Callback & inline queries

Callback queries

A callback query arrives when a user taps an inline-keyboard button that carries CallbackData. Acknowledge it with AnswerCallback (which clears the client-side loading spinner), optionally showing a toast or alert, then usually edit the original message:

bot.OnCallbackQuery(func(c *botapi.Context) error {
	choice := c.Update.CallbackQuery.Data // e.g. "vote:up"

	// Acknowledge the tap. WithCallbackText shows a toast.
	if err := c.AnswerCallback(botapi.WithCallbackText("Thanks for voting!")); err != nil {
		return err
	}

	// Edit the message the button was attached to.
	msg := c.Update.CallbackQuery.Message
	if msg == nil {
		return nil
	}
	_, err := c.Bot.EditMessageText(c, botapi.ID(msg.Chat.ID), msg.MessageID,
		"You voted "+choice)
	return err
}, botapi.CallbackPrefix("vote:"))

The CallbackPrefix("vote:") predicate routes only the buttons whose data starts with vote: to this handler, so different button families can have different handlers.

See examples/buttons for the complete keyboard-plus-callback flow.

Inline queries

Inline mode lets users type your bot's @username followed by a query in any chat. Enable it for your bot in @BotFather first, then answer with a list of results:

bot.OnInlineQuery(func(c *botapi.Context) error {
	q := strings.TrimSpace(c.Update.InlineQuery.Query)
	if q == "" {
		return c.AnswerInline(nil)
	}
	results := []botapi.InlineQueryResult{
		&botapi.InlineQueryResultArticle{
			ID:          "upper",
			Title:       "UPPERCASE",
			Description: strings.ToUpper(q),
			InputMessageContent: &botapi.InputTextMessageContent{
				MessageText: strings.ToUpper(q),
			},
		},
	}
	return c.AnswerInline(results, botapi.WithInlineCacheTime(1))
})

Picking a result sends its InputMessageContent to the chat.

The result and content unions

Both InlineQueryResult and InputMessageContent are sealed unions:

• InlineQueryResult — InlineQueryResultArticle; photo/gif/mpeg4-gif by URL; cached photo/gif/sticker/document/video/voice/audio by file_id; and contact/location/venue results.
• InputMessageContent — InputTextMessageContent, plus location, venue and contact content.

The runnable examples/inline bot offers article results that echo the query.