Safer Telegram Deep-Link Handling: Mapping Opaque Payloads to MySQL in PHP

The article explains why exposing database primary keys in Telegram deep-link payloads, such as t.me/YourBot?start=order_7821, creates security and reliability problems. Users can edit payloads to access other records or probe sequential IDs. Telegram also caps start payloads at 64 characters from a restricted set, so Base64 and hyphenated UUIDs can be truncated or fail. The recommended approach is to separate payload strings from internal IDs by mapping random opaque tokens to MySQL entities. The guide covers webhook validation, strict regex-based payload parsing, handling deep links during active conversations, and verifying payloads before updating the database.