> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://poly-bot.mintlify.site/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Rich Messages: Block Layout, Inline Formatting & Media in PolyBot > Compose structured Telegram rich messages with paragraphs, headings, tables, quotations, and rich inline text using the fluent RichMessageBuilder. PolyBot provides a fluent, type-safe builder hierarchy to construct structured `InputRichMessage` payloads for Telegram. Instead of manually stitching together raw block objects and formatting entities, `RichMessageBuilder` and `RichTextBuilder` let you compose layout blocks, rich inline typography, tables, and embedded media declaratively. ## Composing rich messages Use `RichMessageBuilder` to assemble high-level document blocks like paragraphs, headings, block quotations, collapsible details, and media. ```csharp theme={null} InputRichMessage rich = new RichMessageBuilder() .Heading("Welcome to PolyBot", size: 1) .Paragraph(b => b .Plain("This is a ") .Bold("rich message") .Plain(" with ") .Spoiler("secret content") .Plain("!")) .Divider() .List(["First step", "Second step", "Third step"]) .Build(); ``` > [!NOTE] > > `RichMessageBuilder` implements an implicit conversion operator to `InputRichMessage`. You can pass the builder directly anywhere an `InputRichMessage` is expected. ## Structural & layout blocks `RichMessageBuilder` provides helpers for every standard block type. Overloads accept raw strings for quick plain text, child block collections, or an inline `Action` to format text inline. ```csharp theme={null} RichMessageBuilder builder = new RichMessageBuilder() // Headings (1-based level) .Heading("Release Notes", size: 1) // Standard paragraphs .Paragraph("Simple plain-text paragraph") .Paragraph(b => b.Plain("Formatted ").Italic("paragraph")) // Preformatted code blocks .Preformatted("git commit -m 'feat: add rich messages'", language: "bash") // or using the alias .CodeBlock("SELECT * FROM users;", language: "sql") // Mathematical formulas .Math(@"\int_{0}^{\infty} e^{-x^2} dx = \frac{\sqrt{\pi}}{2}") // Quotations with optional attribution credit .BlockQuote("Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability.", credit: "Edsger W. Dijkstra") .PullQuote("Highlights or pull quotations stand out visually.") // Collapsible sections .Details("Click to expand logs", ["Row 1: OK", "Row 2: Warning"], isOpen: false) // Footers and separators .Divider() .Footer("Generated automatically by PolyBot"); ``` ### Tables You can render tables using grid matrices of text or customize cells using `RichBlockFactory.Cell` for alignment and spans. ```csharp theme={null} // Simple rectangular grid with header builder.Table( textCells: [ ["ID", "Status", "Latency"], ["srv-1", "Healthy", "12ms"], ["srv-2", "Degraded", "145ms"] ], isBordered: true, isStriped: true, firstRowHeader: true ); // Advanced custom table cells builder.Table( cells: [ [ RichBlockFactory.Cell( RichTextFactory.Bold(RichTextFactory.Plain("Metric")), isHeader: true, align: RichBlockTableCellAlign.Left), RichBlockFactory.Cell( RichTextFactory.Bold(RichTextFactory.Plain("Value")), isHeader: true, align: RichBlockTableCellAlign.Right) ], [ RichBlockFactory.Cell(RichTextFactory.Plain("Uptime")), RichBlockFactory.Cell(RichTextFactory.Plain("99.98%"), align: RichBlockTableCellAlign.Right) ] ], isBordered: true ); ``` ### Media blocks & attachments Attach media directly to block sequences or associate upload identifiers with embedded media definitions. ```csharp theme={null} builder .Photo(new InputMediaPhoto(InputFile.FromUri("https://example.com/banner.png")), caption: RichBlockFactory.Caption(RichTextFactory.Plain("Overview diagram"))) .Video(new InputMediaVideo(InputFile.FromFileId("BAADAgAD..."))) .Animation(new InputMediaAnimation(InputFile.FromUri("https://example.com/demo.gif"))) .Audio(new InputMediaAudio(InputFile.FromFileId("CQADAgAD..."))) .VoiceNote(new InputMediaVoiceNote(InputFile.FromFileId("AwADAgAD..."))) // Reference detached media by ID .Media("media-ref-1", customMediaInstance); ``` ## Inline text formatting: `RichTextBuilder` Whenever you pass `Action` into a block, you can chain inline formatting styles, mentions, links, and entity tokens without escaping delimiters manually. ```csharp theme={null} new RichMessageBuilder() .Paragraph(t => t .Plain("PolyBot supports ") .Bold("bold") .Plain(", ") .Italic("italic") .Plain(", ") .Underline("underline") .Plain(", ") .Strikethrough("strikethrough") .Plain(", ") .Spoiler("spoiler") .Plain(", ") .Marked("highlighted") .Plain(", and ") .Code("inline code") .Plain(".")); ``` ### Advanced inline entities `RichTextBuilder` supports special Telegram entity types such as timestamps, custom emoji, user mentions, and deep anchors: ```csharp theme={null} builder.Paragraph(t => t // Web links and mentions .Url("Documentation", "https://poly-bot.mintlify.site") .Mention("Bot Developer", "username") .TextMention("Alice", userInstance) // Commands, hashtags and financial tags .BotCommand("/settings", "settings") .Hashtag("#polybot", "polybot") .Cashtag("$TON", "TON") // Custom emoji and math .CustomEmoji(customEmojiId: "5368324170671202286", alternativeText: "πŸš€") .Math("x^2 + y^2 = r^2") // Contact & banking data .Email("support@example.com", "support@example.com") .PhoneNumber("+1234567890", "+1234567890") .BankCard("Card Number", "4000 1234 5678 9010") // Formatted unix timestamps .DateTime("Deploy time", DateTime.UtcNow, "HH:mm:ss") // Internal anchors and references .Anchor("section-1") .AnchorLink("Jump to Section 1", "section-1")); ``` ### Nested formatting All `RichTextBuilder` formatting methods provide overloads accepting pre-built `RichText` nodes, making deep nesting straightforward: ```csharp theme={null} RichText inner = new RichTextBuilder() .Bold("clickable bold text") .Build(); RichText linked = new RichTextBuilder() .Url(inner.ToString()!, "https://example.com") .Build(); ``` ## Buttons: `RichButtonsBuilder` Use `RichButtonsBuilder` to compose a standalone buttons block (as opposed to a button embedded inside a paragraph via `RichTextBuilder`). Every button kind has a plain-label overload and a `RichButtonTextBuilder` overload whose label is restricted to the entity subset the Bot API allows inside button text (plain text, custom emoji, date/time): ```csharp theme={null} InputRichMessage message = new RichMessageBuilder() .Paragraph("Pick an action:") .Buttons(buttons => buttons .CallbackButton("Open", "open", RichMessageButtonStyle.Primary) .CallbackButton(label => label.Plain("Launch ").CustomEmoji("5368324170671202286", "πŸš€"), "launch") .UrlButton("Documentation", "https://poly-bot.mintlify.site") .CopyTextButton("Copy ID", "123456") .WebAppButton("Dashboard", webAppInfo) .SwitchInlineQueryButton("Share", "polybot") .SwitchCurrentChatButton("Share here", "polybot") .SwitchChosenChatButton("Share to…", chosenChat) .CallbackButton("Delete", "delete", RichMessageButtonStyle.Danger, disabled: true), RichBlockTableCellAlign.Center) .Build(); ``` The generic `Button(...)` overloads accept a pre-built `RichText` label plus exactly one action (`url`, `callbackData`, `webApp`, `loginUrl`, `switchInlineQuery`, `switchInlineQueryCurrentChat`, `switchInlineQueryChosenChat`, or `copyText`). `Build()` returns `RichMessageButton[]`, and an implicit conversion to the array type exists, so a `RichButtonsBuilder` can be passed anywhere a button collection is expected. > [!NOTE] > > `RichMessageButtonStyle` (Primary, Success, Danger, …) styles the button inside the rich-message render; `disabled: true` renders the button as non-interactive. ## Low-level composition: `RichBlockFactory` & `RichTextFactory` For scenarios where dynamic block construction or AST-like manipulation is required, use `RichBlockFactory` and `RichTextFactory` directly. The factory handles setting block discriminators automatically so you only populate content models. ```csharp theme={null} // Low-level text node composition RichText text = RichTextFactory.Concat( RichTextFactory.Plain("Execution: "), RichTextFactory.Bold(RichTextFactory.Plain("Successful")) ); // Low-level block composition InputRichBlock block = RichBlockFactory.BlockQuote( text, credit: RichTextFactory.Plain("System Monitor") ); InputRichMessage message = new RichMessageBuilder() .Block(block) .Build(); ``` ### Special considerations for `Thinking` blocks The `Thinking` block represents a collapsible AI thought process placeholder, mapping to the custom `` tag. An `InputRichBlockThinking` block cannot be sent inside standard `SendRichTextMessage` requests. Calling `SendRichTextMessage` with a thinking block will throw an API exception: ```text theme={null} Telegram.Bot.Exceptions.ApiRequestException: Bad Request: RICH_MESSAGE_BLOCK_UNSUPPORTED ``` Thinking blocks are restricted by Telegram exclusively to `SendRichMessageDraft` calls and will never appear on received message payloads. When configuring thinking blocks, you can pair them with Telegram's official [AI Actions custom emoji](https://t.me/addemoji/AIActions?utm_source=gemini) to indicate progress states: ```csharp theme={null} InputRichMessage draft = new RichMessageBuilder() .Thinking(t => t .CustomEmoji(customEmojiId: "5368324170671202286", alternativeText: "πŸ€”") .Plain(" Analyzing repository dependencies...") ) .Paragraph("Here is what I found so far.") .Build(); ``` ## Message configurations `RichMessageBuilder` includes flags to control message text direction and rendering behavior before calling `Build()`: | Method | Description | | - | - | | `WithHtml(string html)` | Supplies raw HTML representation alternative to block sequences | | `WithMarkdown(string markdown)` | Supplies raw Markdown representation alternative to block sequences | | `Rtl()` | Flags the rich message as right-to-left layout (`IsRtl = true`) | | `SkipEntityDetection()` | Bypasses Telegram's automated server-side entity detection parser | | `Build()` | Validates and compiles the builder into an immutable `InputRichMessage` | This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.