Inline Keyboards¶

Inline buttons sit inside the message bubble — not in the keyboard area at the bottom of the screen. Users tap them; Telegram sends a callback query to your bot; you respond with Api.

Reply keyboards (the Help, About style from the tutorials) are different. Those send plain text. Inline buttons send structured callback data.

A minimal keyboard¶

Api.sendMessage({
  text: "Choose:",
  reply_markup: {
    inline_keyboard: [
      [{ text: "Website", url: "https://telebothost.com" }],
      [{ text: "Help", callback_data: "help" }]
    ]
  }
})

URL buttons open a link. callback_data buttons fire a callback query — you'll handle that in a command triggered by the callback.

Layout¶

Each inner array is a row. Buttons in the same row sit side by side:

reply_markup: {
  inline_keyboard: [
    [{ text: "Yes", callback_data: "yes" }, { text: "No", callback_data: "no" }],
    [{ text: "Cancel", callback_data: "cancel" }]
  ]
}

Two buttons on the first row, one full-width button below.

Answering callbacks¶

When someone taps a callback button, Telegram expects a response — even if it's just "ok, I got it." Without answerCallbackQuery, the client shows a loading spinner on the button.

Api.answerCallbackQuery({
  callback_query_id: update.callback_query.id, // or, request.id 
  text: "Saved."
})

The optional text pops a small toast at the top of the chat. Keep it short.

Updating the message they tapped¶

Often you want to change the message instead of sending a new one:

Api.editMessageText({
  chat_id: chat.id,
  message_id: update.callback_query.message.message_id,
  text: "You picked Help. Here's what that means..."
})

Or swap the keyboard while leaving the text alone — editMessageReplyMarkup. Editing Messages walks through both.

callback_data limits¶

Telegram caps callback_data at 64 bytes. Don't stash JSON in there. Store an ID or short token, look up the rest in User storage or Bot storage.

URL vs callback¶

Mix them freely in the same keyboard.

Where to go next¶

• Editing Messages — change text and keyboards after send
• Callbacks — route callback handling through on_run
• Method Chaining — if you sent the message with await Api.sendMessage