How a submission reaches Telegram
Your website form sends data to Formgong, which saves the submission and sends a notification to a connected chat. The design and fields stay on your site. Telegram is a notification channel; the full record is available in your form inbox.
This works for consultation requests, contact forms, and landing-page enquiries. If you already run a server with your own bot and need complex behavior, you can call the Telegram Bot API from that server. The steps below do not require creating your own bot.
1. Connect the website form first
Get a key at Formgong, verify your email, and connect the site using Connect website. For plain HTML, use the complete form example. For Lovable, follow the prompt-based setup.
Send a test message and check that it appears in Submissions. If it does not, fix the website connection first: linking Telegram cannot fix an incorrect key or submission URL.
2. Connect a private chat
- Open the relevant form in the dashboard and its Telegram settings.
- Generate a connection link if you do not already have one, then use the button to open Telegram.
- Press Start in the chat with the Formgong bot. Opening the chat alone is insufficient.
- Wait for the connection confirmation. Return to the form settings and check the connected chats.
The link includes a single-use code for that particular form. It expires; if it has already been used or has expired, generate a new one in the dashboard. Do not publish a connection link on your website.
3. Or send enquiries to a group
For a shared workflow, add the Formgong bot to your Telegram group. Get a fresh connection code in the form settings and send the command from that section in the group itself. This is a sample; replace YOUR_CONNECTION_CODE with the issued code, not your access_key.
/connect YOUR_CONNECTION_CODE
Check which form the group belongs to
The bot should confirm that the form is connected. The group name should appear among that form's chats in the dashboard. Send a new submission from the website and check both the group and inbox.
The public form key and the connection code do different jobs. The key accepts submissions; the code links a notification destination. Do not share connection codes with people who should not connect their chats.
Group members can see the notifications sent there. Choose a group according to who needs access to customer details. Use an appropriate private chat for private enquiries.
4. Test from the published website
Use a recognizable message such as “Telegram test from website.” After submitting, check the correct form in Formgong and the specific chat you connected. Enable Telegram notifications for that chat if needed: a muted chat can still receive messages.
Email and Telegram are separate channels. Disabling email notifications does not remove a connected chat. To stop delivery to a group, disconnect that group in Telegram settings.
If the bot is not sending messages
- The submission is missing from Formgong
- Check the POST to
https://formgong.com/submitand the correct form key. Start with the submission troubleshooting guide. - The submission exists but the chat is empty
- Check email verification, spam status, and the chats linked to this specific form. The bot must not be blocked or removed from the group.
- The connection code does not work
- Generate a new code, then use the new private-chat link or send the new command in the group. A used code cannot be reused.
- The enquiry arrived in the wrong group
- Check the form's connected chats. Disconnect the unwanted group and connect the intended one with a fresh code.
Keep the bot token out of frontend code
Your frontend needs only the public Formgong key. Calling the Telegram Bot API directly from a browser would require a bot token that visitors could read. In this workflow, the service sends notifications; your website does not receive the token.
When you add another form, check its connection separately. Telegram is configured per form, not automatically for every form in an account.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to create my own Telegram bot?
No. This workflow uses the Formgong bot. Connect it in the relevant form's settings using a link or a /connect command.
Can submissions go to a Telegram group?
Yes. Add the Formgong bot to the intended group and send /connect there with a fresh code from the form settings. Check the connection confirmation.
Can access_key be used as the /connect code?
No. access_key accepts website submissions. A separate, expiring, single-use code is issued to connect a chat.
Is Telegram included in the Free plan?
Yes. Telegram and email are included in Free, with 300 submissions per account per month. Connect the chat to the relevant form.
Sources and documentation
Official references for this guide: Telegram: bot deep links. Formgong documentation, where data is stored.
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