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Telegram setup

Pair a Telegram DM, group or channel with your emailforward.xyz aliases. Three modes, ten minutes each.

emailforward.xyz can deliver any forwarded email to Telegram in addition to (or instead of) a real inbox. There are two pairing modes — per-inbox and per-alias — and three chat types — DM, group, channel. Combine them as you like.

The bot

All flows use @emailforwardxyz_bot. Add it to any chat you want to pair. In DMs you talk to it directly; in groups and channels you just need it present (and, for channels, as admin with post permissions).

Per-inbox pairing (recommended)

This pairs a real email inbox to one or more Telegram chats. After pairing, every alias that forwards to that inbox also delivers to every paired chat — no per-alias config.

  1. Visit /manage-email and enter any verified recipient email. We send you a 24-hour management link.
  2. Click Add chat in the Telegram card.
  3. Pick the chat type:
    • DM: tap the deep-link, start the bot, done.
    • Group: add the bot to the group, then send /link CODE (we give you the code).
    • Channel: add the bot as admin, then send /link CODE in the channel.
  4. Confirmation arrives in the chat. From that moment, every forward routes there.

You can pair as many chats as you want per inbox. Messages fan out.

Catch-all mail on a verified custom domain uses the same pairing: unknown local-parts (hello@yourdomain.com, anything you haven't minted) go to the domain owner's inbox and to every chat paired with it.

Per-alias pairing

Use this when you want a specific alias to deliver somewhere different from its email recipient (e.g. a sensitive banking alias going only to your DM).

  1. On /setup/:shortId or /manage/:shortId, click Add recipient → Telegram.
  2. We give you a short /verify CODE (and a DM deep-link).
  3. Send /verify CODE in the target chat (DM, group or channel where the bot lives) or tap the deep-link.
  4. Only this alias will deliver to that chat.

Bot commands

In any DM or group where the bot lives:

  • /status — lists which inboxes and aliases this chat is paired with.
  • /link CODE — inbox-wide pairing using a code from /manage-email.
  • /verify CODE — per-alias pairing using a code from the alias page.
  • /unlink — disconnects every pairing tied to this chat. Forwards stop immediately.
  • /help — short command reference.

In channels, same commands — but you post them via the channel (the bot needs admin).

Attachment handling

Telegram's Bot API caps attachments at 50 MB each. Files larger than that are silently skipped for the Telegram delivery but still forward by email if you have an email recipient on the same alias. The raw HTML body is always attached as a .html file so you have the full content on demand.

Privacy note

Forwarded content transits Telegram's servers. If that's outside your threat model, don't enable Telegram delivery for that alias. Email-only forwarding still works; it's the default.

Troubleshooting

  • Deep-link didn't open the bot. Some browsers block it. Open @emailforwardxyz_bot manually and send the /verify CODE or /link CODE yourself.
  • Bot is silent in a group. Make sure it has permission to read messages. For privacy-respecting groups where bots have limited visibility, promote it to admin (read-only is fine).
  • Channel isn't delivering. The bot must be an admin with post permissions. Demote-then-readd if in doubt.