Getting Started with BotWave: A 5-Minute Guide

Add BotWave to your Telegram group, configure moderation, set up welcome messages, and enable games. Everything you need to know in 5 minutes.

If you just created a Telegram group and want to run it without spending your evenings deleting spam, BotWave takes about five minutes to set up. This guide walks through every step from adding the bot to turning on the modules that matter most.

Step 1: Add BotWave to Your Group

Open the BotWave link and click Add to Telegram. You will see a list of your groups and channels. Pick the one you want to manage. BotWave joins instantly, no installation, no hosting, no API keys.

Once BotWave is in the group, it sends a short confirmation message with a link to the setup wizard. That wizard is where everything happens.

Step 2: Run the Setup Wizard

The setup wizard detects your group size and suggests a starter configuration. For most new groups, the recommended setup is welcome messages, captcha verification, and basic anti-spam filters. You can accept the defaults or customize each module individually.

The wizard asks three questions: how big is your group, what language do your members speak, and what is the group about. BotWave uses these answers to tailor welcome messages, filter rules, and command suggestions.

Step 3: Configure Your Welcome Message

A good welcome message is the single highest-impact thing you can do for retention. New members who get a clear, friendly greeting with the rules are far more likely to stay and participate.

Use the /welcome command to set your message. Include three things: a greeting, the group rules, and a link or instruction for what to do next. BotWave supports custom text, emojis, buttons, and links in welcome messages.

/welcome Welcome to our community! Read the rules in the pinned message and introduce yourself.

Step 4: Turn On Captcha

Captcha is what stops bot accounts from flooding your group with spam. When a new member joins, BotWave sends them a simple challenge. They solve it, they can post. They do not solve it in 60 seconds, they get kicked.

Turn it on with /captcha on. That is the whole command. BotWave handles the rest, including logging failed attempts so you can spot patterns.

Step 5: Enable Karma and Games

Karma gives members reputation points for positive participation. Games give them something to do between conversations. Both create reasons to come back, which is what makes a community feel alive.

Enable karma with /karma on and browse the games menu with /games. BotWave includes trivia, word games, number games, and polls. Each game runs inline in the chat, no external links.

Step 6: Set Your First Reminder

Reminders are how you make sure events do not get lost in the chat. Use /remind to ping the group before anything important: a live stream, a product drop, a community call, a weekly discussion.

/remind 2h Weekly community call in 2 hours!

BotWave sends the reminder to the whole group at the right time. You can set one-off reminders or recurring ones.

What to Do Next

After the first five minutes, your group has welcome, captcha, karma, games, and reminders running. From here, the next things worth exploring are smart notes (/notes), the AI assistant (/ai), and trust scores (/trust). Each one replaces a separate bot you would otherwise have to add.

The whole point of BotWave is that you should not need five bots to run one group. Start with these five minutes, then add modules as your community grows.

Frequently Asked Questions