## Check the worker logs first

When the bot is silent or behaving wrong, the fastest clue is the bridge worker's own log output.

1. Open **Integrations → Telegram**
2. In the **Bridge worker** row, click **View logs**
3. Switch to the **Stderr** tab

The stderr stream shows what the bridge worker could not do. For example, a bad or expired bot token shows up as a repeated `401: Unauthorized` from Telegram:

![The Stderr tab in the worker logs dialog shows Telegram API errors](/screenshots/telegram-worker-logs.png)

Common things you will spot here:

- `Call to 'getMe' failed! (401: Unauthorized)` — the bot token is wrong, expired, or was revoked in `@BotFather`. Paste a fresh token and **Save**.
- `Telegram is not configured` — no bot token is saved yet, or the worker started before you saved one. Restart the worker after saving.
- `Another Nakama Telegram bridge is already running` — a second bridge is running (often a leftover `bun run dev:telegram` or a stale PM2 process). Stop the other one before restarting.

Use **Refresh** to pull the latest lines, **Copy** to grab the output for a bug report, and **Clear** once you have fixed the issue so the next run starts from a clean log.

## The bot does not answer at all

Check these first:

1. The bot token is saved correctly
2. `bun run dev:telegram` is running
3. The Nakama server is running
4. The Telegram user is paired or allowlisted

## Private chat works but group chat does not

Usually one of these is true:

- Group Privacy is still enabled
- the bot was added before Group Privacy was changed
- the bot was not removed and re-added
- the message was not a command, reply, or direct mention

## Mentions do not work in groups

Check these:

1. Disable **Group Privacy** in `@BotFather`
2. Remove the bot from the group and add it again
3. Make sure only one Telegram bridge worker is running

## Telegram says the chat is not linked

This usually means:

- the user never sent the pairing code
- the pairing code expired or was replaced
- the message was sent in a group instead of a private chat

Generate a new pairing code from **Integrations → Telegram** and send it to the bot in a private chat.

## Next steps

- [Telegram setup](/telegram)
- [Chat behavior & commands](/telegram/chat)
- [Outbound notifications](/telegram/notifications)