msg¶

The current message — with built-in reply, edit, and react superpowers.

What is it?¶

msg is the current Telegram message, enriched with helper methods for replying, editing, deleting, reacting, and more. Instead of passing chat.id and message_id everywhere, you just call msg.reply("Got it!").

It's update.message after a gym membership — same data, but it can do more.

When would you use it?¶

Reply to the message that triggered your command
Edit the message in place
React with an emoji
Read text, captions, or message IDs without digging through update
Delete, pin, or forward the current message

For a plain text string only, message is simpler. For raw Telegram fields with no helpers, use update.message. For actually doing things to the message, use msg.

Two docs, same API

This page covers the global msg variable. The msg instance page has the full method list with more examples.

Try it¶

// Read fields directly
let text = msg.text
let messageId = msg.message_id

// Reply without passing chat/message IDs
await msg.reply("Got it!")

// Short alias
await msg.r("Got it!")

// Edit the message that triggered this command
await msg.editText("Updated text")

// React with an emoji
await msg.react("👍")

When is `msg` available?¶

Update type	`msg` value
`message`	Message helper object
`business_message`	Message helper object
Callback query, webhook, webapp, broadcast	`null`

Always check before calling methods. msg.reply() on null is not a fun debugging session.

Common methods¶

Method	Aliases	Description
`reply(text, options?)`	`r`	Send a text reply
`replyPhoto(...)`, `replyVideo(...)`, etc.	`photo`, `video`, …	Send media replies
`editText(text, options?)`	`edit`	Edit message text
`editCaption(caption, options?)`	`editCap`	Edit media caption
`delete(messageId?)`	`del`, `remove`	Delete a message
`react(emoji)`	`reaction`	Add emoji reaction
`forward(chatId)`	`fwd`	Forward to another chat
`pin()`, `unpin()`		Pin or unpin in chat
`getText()`	`text`	Get text or caption
`getMessageId()`	`id`, `messageId`	Get current message ID
`getChatId()`	`chatId`	Get current chat ID
`isBusiness()`	`isBusinessMessage`	Whether this is a business message

Full method list: msg instance.

`msg` vs `message` vs `update.message`¶

Variable	What it is
`msg`	Message object with helper methods
`message`	Plain string of text only (or `null`)
`update.message`	Raw Telegram object — no helpers

Good to know¶

Methods return Promises — use await when you need the result
msg exists only during command execution
For reply flows that wait for user input, see Handle Need Reply