Telegram Returns HTTP 200 for Deleted Bots, Making Standard Link Checks Unreliable
Telegram serves an HTTP 200 status code for bot URLs even when the bot has been deleted or never existed, meaning standard link checkers falsely report dead bots as live. A developer discovered this issue while building a catalog of Telegram Mini Apps, where every entry appeared valid despite some being defunct. The reliable workaround is to inspect the Open Graph title tag in the page's HTML: a live bot displays its own name, while a deleted or non-existent one shows a generic Telegram placeholder string. Using this method, a simple script can accurately distinguish live bots from dead ones without relying on the HTTP status code. The developer notes this approach depends on Telegram's current page markup rather than an official API, so the placeholder strings should be monitored periodically for changes.
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