# Telegram Mini App notifications: how to send push messages through the bot

> A Mini App has no push of its own: notifications arrive as bot messages, and you can write to a user only after they start the bot or grant access with requestWriteAccess. To open the right screen use a web_app button or a direct link with the startapp parameter. Mark users who blocked the bot and stop messaging them.

Date: 2026-10-30 · Source: https://oneswitch.ru/en/blog/uvedomleniya-v-telegram-mini-app/

A Mini App opens inside Telegram, but it **has no push notifications of its own**. Everything a user receives “outside the app” is a message from the bot. Here is how it works and which mistakes get in the way most often.

## How notifications work

A Mini App is always tied to a bot. When you need to notify a user (a new item appeared, a price dropped, an order is ready), your server calls the `sendMessage` Bot API method as the bot. The message arrives in the private chat with the bot and Telegram shows an ordinary notification.

For the bot to write to a user one of these must be true:
- the user **started the bot** (pressed “Start”);
- the Mini App **requested permission** to message the user and they agreed.

## How to get permission from a Mini App

If a user opened the app through a direct link and never started the bot, you may not be allowed to write to them. The user data in `initData` has an `allows_write_to_pm` flag. If it is not set, ask for permission:

```javascript
const tg = window.Telegram.WebApp;

if (!tg.initDataUnsafe.user?.allows_write_to_pm) {
  tg.requestWriteAccess((granted) => {
    // granted === true: you can send messages
  });
}
```

The `requestWriteAccess` method is available in Bot API 6.9 and newer. Check support in your users' clients and keep a fallback: an “Enable notifications” button that opens the bot chat.

Do not ask for permission on first launch. The best moment is when it makes sense: after the user presses “Subscribe to new listings” or “Tell me about the price”.

## Sending a notification

The ID of the private chat with a user equals their `user_id`. The server calls:

```python
import requests

def notify(token: str, user_id: int, text: str, app_url: str) -> bool:
    r = requests.post(
        f"https://api.telegram.org/bot{token}/sendMessage",
        json={
            "chat_id": user_id,
            "text": text,
            "reply_markup": {"inline_keyboard": [[
                {"text": "Open", "web_app": {"url": app_url}}
            ]]},
        },
        timeout=10,
    )
    return r.ok
```

A button with `web_app` opens the app right from the message. Keep the bot token on the server and never give it to the app.

## How to open the right screen

To make a notification lead to a specific item there are two ways:
1. **The address in the `web_app` button:** add parameters to the URL (`?item=123`) and the app opens the right card. Do not trust them without server-side checks.
2. **A Mini App direct link** like `https://t.me/<bot>/<app>?startapp=item_123`. The parameter value is available in the app as `start_param` in `initData`.

## Errors and limits

- **The user blocked the bot.** Telegram returns an error (code 403). Mark that user as unsubscribed and do not try again.
- **Limits.** Do not send messages too often: Telegram has rate limits. For mass mailings use a queue and pauses.
- **Duplicates.** Store what has already been sent to each user so a worker restart does not repeat messages. More on duplicate protection: [how not to publish repeats](/blog/dedup-v-avtoposting-n8n-postgresql/).
- **Frequency.** Combine events into one digest instead of a message per event.
- **Silent messages.** For unimportant events use `disable_notification` so the message arrives without a sound.
- **Consent.** Give an easy way to turn notifications off right in the message or the app.

## Where this is applied

This is how subscriptions work in our projects: a user saves criteria in the Mini App and the bot sends a notification when a matching option appears. More in the breakdown of [catalog architecture](/blog/katalog-v-telegram-mini-app-arhitektura/) and in the projects [Da Nang House](/raboty/danang-house/) and [HotTrip](/raboty/hottrip/). Service: [Telegram bots and Mini Apps](/uslugi/telegram-boty-i-mini-app/).

## FAQ

### Can a Mini App send a push by itself, without a bot?

No. Notifications are sent by the bot the app is attached to.

### Does the user have to press Start to get messages?

Either they start the bot or they grant permission to message them through `requestWriteAccess`. Without that the bot cannot write first.

### How do I tell that a user blocked the bot?

By the error on sending: Telegram returns a refusal with code 403. After that stop messaging them and mark the subscription inactive.

### How do I pass data from a notification into the app?

Through the URL parameters of the `web_app` button or the `startapp` parameter of a direct link. On the server always check that the user may see that data.