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Connect Telegram to Twilio

Telegram is where you hear about things; SMS is how you reach customers and anyone who doesn't use a chat app. Connect the two and one event can ping you on Telegram and text the person on the other end, without anyone copying a number across.
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Ideas

What you can do with Telegram and Twilio

Missed-call text-backs, sale alerts, receipt logging and price warnings, sent to your Telegram and by SMS. These are ready-made starting points. Anything else you can describe works too.
The moment it happensAI

Log receipts by sending a photo to Telegram

Snap a receipt, send it to your bot, and the merchant, date and amount are logged, with an SMS confirming what was saved.

See how it works
The moment it happens

Ping Telegram and text the customer on every new sale

Each new sale or lead pings you on Telegram, and the customer gets a thank-you text within seconds.

See how it works
Daily

Send a daily quiz question to Telegram and SMS

Every morning one new question from your list goes to your Telegram group and your SMS subscribers, with no repeats until the list runs out.

See how it works
Every 15 minutes

Get a Telegram and SMS alert when crypto prices drop

When Bitcoin or Ethereum falls past the drop you set over 24 hours, you get one alert on Telegram and by text.

See how it works
The moment it happens

Text back missed callers and tell me on Telegram

When you miss a call, the caller gets a text straight away and you get a Telegram message with their number.

See how it works Your own logic

Any other automation you can describe in words

Your own rules, schedule and AI steps with Telegram and Twilio, plus any other app. Describe it and your assistant builds it.

See how to build your own

Build your own

Build any Telegram and Twilio automation you can describe

The ideas above are ready-made starting points, not a fixed list. Describe what should happen between Telegram and Twilio in your own words, with your conditions, other apps or an AI step, and your assistant writes it, tests it and runs it on ClickRuntime.

  • Your own rules

    Conditions, thresholds, filters and exceptions, written the way you'd explain them to a colleague.

  • Any number of apps

    One automation can read from one app and update several others. Over 248 apps are ready, and anything with an API works too.

  • AI where it helps

    Summaries, classification, extraction and drafts use ClickRuntime's built-in AI, with no extra key.

  • On a schedule or on each event

    Runs as often as every 5 minutes, or the moment an app sends an event, and keeps track of what it already handled.

For example, ask your assistant

Forward inbound texts to Telegram, but only alert me straight away if AI thinks the message is urgent; batch the rest into an hourly summary.

Let me reply to a forwarded text in Telegram and have the bot send my reply as SMS to the original number.

Use cases

Why people connect Telegram and Twilio

How the two apps work together

  • Inbound SMS reaches ClickRuntime instantly through a Twilio webhook, and messages to your Telegram bot arrive through the bot's webhook.
  • The script forwards texts to your Telegram chat or group, with the sender number and an optional AI summary.
  • Replies or commands sent to the bot go back out as SMS from your Twilio number.

  • Owners reaching customers not on Telegram

    You run the business from a Telegram chat with a bot and need to reach customers who only use SMS. A command in Telegram sends a text from your Twilio number.

  • Teams monitoring an SMS line from their phones

    Inbound texts to the Twilio number are forwarded to a Telegram group. Everyone sees new messages without logging into Twilio.

  • Shops sending order updates two ways

    Staff get a Telegram ping when an order is ready and the customer gets an SMS. Both sides hear about it at the same moment.

  • Volunteer groups broadcasting reminders

    A coordinator posts an announcement to the bot and it goes out by SMS to a list of numbers. People without smartphones still get it.

More apps

Telegram, Twilio and other apps in one automation

An automation isn't limited to two apps. Add the next step in another app and it runs as part of the same automation.

Broadcast SMS to a sheet of numbers

When I send /broadcast followed by a message to my Telegram bot, text it to every number in my Google Sheet marked as opted in, and report how many were sent.

Order shipped alerts by Telegram and SMS

When a Shopify order is fulfilled, text the customer that it is on the way and post the order number to my Telegram group.

Log SMS conversations in Airtable

Save every inbound Twilio text to an Airtable table with the number and message, and send me a Telegram message when a new number texts for the first time.

Setup

Connect Telegram and Twilio once

Every idea on this page uses the same two connections, so you set them up once. If one is missing, your assistant tells you and links to the right place.

Telegram

Messaging

  1. In Telegram, open a chat with @BotFather and send /newbot.
  2. Choose a name and a username for your bot, then copy the token BotFather sends (it looks like 123456:ABC-...).
  3. Open your new bot and press Start, so it is allowed to message you. For groups or channels, add the bot and give it admin rights if it should post or delete.
  4. In the ClickRuntime dashboard, open Connections & secrets and save the bot token.

Twilio

SMS / Voice

  1. Sign in to the Twilio Console and note your Account SID from Account Info.
  2. Go to Account, API keys & tokens and create a Standard API key.
  3. Copy the key's SID (it starts with SK) and its Secret. Twilio only shows the Secret once.
  4. In the ClickRuntime dashboard, open Connections & secrets and save the Account SID, key SID and Secret as secrets for Twilio.

FAQ

Questions about connecting Telegram and Twilio

Do I need a Telegram bot for this?
Yes. You create one in a minute with BotFather in Telegram and save its token as a secret in your ClickRuntime dashboard. The bot sends you messages and can read what you send it.
Which Twilio number sends the texts?
The Twilio number you name in the prompt. It must be able to send SMS in the countries you text, and your Twilio account pays for each message as usual.
Can customers reply to the SMS?
Replies go to your Twilio number. If you want them, ask for an automation that forwards incoming texts to your Telegram chat.
Will people get the same text twice?
No. Each automation remembers what it has already handled, by event id or by date, so a retried delivery or a second run does not send another message.
Can I reply to a customer from Telegram?
Yes. The script can link each forwarded text to the sender number, so replying to it in your bot chat sends an SMS back to that person.
Does it work with Telegram groups?
Yes. Add your bot to the group and the script can post there and read commands sent there.
Is the customer's number shown in Telegram?
Only if the script includes it in the message. You decide what details are posted to the chat.

Related pages

Keep exploring

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