How-To Guideadvanced10 minutes

How to Set Up a Telegram Userbot

Set up a Telegram userbot with MTProto automation. Phone number verification, 2FA, and first commands.

A Telegram userbot is fundamentally different from a Telegram bot: it logs in as a real user account (using your phone number, or a burner), giving it the same permissions any user has, initiating chats, joining channels, reading message history. BotWave's userbot module is built on the GramJS MTProto client and is designed for power-user automation like global ban lists, message purging, and sticker kanging.

Prerequisites

  • A Telegram account with a phone number you can receive SMS codes on.
  • A Telegram API ID and API hash from https://my.telegram.org/apps (free, takes 2 minutes to create).
  • BotWave Boss plan (userbots are a Boss-tier feature because they require MTProto session storage).
  • Important: read our Acceptable Use rules, userbots are powerful and easy to misuse.

Step-by-step instructions

  1. 1

    Create a Telegram API app

    Visit https://my.telegram.org/apps, log in with your Telegram phone number, and create a new app. App title and short name can be anything; copy the API ID (numeric) and API hash (alphanumeric).

  2. 2

    Open Sessions → New Telegram Userbot

    In BotWave, choose New Telegram Userbot. Enter your API ID, API hash, and the phone number you want the userbot to log in as.

    Tip: Use a dedicated phone number for the userbot, do not run it on your main account if you can avoid it. A cheap secondary SIM or eSIM works perfectly.

  3. 3

    Authenticate with the SMS code

    Telegram sends a one-time code to the account's active devices (or via SMS if you have no devices). Enter it into BotWave. If you have 2FA enabled, BotWave will then prompt for your 2FA password.

  4. 4

    Pick the userbot command prefix

    Userbots respect a `.` prefix by default (not `/`, to avoid conflicting with bot commands). Change it in Dashboard → Sessions → click the userbot → Prefix.

  5. 5

    Send a test command

    In any chat, send `.alive`. The userbot should reply with a status banner including uptime and version.

    .alive
  6. 6

    Configure PM Guard (highly recommended)

    PM Guard auto-replies to strangers and blocks repeat senders without your input. Enable it from Dashboard → Userbot → PM Guard and set a polite default message.

Expected result

Your userbot is logged in as a real Telegram user, listens for `.` prefixed commands, and can do things regular bots cannot, join channels, read history, send to anyone, sticker-kang, global-ban.

Power-user tips

  • Userbots are powerful, keep the command prefix non-obvious (e.g. `.bw`) so others in your chats do not stumble on it.
  • For privacy, restrict userbot commands to "self only" by default so other users cannot invoke them in your chats.
  • Set up the userbot in a quiet account first to learn the commands before deploying on your main account.

Common pitfalls

  • Userbots are against Telegram's spirit but not strictly against the Terms of Service, abusive usage (spam, mass-DM, harassment) is, and Telegram bans userbots that misbehave aggressively.
  • Logging into the same Telegram account from too many places at once (>3 active sessions) can trigger an SMS-code-required reauth loop.

Frequently asked questions

Is running a userbot legal / against Telegram ToS?

Telegram's ToS allows clients built on its public MTProto API. Userbots that respect rate limits and do not engage in abusive behaviour are tolerated; userbots used for spam, harassment, or mass-scraping are quickly banned. BotWave's userbot module is built to be polite by default.

Do I need a burner phone number?

Not strictly, but strongly recommended. If your userbot triggers a ban, the entire associated Telegram account is affected, using a dedicated number isolates the risk from your main account.

Can my userbot reply to messages on my behalf in my main chats?

Yes, that is one of the main use cases. PM Guard, AFK auto-reply, and translation can all run silently on your account, replying in chats where you are slow to respond.

Ready to put this into practice?

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