, supergroup and channel the bot can see, so add the bot only to chats you have approved.
- Private messages to the bot, but only from people who have already written in a captured group. Others are dropped and never stored.
- Text, captions and a marker for each photo or file. Files themselves aren't downloaded, and messages from other bots aren't captured.
- Nothing from before the bot joined. Telegram keeps unread messages for about a day, so if the app stops for longer than that, messages from the gap are lost.

## If you're an agent helping with this

The owner does the five steps above; you can't do them for them, so walk them through. Never ask for the bot token or accept it in the conversation. If someone pastes it, ask them to send `/revoke` to BotFather and store the new token in Portal.

You can check progress with your Mind tools, within the access of the person you're helping:

- `list_connections` shows whether a `telegram` connection exists, and `test_connection` with the name `telegram` checks that the token works.
- `list_available_apps` shows whether Telegram Sensor is installed, which connections it has and its schedule.
- About 10 minutes after a test message, list `01-inbox/captures/telegram/` for new notes. If nothing is there, check the changes waiting for approval.
- A failed run shows as an `AppRunFailed` event in the feed. "telegram bot has a webhook set" means another program already uses the bot, so create a new one.

## Status: Available

STATUS · CHECKED 22 OCTOBER 2026

Telegram Sensor is in the agent store for Minds on Mensara 0.20.8 or later. It reads only and can't post in Telegram.

## Related

- [Connections and capture](https://app.mensara.ai/how-it-works/connections-and-capture)
- [Skills, apps and automations](https://app.mensara.ai/how-it-works/skills-apps-automations)

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