# witcheer's Wingtips #1: running a hermes agent in a telegram group and it just sits there silent?

Written by [witcheer](https://x.com/witcheer) at Nous Research. Republished with credit.

Canonical: https://hermeswatcher.com/wingtips/1  
Published: 2026-06-18  
[Original](https://notwitcheer.github.io/hermes-recipes/wingtips/01-running-a-hermes-agent-in-a-telegram-gro/) · [On X](https://x.com/witcheer/status/2067717599090143569) · [Full collection](https://notwitcheer.github.io/hermes-recipes/) · [Official docs](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/messaging/telegram)

[Source Markdown](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/notwitcheer/hermes-recipes/8653fb699a137a32e81936fa33cabacd3f4f2095/docs/wingtips/01-running-a-hermes-agent-in-a-telegram-gro.md): use this file as the base for relative links in the verbatim text below.

Sources: [Hermes docs: Telegram](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/messaging/telegram)


Hermes Wingtips #1

running a hermes agent in a telegram group and it just sits there silent? 
the usual cause is BotFather's group privacy mode: it's on by default, so the bot only sees messages that mention it or start with /. 

plain group messages never reach it.

easy fix: message BotFather, /setprivacy, pick the bot, Disable.

it doesn't apply to groups the bot is already in. remove it from the group and re-add it for the change to take.