Set up · Telegram

Your buddy on Telegram

Telegram crops a bot's photo to a circle. Use the pad file: the whole tile, centred on its own colour, so the circle cuts nothing.

What Telegram shows: a circle, in the chat list and on the profile.

Get the files

Drawn in your browser from the name above. Nothing is uploaded anywhere.

Profile photobrass-otto-pad-800.jpg800 × 800 JPG, opaque
Smaller copybrass-otto-pad-512.png512 × 512 PNG, for the bot's description picture or anywhere else

Animated versions are coming: a looping MP4 profile video, so your buddy blinks, and a sticker set with one sticker per mode.

Set it in BotFather

Download the Profile photo (the 800 × 800 JPG).
In Telegram, open your chat with @BotFather.
Send /setuserpic, then tap your bot in the list it shows.
Send the JPG as a photo: tap the paperclip, pick the file, and send it.
Open your bot's profile. The circle shows the whole tile on its own colour, with no ring.

For agents

A bot can set its own photo with setMyProfilePhoto (Bot API 9.4 and later). Upload the JPG as a new file each time: Telegram doesn't reuse profile photos.

Instructions

platform: telegram (bot profile photo)
crop:     circle, applied by Telegram
variant:  pad (the tile at 74%, centred on its own ground colour, opaque)
file:     brass-otto-pad-800.jpg
format:   JPEG, 800 x 800 px, sRGB, no alpha
buddy:    Brass Otto
hash:     0x4f7857573d121112474507868c95e98e2cbb66d73cc61e786482793f28ed9bb0
method:   setMyProfilePhoto (Bot API 9.4+)
photo:    {"type":"static","photo":"attach://avatar"}
upload:   multipart form field "avatar" = the JPG
per-mode: do not change the photo per state. Show state with sendChatAction ("typing").
checked:  2026-10-21

curl

curl -F 'photo={"type":"static","photo":"attach://avatar"}' \
     -F 'avatar=@brass-otto-pad-800.jpg' \
     "https://api.telegram.org/bot$BOT_TOKEN/setMyProfilePhoto"

Limits

Format	JPG for a photo. MP4 for a profile video.
Max size	Profile video up to 1080 × 1080. The photo's limits aren't documented unverified
Dimensions	Square. We give you 800 × 800, Telegram's recommended video size.
Crop	Circle
Animation	Yes, as an MP4 profile video. Our animated files are coming.
Who can set it	You, in BotFather. Or the bot itself, through `setMyProfilePhoto`.
Per-mode faces	Not on the photo: every change re-uploads it. Stickers, one per mode, are the way. Ours are coming.

Last checked 2026-10-21 against Bot API: setMyProfilePhoto, Bot API changelog and Bot features. Platforms change: if a step is wrong, the platform's own docs win.