Build a Telegram Q&A Bot with Linkup Web Search, GPT-4.1 & Mistral Voice

Create a Telegram bot that answers questions using AI-powered web search from Linkup and an LLM agent (GPT-4.1).

This template handles both text and voice messages (voice transcribed via a Mistral model by default), routes queries through an agent that can call a Linkup tool to fetch up-to-date information from the web, and returns concise, Telegram-friendly replies. A security switch lets you restrict use to a single Telegram username for private testing, or remove the filter to make the bot public.

Who is this for?

Anyone needing quick answers:** Build a personal assistant that can look up current events, facts, and general knowledge on the web. Support & ops teams:** Provide quick, web-sourced answers to user questions without leaving Telegram. Developers & automation engineers:** Use this as a reference for integrating agents, transcription, and web search tools inside n8n. No-code builders:** Quickly deploy a chat interface that uses Linkup for accurate, source-backed answers from the web.

What it does / What problem does this solve?

Provides accurate, source-backed answers:* Routes queries to Linkup* so replies are grounded in up-to-date web search results instead of the LLM's static knowledge. Handles voice & text transparently:* Accepts Telegram voice messages, transcribes them (via the Mistral* API node by default), and treats transcripts the same as typed text. Simple agent + tool architecture:* Uses a LangChain AI Agent with a Web search* tool to separate reasoning from information retrieval. Privacy control:* Includes a Myself?* filter to restrict access to a specific Telegram username for safe testing.

How it works

Trigger: Telegram Trigger receives incoming messages (text or voice). Route: Message Router detects voice vs text. Voice files are fetched with Get Audio File. Transcribe: Mistral transcribe receives the audio file and returns a transcript; the transcript or text is normalized into preset_user_message and consolidated in Consolidate user message. Agent: AI Agent (GPT-4.1-mini configured) runs with a system prompt that instructs it to call the Web search tool when up-to-date knowledge is required. Respond: The agent output is sent back to the user via Telegram answer.

How to set up

Create a Linkup account: Sign up at https://linkup.so to get your API key. They offer a free tier with monthly credits. Add credentials in n8n: Configure Telegram API, OpenAI (or your LLM provider), and Mistral Cloud credentials in n8n. Configure Linkup tool: In the Web search node, find the "Headers" section. In the Authorization header, replace Bearer <your-linkup-api-key> with your actual Linkup API Key. Set Telegram privacy (optional): Edit the Myself? If node and replace <Replace with your Telegram username> with your username to restrict access. Remove the node to allow public use. Adjust transcription (optional): Swap the Mistral transcribe HTTP node for another provider (OpenAI, Whisper, etc.). Connect LLM: In OpenAI Chat Model node, add your OpenAI API key (or configure another LLM node) and ensure the AI Agent node references this model. Activate workflow: Activate the workflow and test by messaging your bot in Telegram.

Requirements

An n8n instance (cloud or self-hosted) A Telegram Bot token added in n8n credentials A Linkup account and API Key An LLM provider account (OpenAI or equivalent) for the OpenAI Chat Model node A Mistral API key (or other transcription provider) for voice transcription

How to take it further

Add provenance & sources:** Parse Linkup responses and include short citations or source links in the agent replies. Rich replies:** Use Telegram media (images, files) or inline keyboards to create follow-up actions (open web pages, request feedback, escalate to humans). Multi-user access control:** Replace the single-username filter with a list or role-based access system (Airtable or Google Sheets lookup) to allow multiple trusted users. Logging & analytics:* Save queries and agent responses to Airtable or Google Sheets* for monitoring, quality checks, and prompt improvement.