An inline button is a clickable button displayed directly below a Telegram message, created with the Bot API's inline keyboard markup. Inline buttons can link to a URL, trigger a callback to a bot, or deep-link into a Telegram Mini App — turning a static post into an interactive call to action. For channel posts, inline buttons are the primary mechanism for adding links that stand out from the message body without requiring users to tap text embedded in the content.
A button declares exactly one action: open a URL, send callback data back to the bot, copy text to the clipboard, launch a Mini App, or start a login flow. Not every type works everywhere — Mini App buttons are available only in private chats with the bot, and some inline-query buttons are unsupported in channels. For channel posts the URL button is the dependable choice.
Data attached to a callback button is limited to just 64 bytes, so it holds an identifier the bot resolves server-side rather than the application state itself. There is a second obligation: after a press, the client shows a progress indicator until the bot answers the callback query. Skipping that answer leaves the button visibly spinning even when the work already succeeded.
A button sits below the message rather than inside it, so it does not consume the text's character budget and it can be swapped later by editing only the markup, leaving the copy untouched. The cost is layout: buttons share the message width in rows, so a long label crowds anything placed beside it. Short imperative labels survive narrow phone screens best.
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