A bot owner shares https://t.me/yourbot?start=spring. Telegram's bot documentation says that when someone opens a chat with the bot through that link, the bot receives /start spring. The start value can use letters, numbers, underscores and hyphens, up to 64 characters. The generator rebuilds public t.me links from the name alone, so the start value (and a post number such as /123) doesn't carry over.
What each form does with a t.me link
- The https link (
https://t.me/yourchannel). t.me's Apple association file claims almost every path for Telegram, and its Android file names org.telegram.messenger. So the link opens the chat, channel or bot in Telegram. Without the app, t.me shows a page offering it. - The custom scheme (
tg://resolve?domain=yourchannel). Telegram's API documentation lists this exact form, and t.me pages publish it in their own page head for iPhone and Android apps. Documented or not, it opens nothing on a phone without Telegram. - The Android intent. Chrome on Android uses it to hand the tap to Telegram, and falls back to the t.me page.
Bot start links
For a bot link with a start value, share the https form with the value attached, as in t.me/yourbot?start=spring. If you want the scheme, Telegram documents it as tg://resolve?domain=yourbot&start=spring: generate the scheme, then add the start part by hand. To send people to add your bot to a group, the parameter is startgroup, and the bot receives the value with its own username attached.
Private invites
Links that begin t.me/+ or t.me/joinchat/ carry an invite hash. The generator returns them unchanged and builds no scheme, with a note to share the t.me link as it is. Telegram's documentation does list a tg://join?invite= form, but the t.me link already opens the app and still works for people who don't have it, which the scheme can't do.
How to test it
- Start the bot through your link from a Telegram account that has never used it, and check that the bot receives /start with your value.
- Tap the channel link on a phone without Telegram to see the t.me page your visitors will land on.
For WhatsApp, whose scheme is far less documented, see the WhatsApp deep link page. Spotify is the only other platform here whose scheme matches its docs exactly (Spotify page). Start from the deep link generator for anything else.