message¶

Just the text. No metadata, no drama.

What is it?¶

message is a plain string — the text the user typed in their message. That's it. Not the full Telegram message object, not the caption on a photo, not the button label. Just the words.

If someone sends "Hello bot", then message is "Hello bot". If they send a cat sticker instead, message is null. Stickers are many things. Text they are not.

When would you use it?¶

Perfect for quick, text-only logic:

• Echo bots ("you said X")
• Simple keyword checks
• Commands where params isn't set but you still want the full message text

When you need to reply, edit, or react to the message, switch to msg. When you need photos, captions, or entities, use update or msg.getText().

Try it¶

// Simple echo
if (message) {
  Bot.sendMessage("You said: " + message)
} else {
  Bot.sendMessage("I only understand text messages right now.")
}

When is message set?¶

For text in media captions, use msg.getText() or read update.message.caption — message only covers .text.

message vs msg vs update.message¶

Three variables, three jobs. Pick the right tool:

Rule of thumb: reading text? message or msg.text. Doing something to the message? msg.

Good to know¶

• message contains text only — no media, no metadata
• It is null for non-text updates — always check before using it
• Exists only during command execution