Claiming a Username for Your Bot

When you register a bot, you should choose its username carefully: it will be difficult to change afterwards.

I usually try many usernames to find the shortest and prettiest one available. Here's a hack to check variants quickly: open your account settings and type the username you want to try—but don't save the changes. If the username is taken, a red message will appear. This way you can check many usernames without creating a bot until you've made your choice.

Username form

Bot usernames follow the same rules as usernames for users, groups, and channels. The only constraint is that a bot username must end with “bot”, like @ExampleBot.

You can buy short usernames that don't follow this constraint on Fragment.

NOTE

A free username must contain at least 5 characters including “bot”. However, all 5-character usernames (and possibly 6-character ones) are already taken. Most of these registered bots are inactive—developers rarely maintain bots for a long time.

Claiming a username through support

It is possible to change a bot username for free, even if it's claimed by another (inactive) bot. You will need to contact the support: @BotSupport. They will check whether your bot works and supports English language.

The common format is the following:

1. @old_username
2. @new_username
3. Some bot description

Then cross your fingers and hope the support won't ignore you. It often does.