Telegram can schedule a post itself, inside the app, one channel at a time. A scheduler earns its place when the same post also goes to Discord and Threads, when an album needs captions checked, or when someone else approves before it leaves. Preflight posts to channels and groups through a bot, either the shared one or one you own, and that is the whole connection. How to schedule Telegram channel posts is the walkthrough.
| Telegram through Preflight | What the API allows |
|---|---|
| Text limit | 1,024 characters |
| Media | Pictures and video, up to 10 files |
| Pictures | Up to 10 MB each |
| Video | 50 MB, no limit enforced |
| Thread in one go | No |
| First comment | No |
| Alt text | No |
| Edit after publishing | Yes |
| Delete from Preflight | Yes |
| Comments | Not available through the API |
| Figures reported | None |
| Retention and traffic sources | No |
What goes out
A text message of up to 4,096 characters, or a photo or video with a caption of up to 1,024, or an album of up to ten files in one message; a silent post, which arrives without a notification; and a protected post, which cannot be forwarded or saved. Photos are sent as photos and video as video, so they show inline rather than as files.
Connecting a channel
Two ways. With the shared bot, Preflight gives you a link that adds the bot to your channel as an administrator with the right to post, or a short code to send as a command in a group; the bot sees the code and the chat is connected. With your own bot, you paste the token BotFather gave you, add that bot to the channel yourself, and Preflight posts as it, under its name. Nothing else is asked for; a channel's address, title and username are read from Telegram.
What is checked before publishing
Text against 4,096 when there is no file and against 1,024 when there is, because Telegram measures a caption and a message differently and a 2,000-character message with no photo is fine. Photos are JPEG up to 10 MB, with width and height adding up to no more than 10,000 pixels and a ratio of no more than 20:1, each refused with its measured size. Other files, video included, are up to 50 MB, which is the Bot API's limit for uploads. More than ten files are warned about as not sent. The checks are the same for a post from the public API.
What the API will not do
A posted message can be edited and deleted from Preflight; both are plain Bot API calls. What the Bot API cannot do is report: no views, no forwards, no reactions, so Telegram's analytics columns are left off rather than shown as dashes, and comments, which on Telegram live in a linked discussion group, are not read. The app's own statistics for a channel remain in the app.
In the API
Silent and protected posts, albums and captions are fields in the API and parameters in the MCP server. Telegram is on every plan at pricing, including the free one.
Questions people ask
- Do I need to create a Telegram bot to use Preflight?
- No. Add Preflight's shared bot to your channel as an administrator with the right to post, through the link the app gives you. If you would rather post under your own bot's name, paste its token from BotFather instead.
- Why is my Telegram caption limited to 1,024 characters?
- Telegram allows 1,024 characters on a caption under a photo or video and 4,096 on a text-only message. Preflight applies whichever your post is; put the long text in a message of its own.
- Does Preflight show Telegram post views?
- No. The Bot API reports no views, forwards or reactions for a message, so there are no figures to show; the channel's statistics stay in the Telegram app.