BlogTelegram Webhooks

How to Test Telegram Webhooks

Telegram bots use webhooks to receive real-time updates for messages, callback queries, and inline interactions from chats.

Telegram Official Webhook Docs

1. Telegram Webhook Events

Telegram can send the following webhook events to your endpoint:

message
edited_message
callback_query
inline_query
chosen_inline_result
chat_join_request

2. Set Up a Test Endpoint with HookRay

Follow these steps to start receiving Telegram webhooks for testing:

  1. Go to HookRay and click "Start Testing — Free" to get your unique webhook URL.
  2. Copy the URL (e.g., https://h.hookray.com/abc123).
  3. In your Telegram dashboard, navigate to the webhook settings and paste the HookRay URL as your endpoint.
  4. Select the events you want to receive (see list above).
  5. Trigger a test event — HookRay will show the incoming webhook in real-time.

3. Sample Telegram Webhook Payload

Here's an example of what a Telegram webhook payload looks like:

payload.json
{
  "update_id": 982374651,
  "callback_query": {
    "id": "349857239847523984",
    "from": {
      "id": 5544332211,
      "first_name": "Kai"
    },
    "data": "confirm_order:1827"
  },
  "message": {
    "message_id": 241,
    "chat": {
      "id": -1001234567890,
      "title": "HookRay Alerts"
    }
  }
}

4. Common Issues & Troubleshooting

Webhook not arriving?

Check that your endpoint URL is correct and publicly accessible. Telegram cannot reach localhost URLs — use HookRay's cloud URL instead.

Getting 400 or 500 errors?

HookRay accepts any payload and returns 200 OK by default, so the issue is likely on Telegram's side. Check your webhook configuration and event selection.

Need to verify webhook signatures?

Telegram signs webhook requests for security. Use HookRay to capture the raw headers and body, then implement signature verification in your application code.

5. Next Steps

  • Use HookRay's webhook replay feature to re-send captured webhooks while building your handler
  • Enable smart parsing (Pro plan) to see Telegram-specific fields highlighted automatically
  • Check the Telegram webhook documentation for the complete event reference

Ready to test Telegram webhooks?

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