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To keep a Telegram bot receiving updates from a local PHP process, run a persistent loop that calls getUpdates, handles each update, and advances the request offset only after the work is safely complete. First make sure the bot has no active webhook: Telegram’s two delivery modes are mutually exclusive.
How the PHP polling loop works
With polling, your process initiates HTTP requests to Telegram’s Bot API and asks for updates. A nonzero long-poll timeout lets Telegram wait for updates before answering, rather than making the process repeatedly issue immediate empty requests. The essential sequence is:
- Check that no webhook is active; remove one if necessary before using
getUpdates. - Request updates with the current offset and a nonzero long-poll timeout.
- Check the HTTP result and Telegram’s JSON-level success status.
- Decode the response and handle each returned update.
- After an update is safely handled, set the next offset to its
update_idplus one. - Repeat, continuing to request batches while updates are available.
The offset is not merely a page position. Telegram uses the next offset to confirm updates with lower IDs, so advancing it confirms that earlier work and prevents those updates from being returned again.
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Why offset timing matters
Telegram’s Bots FAQ states: “The getUpdates method returns the earliest 100 unconfirmed updates.” A backlog may therefore take multiple requests to drain; do not assume one response contains every pending update.
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The same FAQ explains that updates are confirmed when a later request uses an offset greater than their update_id. Set that offset to the last successfully processed update’s ID plus one. If the application advances the offset before completing its work and then crashes, Telegram can consider the update confirmed even though the intended work did not finish.
For a process that handles several updates in one response, advance through them in order and only persist progress once each update’s handling is safe. If the process stops partway through a batch, a conservative offset allows unfinished updates to be delivered again rather than skipped.
Make update handling safe to retry
Telegram documents update_id as useful for ignoring repeated updates and restoring the correct sequence. That matters because a process can fail after performing an action but before recording its progress; the update may then be delivered again. Design handlers and external side effects with duplicate delivery in mind—for example, record an application-level operation as complete before repeating a non-idempotent action.
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Telegram’s Bot API documentation says: “Incoming updates are stored on the server until the bot receives them either way, but they will not be kept longer than 24 hours.” This is a maximum pending-update retention period, not a guarantee of indefinite recovery. Persist any state your application needs independently, and monitor the poller so an outage does not silently outlast the server’s retention window.
PHP implementation considerations
Build the request and parse both layers of success
The request URL has the form https://api.telegram.org/bot<BOT_TOKEN>/getUpdates; Telegram’s FAQ shows the Bot API request pattern. Supply the current offset and a nonzero long-poll timeout using the parameters supported by the current API. Keep the token in local configuration or an environment variable rather than source control, and never print the full token-bearing URL in logs.
Handle failures at distinct layers: a transport or HTTP failure, a Telegram response whose ok field is false, and a response body that cannot be decoded as JSON. Log enough context to diagnose the failure without exposing the token or sensitive message content. After failures, use a bounded retry delay rather than spinning in a tight loop. The exact HTTP-client timeout, retry schedule, and logging policy depend on the application and runtime; Telegram does not prescribe one universal configuration.
Set compatible timeout values
The HTTP client’s total request timeout must allow the long poll to finish, with some margin for network and response handling. Otherwise the client may abandon the request before Telegram’s long-poll wait ends. A connection timeout is a separate setting: Telegram’s official PHP Hello Bot sample sets cURL’s CURLOPT_CONNECTTIMEOUT to 5, but that sample value is not a recommendation for the total request timeout or for every deployment.
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Telegram’s Hello Bot PHP sample demonstrates Bot API basics and cURL usage. The Bots FAQ also points to PHP sample bots, including Simple Poll, which supports both long polling and webhooks. These examples can help with API syntax and code organization; they do not establish a universal process supervisor, restart policy, or production timeout configuration.
Check for a webhook before debugging an idle poller
Telegram does not allow getUpdates polling while an outgoing webhook is set. Check the bot’s webhook state first if a local process appears idle or receives no updates. Remove the webhook before starting polling; otherwise changing PHP code or increasing log verbosity will not resolve the delivery-mode conflict.
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Polling and webhook delivery suit different operating conditions:
| Consideration | Polling with getUpdates | Webhook |
|---|---|---|
| Who initiates delivery | Your bot process pulls updates from Telegram. | Telegram pushes updates to your endpoint. |
| Process or endpoint | Requires a continuously running poller to receive updates promptly. | Requires an endpoint that can receive Telegram’s requests. |
| Network setup | The bot initiates outbound requests; a publicly reachable bot endpoint is not required. | Standard deployment requires public reachability, TLS, and a supported port. |
| Operational fit | Often straightforward for local development where no public HTTPS endpoint is available. | Can suit a hosted service already able to expose a webhook endpoint. |
| Request load and latency | Depends on long-poll behavior and the bot’s workload. | Telegram says webhook delivery avoids the polling mechanism and may reduce requests; performance benefits depend on usage. |
Telegram’s webhook guide describes the push model and its deployment requirements. Neither method is universally faster or cheaper; choose based on where the process runs, endpoint availability, and the behavior your bot needs.
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A loop that exits after one request is not a persistent poller. Run it as a long-lived local process and arrange a restart strategy appropriate to your machine if it must stay available. Telegram documents the API behavior, not a standard PHP daemon or process-supervision setup, so select runtime and supervisor settings for your operating system and deployment.
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Expose failures instead of swallowing them: record transport errors, Telegram API errors, invalid responses, and handler failures separately. This makes it possible to distinguish a network problem from a webhook conflict or an application exception. Use retry delays that prevent a failing bot from hammering the API, then resume from safely recorded progress.
When a Local Bot API Server is relevant
Telegram also documents an optional Local Bot API Server. It is not required for a PHP getUpdates loop; Telegram says most bots are fine with its default servers. Consider the local server only when you need its specific additional capabilities, rather than adding it as a routine prerequisite.
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