sendAudio

Returns: Message📎 Accepts files ✏️ Formattable text ⌨️ Keyboards Official docs ↗

Use this method to send audio files, if you want Telegram clients to display them in the music player. Your audio must be in the .MP3 or .M4A format. On success, the sent Message is returned. Bots can currently send audio files of up to 50 MB in size, this limit may be changed in the future.

For sending voice messages, use the sendVoice method instead.

Parameters

business_connection_idStringOptional

Unique identifier of the business connection on behalf of which the message will be sent

chat_idIntegerStringRequired

Unique identifier for the target chat or username of the target channel (in the format @channelusername)

message_thread_idIntegerOptional

Unique identifier for the target message thread (topic) of a forum; for forum supergroups and private chats of bots with forum topic mode enabled only

direct_messages_topic_idIntegerOptional

Identifier of the direct messages topic to which the message will be sent; required if the message is sent to a direct messages chat

audioInputFileStringRequired📎 Files

Audio file to send. Pass a file\_id as String to send an audio file that exists on the Telegram servers (recommended), pass an HTTP URL as a String for Telegram to get an audio file from the Internet, or upload a new one using multipart/form-data. More information on Sending Files »

captionStringOptional✏️ FormattableminLen 0maxLen 1024

Audio caption, 0-1024 characters after entities parsing

parse_modeStringOptional

Mode for parsing entities in the audio caption. See formatting options for more details.

caption_entitiesMessageEntity[]Optional

A JSON-serialized list of special entities that appear in the caption, which can be specified instead of parse\_mode

durationIntegerOptional

Duration of the audio in seconds

performerStringOptional

Performer

titleStringOptional

Track name

thumbnailInputFileStringOptional📎 Files

Thumbnail of the file sent; can be ignored if thumbnail generation for the file is supported server-side. The thumbnail should be in JPEG format and less than 200 kB in size. A thumbnail's width and height should not exceed 320. Ignored if the file is not uploaded using multipart/form-data. Thumbnails can't be reused and can be only uploaded as a new file, so you can pass "attach://attach\name>" if the thumbnail was uploaded using multipart/form-data under attach\name>. More information on Sending Files »

disable_notificationBooleanOptional

Sends the message silently. Users will receive a notification with no sound.

protect_contentBooleanOptional

Protects the contents of the sent message from forwarding and saving

allow_paid_broadcastBooleanOptional

Pass True to allow up to 1000 messages per second, ignoring broadcasting limits for a fee of 0.1 Telegram Stars per message. The relevant Stars will be withdrawn from the bot's balance

message_effect_idStringOptional

Unique identifier of the message effect to be added to the message; for private chats only

suggested_post_parametersSuggestedPostParametersOptional

A JSON-serialized object containing the parameters of the suggested post to send; for direct messages chats only. If the message is sent as a reply to another suggested post, then that suggested post is automatically declined.

reply_parametersReplyParametersOptional

Description of the message to reply to

reply_markupInlineKeyboardMarkup ReplyKeyboardMarkup ReplyKeyboardRemove ForceReplyOptional⌨️ Keyboards

Additional interface options. A JSON-serialized object for an inline keyboard, custom reply keyboard, instructions to remove a reply keyboard or to force a reply from the user

Returns

On success, the Message object is returned.

GramIO Usage

Send an audio file by URL from a message handler using the context shorthand:

bot.on("message", async (ctx) => {
  await ctx.sendAudio(
    "https://example.com/track.mp3",
    {
      performer: "Artist Name",
      title: "Song Title",
      duration: 210,
    }
  );
});

Reply to the user's message with the audio using replyWithAudio:

bot.on("message", async (ctx) => {
  await ctx.replyWithAudio("https://example.com/track.mp3", {
    performer: "Artist Name",
    title: "Song Title",
  });
});

Upload a local MP3 file using MediaUpload.path and include a caption:

bot.on("message", async (ctx) => {
  await ctx.sendAudio(await MediaUpload.path("./music/track.mp3"), {
    caption: format`${bold("Now playing:")} My Favorite Track`,
    performer: "My Band",
    title: "My Favorite Track",
    duration: 195,
  });
});

Resend a previously uploaded audio using its file_id for efficiency:

bot.on("message", async (ctx) => {
  // file_id obtained from a previously received Message
  const fileId = "CQACAgIAAxkBAAIB...";
  await ctx.sendAudio(fileId, {
    caption: "Resent from cache — no re-upload needed!",
  });
});

Direct API call with bot.api.sendAudio (useful outside message handlers):

const msg = await bot.api.sendAudio({
  chat_id: 123456789,
  audio: await MediaUpload.url("https://example.com/track.mp3"),
  performer: "Artist",
  title: "Track",
  duration: 210,
  caption: "Enjoy the music!",
});

Errors

Code	Error	Cause
400	`Bad Request: chat not found`	The `chat_id` is invalid, the bot has never interacted with the user, or the chat does not exist.
400	`Bad Request: wrong file identifier/HTTP URL specified`	The `file_id` is malformed or the URL is unreachable / returns a non-audio response.
400	`Bad Request: failed to get HTTP URL content`	Telegram could not download the audio from the provided HTTP URL. Ensure the URL is publicly accessible.
400	`Bad Request: file is too big`	The audio exceeds the 50 MB server-side limit. Compress or split the file before uploading.
400	`Bad Request: AUDIO_INVALID`	The file format is not supported. Only `.mp3` and `.m4a` formats are displayed in the music player.
403	`Forbidden: bot was blocked by the user`	The user blocked the bot. Remove them from your active user list.
429	`Too Many Requests: retry after N`	Flood control triggered. Back off for the specified number of seconds.

TIP

Use GramIO's auto-retry plugin to handle 429 errors automatically.

Tips & Gotchas

Only MP3 and M4A show in the music player. Other formats (OGG, WAV, FLAC) will be sent as documents. If you need voice-note playback, use sendVoice instead.
Use file_id to re-send. Once uploaded, store the file_id from the returned Message.audio.file_id and pass it directly on future sends — no bandwidth cost.
performer and title populate the mini player. Provide both to give users a proper music-player experience. Without them, Telegram displays the filename.
Thumbnail is only applied to fresh uploads. Passing a thumbnail with a file_id audio has no effect — Telegram uses the cached thumbnail.
50 MB is the current cap. Split long recordings or reduce bitrate (128 kbps is sufficient for voice/speech).
Caption limit is 1024 characters. Unlike sendMessage, audio captions are capped at 1024 chars.

sendAudio ​

Parameters ​

Returns ​

GramIO Usage ​

Errors ​

Tips & Gotchas ​

See Also ​