sendVideo

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

Use this method to send video files, Telegram clients support MPEG4 videos (other formats may be sent as Document). On success, the sent Message is returned. Bots can currently send video files of up to 50 MB in size, this limit may be changed in the future.

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

videoInputFileStringRequired📎 Files

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

durationIntegerOptional

Duration of sent video in seconds

widthIntegerOptional

Video width

heightIntegerOptional

Video height

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 »

coverInputFileStringOptional📎 Files

Cover for the video in the message. Pass a file\id to send a file that exists on the Telegram servers (recommended), pass an HTTP URL for Telegram to get a file from the Internet, or pass "attach://attach\name>" to upload a new one using multipart/form-data under attach\_name> name. More information on Sending Files »

start_timestampIntegerOptional

Start timestamp for the video in the message

captionStringOptional✏️ FormattableminLen 0maxLen 1024

Video caption (may also be used when resending videos by file\_id), 0-1024 characters after entities parsing

parse_modeStringOptional

Mode for parsing entities in the video 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

show_caption_above_mediaBooleanOptional

Pass True, if the caption must be shown above the message media

has_spoilerBooleanOptional

Pass True if the video needs to be covered with a spoiler animation

supports_streamingBooleanOptional

Pass True if the uploaded video is suitable for streaming

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 a video by file_id (fastest — no re-upload)
bot.command("clip", (ctx) =>
  ctx.sendVideo(

// Upload a local MPEG4 file with metadata and streaming flag
bot.commandctx) => {
  const video = await MediaUpload.path("./assets/intro.mp4");
  return ctx.sendVideo(video, {
    duration: 42,
    width: 1280,
    height: 720,
    supports_streaming: true,
    caption: "Welcome to GramIO!",
  });
});

// Video with formatted caption and a spoiler overlay
bot.commandctx) => {
  const video = await MediaUpload.path("./assets/reveal.mp4");
  return ctx.sendVideo(video, {
    caption: format`${bold
    has_spoiler: true,
  });
});

// Upload video from a URL with a custom JPEG thumbnail
bot.commandctx) => {
  const thumbnail = await MediaUpload.path("./assets/thumb.jpg");
  return ctx.sendVideo("https://example.com/demo.mp4", {
    thumbnail,
    caption: "Demo video from the web",
    supports_streaming: true,
  });
});

// Reply with a video and caption shown above the media
bot.commandctx) => {
  const video = await MediaUpload.path("./assets/promo.mp4");
  return ctx.replyWithVideo(video, {
    caption: "This caption appears above the video",
    show_caption_above_media: true,
    duration: 15,
  });
});

Errors

Code	Error	Cause
400	`Bad Request: chat not found`	Invalid or inaccessible `chat_id` — verify the chat exists and the bot is a member
400	`Bad Request: VIDEO_INVALID`	The provided `file_id` does not refer to a video
400	`Bad Request: failed to get HTTP URL content`	Telegram could not fetch the video from the provided HTTP URL
400	`Bad Request: wrong type of the web page content`	The URL did not return an MPEG4 file — non-MPEG4 formats are sent as Document
400	`Bad Request: caption is too long`	Caption exceeds 1024 characters after entity parsing
400	`Bad Request: MEDIA_CAPTION_TOO_LONG`	Same as above via a different code path
413	`Request Entity Too Large`	Uploaded file exceeds the 50 MB limit
403	`Forbidden: bot was blocked by the user`	The target user has blocked the bot
403	`Forbidden: not enough rights`	Bot lacks `can_send_media_messages` permission in the group/channel
429	`Too Many Requests: retry after N`	Flood control triggered — use the auto-retry plugin to handle this automatically

Auto-retry for 429 errors

Install the @gramio/auto-retry plugin to transparently handle flood-wait errors without manual retry logic.

Tips & Gotchas

Only MPEG4 (.mp4) renders inline. Other formats (AVI, MOV, MKV, etc.) will be sent as a generic Document without a video preview. Transcode to MPEG4 before sending.
50 MB upload limit. Files larger than 50 MB cannot be sent by bots. For larger files, consider hosting the video externally and passing a URL, or compress first.
Cache file_id after the first upload. Capture message.video.file_id from the returned MessageContext and store it so subsequent sends avoid re-uploading.
Set supports_streaming: true for streamable videos. This allows Telegram clients to start playing the video before it has fully buffered. Ensure the video is encoded with a fast-start flag (moov atom at the start of the file).
Thumbnail constraints. Custom thumbnails must be JPEG, under 200 kB, and at most 320×320 px. Thumbnails cannot be reused — they must be uploaded fresh each time.
has_spoiler blurs the preview. Users must tap to reveal the video. This is useful for plot spoilers or NSFW content gating.
Use sendMediaGroup for multiple videos. Sending up to 10 videos in a single album is more efficient and groups them visually for the recipient.

sendVideo ​

Parameters ​

Returns ​

GramIO Usage ​

Errors ​

Tips & Gotchas ​

See Also ​