How to Host a Telegram Bot on Vertra Cloud

Overview

Vertra Cloud is ideal for hosting Telegram bots, offering continuous uptime with auto-restart and real-time log monitoring.

When creating the application for a bot, select the Bot type (not Website). Bots don’t need exposed HTTP port.

Node.js with node-telegram-bot-api

Structure

my-bot-telegram-js/
├── src/
│   └── index.js
├── package.json
└── vertracloud.config

package.json

{
  "name": "my-bot-telegram-js",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "main": "src/index.js",
  "scripts": {
    "start": "node src/index.js"
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "node-telegram-bot-api": "^0.63.0"
  }
}

vertracloud.config

MAIN=src/index.js
START=npm start
VERSION=recommended

Example (Node.js)

const TelegramBot = require('node-telegram-bot-api');

const token = process.env.BOT_TOKEN;
if (!token) {
  throw new Error('BOT_TOKEN environment variable is required');
}

const bot = new TelegramBot(token, { polling: true });

bot.onText(/\/start/, (msg) => {
  const chatId = msg.chat.id;
  const replyMarkup = {
    keyboard: [
      [{ text: ' Hello' }, { text: '❓ Help' }],
      [{ text: 'Information' }]
    ],
    resize_keyboard: true
  };

  bot.sendMessage(chatId, 'Welcome to the bot! Choose an option:', {
    reply_markup: replyMarkup
  });
});

bot.onText(/\/help|❓ Help/, (msg) => {
  const chatId = msg.chat.id;
  bot.sendMessage(chatId, `
Available commands:
/start - Start the bot
/help - Show this help
/info - Bot information
  `);
});

bot.onText(/\/info|Information/, (msg) => {
  const chatId = msg.chat.id;
  bot.sendMessage(chatId, 'This is an example bot on Vertra Cloud!');
});

// Respond to text messages
bot.on('message', (msg) => {
  const chatId = msg.chat.id;
  const text = msg.text;

  if (text === ' Hello') {
    bot.sendMessage(chatId, 'Hello! How can I help you?');
  } else if (text && !text.startsWith('/')) {
    // Echo message
    bot.sendMessage(chatId, `You said: ${text}`);
  }
});

// Error handling
bot.on('polling_error', (error) => {
  console.error('Polling error:', error.message);
});

console.log('Bot started and waiting for messages...');

Python with python-telegram-bot

Structure

my-bot-telegram-py/
├── main.py
├── requirements.txt
└── vertracloud.config

requirements.txt

python-telegram-bot==20.3
python-dotenv==1.0.0

vertracloud.config

MAIN=main.py
VERSION=recommended

Example (Python)

import os
import logging
from telegram import Update, ReplyKeyboardMarkup
from telegram.ext import Application, CommandHandler, MessageHandler, filters, ContextTypes

# Logging configuration
logging.basicConfig(
    format='%(asctime)s - %(name)s - %(levelname)s - %(message)s',
    level=logging.INFO
)
logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)

BOT_TOKEN = os.environ.get('BOT_TOKEN')
if not BOT_TOKEN:
    raise ValueError('BOT_TOKEN environment variable is required')

# Handlers
async def start(update: Update, context: ContextTypes.DEFAULT_TYPE) -> None:
    """Start command"""
    keyboard = [
        [' Hello', '❓ Help'],
        ['Information']
    ]
    reply_markup = ReplyKeyboardMarkup(keyboard, resize_keyboard=True)
    await update.message.reply_text('Welcome to the bot! Choose an option:', reply_markup=reply_markup)

async def help_command(update: Update, context: ContextTypes.DEFAULT_TYPE) -> None:
    """Help command"""
    help_text = """Available commands:
/start - Start the bot
/help - Show this help
/info - Bot information
"""
    await update.message.reply_text(help_text)

async def info_command(update: Update, context: ContextTypes.DEFAULT_TYPE) -> None:
    """Info command"""
    await update.message.reply_text('This is an example bot on Vertra Cloud!')

async def handle_message(update: Update, context: ContextTypes.DEFAULT_TYPE) -> None:
    """Handle text messages"""
    text = update.message.text

    if text == ' Hello':
        await update.message.reply_text('Hello! How can I help you?')
    elif text == '❓ Help':
        await help_command(update, context)
    elif text == 'Information':
        await info_command(update, context)
    else:
        # Echo
        await update.message.reply_text(f'You said: {text}')

async def error_handler(update: object, context: ContextTypes.DEFAULT_TYPE) -> None:
    """Handle errors"""
    logger.error(msg='Exception while handling an update:', exc_info=context.error)

async def main() -> None:
    """Start the bot"""
    # Create the application
    application = Application.builder().token(BOT_TOKEN).build()

    # Register handlers
    application.add_handler(CommandHandler('start', start))
    application.add_handler(CommandHandler('help', help_command))
    application.add_handler(CommandHandler('info', info_command))
    application.add_handler(MessageHandler(filters.TEXT & ~filters.COMMAND, handle_message))

    # Error handler
    application.add_error_handler(error_handler)

    # Start the bot
    logger.info('Bot started and waiting for messages...')
    await application.run_polling()

if __name__ == '__main__':
    import asyncio
    asyncio.run(main())

Deploy

Dashboard
CLI
VS Code

Compress the project into a .zip (folders like node_modules, venv and target are removed automatically) or push it to GitHub.
In the dashboard, click New Project and upload the .zip or paste the repository URL.
In Build, check the runtime (JavaScript or Python), the main file (src/index.js or main.py) and the memory. Start and build commands are under Advanced settings.
Add your environment variables in Environment.
In Network, leave web publishing off: a bot doesn’t receive incoming traffic and runs in the background on any plan.
Review and deploy. Follow the output in the Logs tab.

vertra upload
vertra logs -f

See CLI for installation and login.

The full walkthrough is in First deploy.

Environment Variables Configuration

Get bot token

Talk to @BotFather on Telegram to create a new bot and get the BOT_TOKEN.

Configure in dashboard

After creating the application, add the environment variable:

Name: BOT_TOKEN
Value: (your @BotFather token)

Check logs

Monitor the logs after deployment to confirm the bot is online and connected.

Available Versions

Node.js

Version	Status	Description
24.22.1	Latest	Node.js 24.22.1 (latest version)
22.23.4	Recommended	Node.js 22.23.4 LTS (recommended for production)

Python

Version	Status	Description
3.13.17	Recommended	Python 3.13 (recommended for production)
3.14.10	Latest	Python 3.14 line
3.12.15	Stable	Python 3.12 with extended support
3.11.17	Other	Python 3.11 (available until the platform removes the line)

Notes

Bot Type: Always select Bot when creating the application (not Website)
Environment variables: Configure BOT_TOKEN in the application’s variables
Auto-restart: On by default, keeps the bot online in case of disconnection
Memory: 256MB is enough for simple bots, 512MB+ for complex ones
Logs: Use console.log() (JS) or logging (Python) to monitor in real-time
Polling: Both libraries use polling, which is simpler but uses more resources than webhooks

Overview

Bots

Node.js

Python

Other Languages

Guides

How to Host a Telegram Bot on Vertra Cloud

Overview

Node.js with node-telegram-bot-api

Structure

package.json

vertracloud.config

Example (Node.js)

Python with python-telegram-bot

Structure

requirements.txt

vertracloud.config

Example (Python)

Deploy

Environment Variables Configuration

Available Versions

Node.js

Python

Notes

​Overview

​Node.js with node-telegram-bot-api

​Structure

​package.json

​vertracloud.config

​Example (Node.js)

​Python with python-telegram-bot

​Structure

​requirements.txt

​vertracloud.config

​Example (Python)

​Deploy

​Environment Variables Configuration

​Available Versions

​Node.js

​Python

​Notes

Overview

Node.js with node-telegram-bot-api

Structure

package.json

vertracloud.config

Example (Node.js)

Python with python-telegram-bot

Structure

requirements.txt

vertracloud.config

Example (Python)

Deploy

Environment Variables Configuration

Available Versions

Node.js

Python

Notes