sendVoice

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

Use this method to send audio files, if you want Telegram clients to display the file as a playable voice message. For this to work, your audio must be in an .OGG file encoded with OPUS, or in .MP3 format, or in .M4A format (other formats may be sent as Audio or Document). On success, the sent Message is returned. Bots can currently send voice messages 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

voiceInputFileStringRequired📎 Files

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

captionStringOptional✏️ FormattableminLen 0maxLen 1024

Voice message caption, 0-1024 characters after entities parsing

parse_modeStringOptional

Mode for parsing entities in the voice message 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 voice message in seconds

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 The relevant Stars will be withdrawn from the bot's balance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_markupInlineKeyboardMarkupReplyKeyboardMarkupReplyKeyboardRemoveForceReplyOptional⌨️ 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 voice message by file_id (fastest — no re-upload)
bot.command("voice", (ctx) =>
  ctx.sendVoice(
    "AwACAgIAAxkBAAIBjmXzPexample_voice_file_id_hereAAp4B"
  )
);

// Upload a local OGG/OPUS file and send as a voice message
bot.command("greet", async (ctx) => {
  const voice = await MediaUpload.path("./assets/greeting.ogg");
  return ctx.sendVoice(voice, { duration: 5 });
});

// Fetch an OGG voice file from a URL and send it
bot.command("remote", (ctx) =>
  ctx.sendVoice("https://example.com/message.ogg", {
    duration: 8,
    caption: "Listen to this announcement",
  })
);

// Voice message with a formatted caption using the format helper
bot.command("announce", async (ctx) => {
  const voice = await MediaUpload.path("./assets/notice.ogg");
  return ctx.sendVoice(voice, {
    caption: format`${bold("New announcement")} — ${italic("please listen carefully")}`,
    duration: 12,
  });
});

// Reply to a user's message with a voice note
bot.command("respond", async (ctx) => {
  const voice = await MediaUpload.path("./assets/reply.ogg");
  return ctx.replyWithVoice(voice, { duration: 3 });
});

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: VOICE_MESSAGES_FORBIDDEN	The target user has disabled receiving voice messages from non-contacts
400	Bad Request: failed to get HTTP URL content	Telegram could not fetch the audio from the provided HTTP URL
400	Bad Request: wrong file type	The file is not OGG/OPUS, MP3, or M4A — it will fall back to Audio or Document
400	Bad Request: caption is too long	Caption exceeds 1024 characters after entity parsing
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_voice_notes 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

• OGG/OPUS is the preferred format. While MP3 and M4A are also accepted, OGG encoded with the OPUS codec produces the smallest file sizes at good quality and is natively supported as a voice message. Other formats (WAV, AAC, FLAC) are sent as Audio or Document instead.
• Voice messages can be disabled by users. Privacy-conscious users can block voice messages from non-contacts, causing a VOICE_MESSAGES_FORBIDDEN error. Handle this gracefully and fall back to a text response.
• 50 MB upload limit. Files larger than 50 MB cannot be sent. Most voice messages are well below this limit; compress long recordings before sending.
• sendVoice vs sendAudio. Use sendVoice when you want the audio to appear in the voice-message player (waveform UI). Use sendAudio when you want a music player card showing performer and title metadata.
• Cache file_id after the first upload. Capture message.voice.file_id from the returned MessageContext and persist it to avoid re-uploading on repeat sends.
• Captions support formatting entities. Use the format tagged template from "gramio" to embed bold, italic, links, and other entities — never add parse_mode alongside format.

See Also

• sendAudio — Send an audio file with music player display (performer/title)
• sendVideoNote — Send a rounded video message
• sendDocument — Send an arbitrary file as a document
• Voice — The Voice type embedded in Message
• Media upload guide — Upload files using MediaUpload helpers
• Formatting guide — Format captions using GramIO's format tagged template
• sendMessage — Send a plain text message