Telegram Mini App Starter Kit: Working Web App, Python Bot Backend and Stars Payments

Build a Telegram Mini App, a web app that runs inside Telegram, with a working front end, a dependency-free Python bot backend, real payment paths, and the deployment checklist that gets you from zero to live. Most tutorials skip the security step; this kit is built around it.

What's inside (ZIP download):

- Mini App front end (HTML, CSS, JavaScript): loads Telegram's WebApp API, adapts to the user's light or dark theme automatically, and demonstrates the MainButton, haptics, expansion and back-button patterns, and sending data back to the bot. Includes a small demo store flow.

- Bot backend (Python, zero dependencies): a bot plus webhook server in one file. Verifies initData signatures server-side with the HMAC check Telegram documents, serves the web app, handles /start, receives web-app data, and handles Telegram Stars payments.

- Monetization guide: how money actually moves. Telegram Stars for digital goods, TON and crypto for external payments, and the pricing patterns that convert inside Telegram.

- Deployment checklist: BotFather setup, HTTPS hosting options compared, the going-live checklist, and the common rejection and pitfall list.

- Launch notes: distribution inside Telegram. Channels, group seeding, the Bots directory, and Telegram Ads basics.

Quickstart: create a bot with @BotFather, put the three web app files on any HTTPS host, set two environment variables on the bot, and open it in Telegram. About 15 minutes to something running on your phone.

Who it's for: developers who want to ship inside Telegram, where the user is already logged in and there is no app store review, and who want the payment and signature-verification parts done correctly from the first commit.

Requires: Python 3 for the bot, any HTTPS static host for the front end, and a Telegram account for BotFather. Licensed for commercial projects, client work included. Not licensed for resale of the kit itself as a template product.