Fixing Telegram Webhook Not Working Issue

Check Webhook Status

First, verify whether your webhook is set correctly.

For related webhook / HTTPS-cert / VPS-app topics, see cPanel Webhooks — Automating Actions in cPanel & WHM, depth_zero_self_signed_cert in SSL/TLS, and Running PHP WebSockets on Shared Hosting.

Run this command in your terminal:

curl -X GET "https://api.telegram.org/bot<YOUR_BOT_TOKEN>/getWebhookInfo"

Expected response (if webhook is working):

{
  "ok": true,
  "result": {
    "url": "https://yourdomain.com/webhook.php",
    "has_custom_certificate": false,
    "pending_update_count": 0,
    "max_connections": 40
  }
}

If "url": "" appears, the webhook is not set. Proceed to Step 2.

Set Up the Webhook Again

If the webhook is missing, register it manually:

curl -X POST "https://api.telegram.org/bot<YOUR_BOT_TOKEN>/setWebhook" -d "url=https://yourdomain.com/webhook.php"

Replace:

• <YOUR_BOT_TOKEN> with your Telegram bot token.
• https://yourdomain.com/webhook.php with your actual webhook URL.

Run getWebhookInfo again (Step 1) to verify the setup.

Check Webhook Response

Telegram requires a 200 OK response from your webhook. Run:

curl -X POST -d "test=1" https://yourdomain.com/webhook.php

If it doesn't return 200, check Step 4.

Fix Common Issues

SSL Certificate Issue (Telegram Requires HTTPS)

Run:

curl -v https://yourdomain.com/webhook.php

If it shows SSL certificate problem, install a valid SSL:

sudo certbot --apache

or

sudo certbot --nginx

Test again with curl -v.

Webhook URL Not Reachable

Ensure your webhook script is publicly accessible:

ping yourdomain.com

If there's no response, check firewall settings:

sudo ufw allow 443

Then restart your web server:

sudo systemctl restart apache2  # Apache
sudo systemctl restart nginx    # Nginx

Incorrect PHP Webhook Script

Check if your webhook.php correctly handles Telegram requests:

<?php
$data = json_decode(file_get_contents("php://input"), true);
file_put_contents("webhook.log", print_r($data, true), FILE_APPEND);
?>

Then check logs:

cat webhook.log

If nothing is logged, your server isn't receiving Telegram updates.

Try setting Telegram to long polling instead of webhooks:

curl "https://api.telegram.org/bot<YOUR_BOT_TOKEN>/getUpdates"

If updates appear, then Telegram is sending data, but your webhook isn't working.

Fixing Webhook Requires a Valid Response

Telegram needs a response within 5 seconds.

Modify webhook.php to send a quick response:

<?php
$data = json_decode(file_get_contents("php://input"), true);
file_put_contents("webhook.log", print_r($data, true), FILE_APPEND);
http_response_code(200);
echo json_encode(["status" => "OK"]);
?>

Test the webhook again!

Summary of Fixes

Now your Telegram webhook should work!