Telegram Bot Menu Button: Open a Mini App, Not Commands

What the menu button is

In a private chat with a bot, the menu button sits next to the message field. By default, tapping it shows the list of commands the bot registered, with their descriptions. You can change it to open a mini app instead, so users get into your bot's interface with one tap and never have to remember a command. For how users experience mini apps, see how to use Telegram mini apps.

Two ways to change it

Without code

In @BotFather, choose your bot, open its settings, find the menu button option, and set the mini app's URL and the button label.

With the Bot API

Call setChatMenuButton. Leave out chat_id and you change the default for every user; include it and only that one user's chat changes.

curl https://api.telegram.org/bot123456:ABC-EXAMPLE/setChatMenuButton \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"menu_button":{"type":"web_app","text":"Order",
       "web_app":{"url":"https://example.com/app"}}}'

getChatMenuButton shows the current setting. The mini app URL must use HTTPS. The token and URL above are examples; see your first Bot API requests.

A different button for each user

Because chat_id targets one user, you can give people different buttons. For example, users who have finished signing up get a "My orders" mini app button, while newcomers keep the command list with a getting-started command.

Keep your commands working

Switching the menu button to a mini app only removes the command list from that button. Users who type / still see your commands, so keep /start and /help working; see registering bot commands.