Commands

TelegramCommandClient is a Telegram client that routes slash commands - the counterpart of DiscordPHP's DiscordCommandClient . It is a drop-in replacement, so everything in the rest of this guide still applies.

use Telegram\CommandClient\TelegramCommandClient;
use Telegram\Parts\Message;

$bot = new TelegramCommandClient([
    'token' => getenv('TELEGRAM_TOKEN'),
    'description' => 'A helpful bot',
]);

$bot->registerCommand('ping', fn () => 'pong', [
    'description' => 'Checks the bot is alive',
]);

$bot->run();

Callbacks

A callback receives the message that triggered it, the arguments after the command word, and the client:

$bot->registerCommand('echo', function (Message $message, array $args, TelegramCommandClient $bot) {
    return implode(' ', $args);
});

Returning a string sends it back as a reply. Return anything else - including nothing - and the client stays quiet, which is what you want when the command answers for itself:

$bot->registerCommand('deploy', function (Message $message) use ($bot) {
    $bot->sendChatAction($message->chat->id, 'typing');

    $message->reply('Deploying...', ['reply_markup' => InlineKeyboard::new()
        ->callback('Cancel', 'deploy:cancel')]);
});

An exception out of a callback is logged and emitted as Event::ERROR rather than ending the bot.

Options

$bot->registerCommand('status', fn () => 'green', [
    'description' => 'Reports the current status',  // shown in /help and the command menu
    'aliases' => ['st', 'stat'],                    // other words that trigger it
    'listed' => false,                              // hide it from /help and the menu
]);

Client options, on top of the ones in Basics:

Option	Default	Description
`prefix`	`/`	What a command starts with. `!` and `.` are common alternatives.
`description`	`''`	Shown at the top of `/help` .
`register_commands`	`true`	Publish the listed commands with `setMyCommands` once the bot is ready.
`help_command`	`help`	Name of the built-in help command. `null` disables it.
`case_insensitive`	`true`	Match `/Ping` as `/ping` .

Addressing

In a group, commands are usually written /command@yourbot so several bots can coexist. The client accepts both forms, and ignores a command addressed to a different bot:

/ping          -> handled
/ping@yourbot  -> handled
/ping@otherbot -> ignored

That check needs the bot's own username, which it learns at startup, so it only applies once the client is ready.

The command menu

With register_commands left on, the listed commands are published to Telegram on ready , which is what fills the menu beside the message box in every client:

$bot->publishCommands();   // or do it yourself, whenever

Only commands with listed => true (the default) are published, and their description is what users see. Publishing replaces the whole menu, so it reflects exactly what the running build registers.

Help

/help is registered for you and lists the description followed by every listed command. Turn it off with help_command => null and register your own if you would rather write it yourself.

Managing commands

$bot->getCommand('ping');       // the Command, or null
$bot->getCommands();            // name => Command, for every registered command
$bot->unregisterCommand('ping'); // forgets it, aliases included

Registering the same name twice is an InvalidArgumentException rather than a silent overwrite.

Beyond slash commands

Telegram has no equivalent of Discord's application commands - a slash command is an ordinary message that happens to start with / , and the published menu is only a hint to the client. Anything you can do with a message, you can do with a command, and anything the command client does you could write by hand on Event::MESSAGE .

TelegramPHP Documentation