Topics and Drafts¶

Bot API 9.3 — December 2025

Topics split one chat into many. A supergroup with forums turned on becomes a list of threads instead of a single stream, and every message in it belongs to exactly one topic. Drafts are the other half of the same release: the unsent text a client keeps for a chat.

Turning a group into a forum¶

await app.toggle_forum(chat_id, enabled=True)

tabs=True presents the topics as tabs rather than as a list. toggle_view_forum_as_messages() flips an individual member’s view back to one flat stream, which is a per-user preference and not a group setting.

Managing topics¶

topic = await app.create_forum_topic(
    chat_id=group_id,
    title="Bug reports",
    icon_color=0x6FB9F0,
    icon_emoji_id=custom_emoji_id,
)

await app.edit_forum_topic(group_id, topic.id, title="Bugs", closed=False)
await app.close_forum_topic(group_id, topic.id)
await app.delete_forum_topic(group_id, topic.id)

Reading them back:

async for topic in app.get_forum_topics(group_id):
    print(topic.id, topic.title, topic.unread_count, topic.is_closed)

one = await app.get_forum_topics_by_id(group_id, topic_ids=[topic_id])

Sending into a topic¶

message_thread_id is the topic id, and every send_* method takes it:

await app.send_message(
    chat_id=group_id,
    text="Reproduced on 3.14.",
    message_thread_id=topic_id,
)

On an incoming message, message.message_thread_id is the topic it belongs to and message.topic is the parsed ForumTopic — that second one is filled in only when the client is fetching topics, which is the fetch_topics argument to Client and is on by default. Turn it off to save the lookups if you only ever need the id.

Private chat topics¶

Bot API 9.3 also brought topics to private chats, which Telegram models as a “monoforum”: a channel whose direct messages tab is organised per user. wzgram surfaces those as DirectMessagesTopic with their own parameter, direct_messages_topic_id, rather than as forum topics — see Direct Messages in Channels.

A chat that is one of these has is_direct_messages set, and a channel that owns one points at it with direct_messages_chat_id.

Drafts¶

Every send_* method takes clear_draft. Passing True wipes the chat’s saved draft as the message goes out, which is what an interactive client does so the half-typed text does not reappear after a successful send:

await app.send_message(chat_id, "Sent for real this time", clear_draft=True)

For the richer, structured drafts of Bot API 10.1, see send_rich_message_draft() in Rich Messages.

Gotchas¶

Topic id 1 is the “General” topic that every forum has and that cannot be deleted.
message_thread_id on a non-forum supergroup means the discussion thread of a channel post, not a topic. Same parameter, different meaning by chat type.
Closing a topic is not deleting it: closed topics stay readable and admins can still post.