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How to use Telegram with VS Code

You want Telegram inside VS Code so it can triage incoming bot messages, run a Telegram support flow, send approved team updates, and collect a button choice — without you copy-pasting between tabs. Here is the whole setup, once.

Create your Telegram gateway

The gateway is the thing VS Code connects to, and it is where you decide which Telegram tools an agent may use. You create it once and every client reuses it.

  1. Create an Arcade account

    Sign up and open the dashboard. The free tier is enough to follow this through.

  2. Create an MCP Gateway and select your Telegram tools

    In the dashboard, create a gateway and pick the Telegram tools you want to expose. The gateway is what your client connects to, and it is where tool access is decided.

  3. Copy your gateway URL

    Every client below needs it.

    https://api.arcade.dev/mcp/<YOUR-GATEWAY-SLUG>

Create a Telegram gateway Opens the gateway builder in your Arcade dashboard.

Connect the gateway to VS Code

  1. Add the server

    VS Code 1.107.0 or higher. Command Palette → MCP: Add Server… → choose HTTP, paste your gateway URL, and name it something like mcp-arcade.

  2. Start it and authenticate

    Click Start next to the server in mcp.json or under Extensions → MCP Servers - Installed, then approve the Arcade sign-in and consent screens.

  3. Try it out

    Open the chat pane, switch to Agent mode, and ask it to use one of your Telegram tools.

Full VS Code guide in the docs steps verified 2026-08-13

Try these Telegram prompts

VS Code can now act on your Telegram account. Click a prompt to copy it.

Use scoped credentials and permissions to limit which Telegram actions an agent can take. Pair it with Contextual Access policies so an agent can read incoming messages without being allowed to send messages or audio.

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