Scribbles for my memory

Telegram bots can show a command menu when users type / in a chat. Registering commands is a single API call — no approval, no webhook setup, no special bot-side handling.

curl -s -X POST "https://api.telegram.org/bot<TOKEN>/setMyCommands" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"commands": [
    {"command": "status", "description": "Show active host"},
    {"command": "switch", "description": "Switch active host"}
  ]}'

From the bot's perspective, /status or /switch desktop arrives as plain text in message.text — you parse it like any other message.

Scope-aware deletion

deleteMyCommands supports optional scope and language_code parameters so you can clear commands for specific contexts (private chats, groups, a single chat, a specific language). But there's no API to delete individual commands.

The elegant part: setMyCommands always does a full overwrite. Sending an empty array clears everything:

# These are equivalent:
curl -s -X POST "https://api.telegram.org/bot<TOKEN>/setMyCommands" \
  -d '{"commands": []}'

curl -s -X POST "https://api.telegram.org/bot<TOKEN>/deleteMyCommands"

To remove a single command, just setMyCommands with the updated list minus the one you want gone. The overwrite-everything semantics means there's no "add" or "remove" — only "set the complete list." deleteMyCommands is a convenience method, not a necessity.