Media, Videos & Stickers

Raw MD
Send photos, audio, videos with custom covers and start timestamps, and animated stickers.
3 min read Botlify Cloud Updated October 2026

Enhanced Video Controls (API 8.x)

Telegram allows setting custom video cover thumbnails and opening videos at a specific playback second:

sendVideo with Cover & Timestamp 
bot('sendVideo', [
    'chat_id'         => $chatId,
    'video'           => 'https://example.com/demo.mp4',
    'caption'         => '🎬 Watch Product Demo (Starts at 15s)',
    'parse_mode'      => 'HTML',
    'cover'           => 'https://example.com/thumbnail.jpg',
    'start_timestamp' => 15 // Starts playback at 00:15
]);

Sending Animated & Static Stickers

Stickers can be sent using their permanent Telegram file_id:

sendSticker 
bot('sendSticker', [
    'chat_id' => $chatId,
    'sticker' => 'CAACAgIAAxkBAAE...sticker_file_id...'
]);