> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.botmux.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Protocol Bridges

> Bridge external messaging protocols to Telegram bots

BotMux bridges external messaging protocols (Slack, webhooks) to Telegram bots. External messages are translated into Telegram Update format and injected into the bot's processing pipeline.

## How It Works

```
External Protocol              BotMux                         Telegram
    │                              │                               │
    │  incoming message            │                               │
    ├─────────────────────────────►│  translate to Telegram Update  │
    │                              │  inject into processUpdate()   │
    │                              ├──────────────────────────────►│
    │                              │                               │  bot processes
    │                              │◄──────────────────────────────┤  bot replies
    │  outgoing message            │                               │
    │◄─────────────────────────────┤  send via protocol API        │
```

## Key Features

* All existing features work automatically: routing rules, LLM routing, Source-NAT, message tracking
* **Bidirectional** — outgoing bot messages are sent back to the source protocol
* Chat and message mappings maintained for threading and reply context
* Synthetic chat/user IDs avoid collision with real Telegram IDs

## Supported Protocols

| Protocol                    | Type    | Description                                   |
| --------------------------- | ------- | --------------------------------------------- |
| [Slack](/bridges/slack)     | Native  | Full Slack Events API and Web API integration |
| [Webhook](/bridges/webhook) | Generic | HTTP webhook for any protocol                 |

## Management

Bridges are managed per-bot from the web UI (admin only).