Bot not member · bot.not_member

Stable ID: bot.not_member · Evidence: source derived

The bot lacks the chat membership required for this operation.

Membership requirements depend on the chat type, public access, and operation. This is separate from the explicit kicked response.

When it matches

Every field in a rule must match. Alternative rules are joined with OR. Codes below are JSON response fields, not inferred HTTP statuses.

Rule 1

• JSON error_code: 403.

Exact description:

Forbidden: bot is not a member of the group chat

Rule 2

• JSON error_code: 403.

Exact description:

Forbidden: bot is not a member of the supergroup chat

Rule 3

• JSON error_code: 403.

Exact description:

Forbidden: bot is not a member of the channel chat

See matching rules for parameter precedence and unknown or ambiguous results.

Illustrative methods: sendMessage, deleteMessage.

Possible causes

• The bot has left an active group.
• The bot is not a member of a supergroup or channel and the requested access requires membership.

Before deciding what to do

Application decision: restore bot membership. Repeat request: after access change.

• Add or rejoin the bot with the required access through an authorized chat administrator before resuming.

These are application choices. Errorgram does not retry, suppress the error, or change bot state.

Facts

This condition adds no extracted facts; result.facts is empty.

Example

Synthetic examples derived from the cited source.

API method: sendMessage.

{
  "ok": false,
  "error_code": 403,
  "description": "Forbidden: bot is not a member of the group chat"
}

Python

from errorgram import classify

response = {
    "ok": False,
    "error_code": 403,
    "description": "Forbidden: bot is not a member of the group chat",
}
result = classify(response, method='sendMessage')

assert result.id == 'bot.not_member'
print(result.entry["summary"])

JavaScript and TypeScript

import { classify } from "errorgram";

const response = {
  "ok": false,
  "error_code": 403,
  "description": "Forbidden: bot is not a member of the group chat"
};
const result = classify(response, { method: "sendMessage" });

if (result.status === "matched" && result.id === "bot.not_member") {
  console.log(result.entry.summary);
}

Framework names

Integration	Type or ID
Python	errorgram.BotNotMember
aiogram	errorgram.aiogram.BotNotMember extends TelegramForbiddenError
grammY	EnrichedGrammyError with classification.id equal to bot.not_member

Enrichment is explicit and keeps framework catch compatibility. Follow the Python and aiogram guide or JavaScript, TypeScript, and grammY guide.

Evidence

• Bot API 10.3 · telegram-bot-api/Client.cpp:8835–8836. An active group with a departed bot fails edit or write access. Revision e3e9dd8e5b3d7ab8537cd5a10dc31d5ffa8f82d1.
• Bot API 10.3 · telegram-bot-api/Client.cpp:8850–8856. Public visibility and requested access determine whether supergroup or channel membership is required. Revision e3e9dd8e5b3d7ab8537cd5a10dc31d5ffa8f82d1.
• Bot API 10.3 · telegram-bot-api/Client.cpp:9045–9055. Banned, left, and restricted nonmember statuses do not count as membership. Revision e3e9dd8e5b3d7ab8537cd5a10dc31d5ffa8f82d1.

Source references identify the reviewed revision, not the first release that introduced this response.

Data and versions

Catalogue 0.1.0 · schema 1.0.0 · reviewed 2026-09-16.

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