Question 1

What does "Telegram bot 429 error" actually mean?

Accepted Answer

It means a request you sent crossed one of Telegram's per-scope rate limits. The response body carries parameters.retry_after in seconds; sleep that long, then retry the exact same request. Treat 429 as load-shedding, not as a permanent failure.

Question 2

Is Telegram flood control the same as the Bot API rate limit?

Accepted Answer

No. "Flood control" in the Telegram client and userbot world refers to MTProto-level limits that escalate to temporary bans on the account. Bot API rate limits are gentler, scope-specific, and reset within seconds. The 429 plus retry_after envelope is unique to the Bot API.

Question 3

How many messages can a Telegram bot send per second?

Accepted Answer

Up to 30 across different chats (broadcast scope), and roughly 1 per second to a single chat. Same-channel writes are capped at about 20 per minute, which works out to one every 3 seconds on a sustained schedule.

Question 4

Can I increase my Telegram bot's rate limit?

Accepted Answer

No, there is no paid tier. You can ask Telegram support for a one-off raise on a verified high-volume bot, but the documented expectation is to design within the published limits. Self-hosting the local Bot API server raises the file-upload cap to 2 GB but does not raise message-send caps.

Question 5

How do I avoid hitting the Bot API rate limit?

Accepted Answer

Run a token-bucket per scope (chat, channel, global), batch with sendMediaGroup where you can, smooth bursty editorial queues across the hour, and instrument 429s so you spot drift before users do.

Question 6

What happens if I keep ignoring the 429 retry_after?

Accepted Answer

Telegram increases the back-off and may temporarily disable the bot token. Sustained ignoring gets you in front of the platform team — a worse problem to have than the original throughput one.

Question 7

Does sendMediaGroup count as one message or many?

Accepted Answer

One. A media group is a single Bot API call regardless of whether it carries 2 or 10 attachments, which is exactly why it's the most reliable lever for staying under the per-minute channel cap.