> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://wiki.nushackers.org/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://wiki.nushackers.org/orbital/telegram-bot/telebot-basics.md).

# Telebot Basics

### Commands

Commands in Telegram are messages that start with a slash "/" followed by the command name 

e.g. `/start` or `/help`

We define a few commands. 

* These usually take in two arguments "update" and "context"

####  **/start Command**

Sends a message when the command /start is issued

{% code overflow="wrap" %}

```python
async def start(update: Update, context: ContextTypes.DEFAULT_TYPE) -> None:
    user = update.effective_user
    await update.message.reply_text(text=f'Hello {user.mention_markdown_v2()}\!'
                                         f'\nEnter /help to see the list of '
                                         f'commands for this bot\.',
                                    parse_mode=ParseMode.MARKDOWN_V2)
```

{% endcode %}

 Your Output will look something like this: 

Hello 'Username'! `#replaced by your username`\
Enter /help to see the list of commands for this bot.

**Code Explanation**

* **`user = update.effective_user`** extracts information about the user
* **`parse_mode=ParseMode.MARKDOWN_V2`** means your telebot will use Telegram's MarkdownV2 formatting for the message
* **`user.mention_markdown_v2()`** is a function that ensures the user is mentioned and displayed correctly

####  /error Command

The error function is an error handler for your Telegram Bot. It is designed to log and print information about errors during the bot's operation.

```python
async def error(update: Update, context: ContextTypes.DEFAULT_TYPE) -> None:
    print(f'Update {update} caused error {context.error}')
```

* **Update {update}** : Includes information about the update (user input) that was processed when the error occurred
* **caused error {context.error}** : Information about the error that was raised

Now, let us move on to something more "custom" for our telebot. Like a quadratic formula!

### Custom Commands

Creating a quadratic formula command

**The Formula:**

![](/files/JstyATJxckLW28HxhrEg)

<pre class="language-python" data-overflow="wrap"><code class="lang-python">import math

async def quadratic(update: Update, context: ContextTypes.DEFAULT_TYPE) -> None:
    
    # extract the message from the user input
    # e.g. /quadratic 1 2 3
    message = update.message.text
    
    # assign each number input to a string
    # e.g. a_string = 1, b_string = 2, c_string = 3
    _, a_string, b_string, c_string = message.split()
    
    # convert from a string to a float
    a = float(a_string)
    b = float(b_string)
    c = float(c_string)
    
    # Calculate the discriminant
    disc = b**2 - 4*a*c

<strong>    # Assume 2 real solutions and calculate the roots 
</strong><strong>    # Can add conditional statements for imaginary solution etc.
</strong>    root1 = (-b + math.sqrt(disc)) / 2*a
    root2 = (-b - math.sqrt(disc)) / 2*a

    # Create the reply text
    reply = f"Your roots are {root1} and {root2}"
    
    update.message.reply_text(reply)
    
</code></pre>

### Initialising and Command Handling

1. First, Initialise the Bot with your Token

* We do this using the 'Application' class from the 'python-telegram-bot' library
* The TOKEN is your unique bot token obtained from BotFather

```python
if __name__ == '__main__':
    app = Application.builder().token(TOKEN).build()
```

2. Register  Command Handlers

* When a user sends `/start` the 'start' function will be executed
* When a user sends `/help` the 'help' function will be executed
* When a user sends `/quadratic` the 'quadratic' function will be executed

```python
    app.add_handler(CommandHandler('start', start))
    app.add_handler(CommandHandler('help', help))
    app.add_handler(CommandHandler('quadratic', quadratic))
```

3. Register Message Handler

* Processes all text messages
* When a user sends a text message, the 'handle\_message' function will be executed

```python
    app.add_handler(MessageHandler(filters.TEXT, handle_message))
```

4. Register Error Handler

* Handle error's during a telebot's opertation. If an error occurs, the 'error' function will be executed

```python
    app.add_error_handler(error)
```

5. Now, Start Polling

* Prints 'Polling...' to the console to indicate that the bot is starting
* Polling is a method for the bot to continuously check for new updates from Telegram

```python
    print('Polling...')
    asyncio.run(app.run_polling())
```

6. Putting it all together

Your code should look something like this:

```python
if __name__ == '__main__':
    app = Application.builder().token(TOKEN).build()

    app.add_handler(CommandHandler('start', start))
    app.add_handler(CommandHandler('help', help))
    app.add_handler(CommandHandler('quadratic', quadratic))

    app.add_handler(MessageHandler(filters.TEXT, handle_message))

    app.add_error_handler(error)

    print('Polling...')
    asyncio.run(app.run_polling())
```