Skip to main content
This guide walks you through installing the Telegram Support Bot on your system.

​
Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following:

Python 3.10+

Python 3.11 or higher is recommended for optimal performance

pip

Python package manager (usually included with Python)
The bot is built with aiogram 3, which requires Python 3.10 or higher. Python 3.11+ is recommended for better performance and feature support.

​
Installation steps

1

Clone the repository

Clone the bot repository to your local machine:
git clone <repository-url>
cd telegram-support-bot
2

Create a virtual environment

Create and activate a Python virtual environment to isolate dependencies:
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
Using a virtual environment ensures dependencies don’t conflict with other Python projects on your system.
3

Install dependencies

Install the required Python packages from requirements.txt:
pip install -r requirements.txt
This installs the following core dependencies:
requirements.txt
aiogram==3.13.1
aiosqlite==0.20.0
python-dotenv==1.0.1
  • aiogram 3.13.1 - Modern and asynchronous Telegram Bot API framework
  • aiosqlite 0.20.0 - Async SQLite database driver for storing routing and message history
  • python-dotenv 1.0.1 - Loads environment variables from .env file
4

Verify installation

Verify that all packages are installed correctly:
python -c "import aiogram; import aiosqlite; print('Installation successful!')"
You should see Installation successful! if everything is installed properly.

​
Directory structure

After installation, your project directory will have the following structure: 
telegram-support-bot/
├── support_bot/              # Main bot package
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── __main__.py          # Entry point for running the bot
│   ├── config.py            # Configuration loader
│   ├── db.py                # Database operations
│   ├── main.py              # Bot initialization and startup
│   ├── topic_manager.py     # Forum topic management
│   ├── telegram_utils.py    # Telegram utility functions
│   └── handlers/            # Message handlers
│       ├── __init__.py
│       ├── user.py          # User message handlers
│       └── operator.py      # Operator message handlers
├── .env                     # Environment configuration (create this)
├── .env.example             # Example environment variables
├── requirements.txt         # Python dependencies
└── support_bot.sqlite3      # SQLite database (created automatically)
The support_bot.sqlite3 database file will be created automatically when you first run the bot. You can configure its location using the DB_PATH environment variable.

​
Next steps

After installation, you need to:
  1. Configure environment variables - Set up your bot token and operator group
  2. Set up Telegram - Create your bot and configure the operator group
  3. Run the bot - Start processing support messages
Don’t forget to configure your .env file before running the bot. The bot will not start without required environment variables like BOT_TOKEN and OPERATOR_GROUP_ID.

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get started for freeTalk to us