Telegram bot polling function - bots

Question

This is my first time trying to make a telegram bot.
Code:
import os
import telebot
API_TOKEN = os.getenv('API_KEY')
bot = telebot.TeleBot(API_TOKEN)
#bot.message_handler(commands=['hello'])
def send_welcome(message):
bot.reply_to(message, "HI!")
bot.polling()
Error:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/Users/anshtyagi/Documents/telegram bot/main.py", line 23, in <module>
bot.polling()
File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.10/lib/python3.10/site-packages/telebot/__init__.py", line 621, in polling
self.__threaded_polling(non_stop=non_stop, interval=interval, timeout=timeout, long_polling_timeout=long_polling_timeout,
File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.10/lib/python3.10/site-packages/telebot/__init__.py", line 695, in __threaded_polling
raise e
File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.10/lib/python3.10/site-packages/telebot/__init__.py", line 650, in __threaded_polling
polling_thread.raise_exceptions()
File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.10/lib/python3.10/site-packages/telebot/util.py", line 111, in raise_exceptions
raise self.exception_info
File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.10/lib/python3.10/site-packages/telebot/util.py", line 93, in run
task(*args, **kwargs)
File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.10/lib/python3.10/site-packages/telebot/__init__.py", line 360, in __retrieve_updates
updates = self.get_updates(offset=(self.last_update_id + 1),
File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.10/lib/python3.10/site-packages/telebot/__init__.py", line 338, in get_updates
json_updates = apihelper.get_updates(self.token, offset, limit, timeout, allowed_updates, long_polling_timeout)
File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.10/lib/python3.10/site-packages/telebot/apihelper.py", line 324, in get_updates
return _make_request(token, method_url, params=payload)
File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.10/lib/python3.10/site-packages/telebot/apihelper.py", line 80, in _make_request
raise Exception('Bot token is not defined')
Exception: Bot token is not defined
I am getting this error while running my telegram bot this is my first time. I have seen some tutorials how to make a bot but mine is not working. I have posted my token in .env file and imported it using os.getenv. I am just simply trying to make a simple bot just for my knowledge as I have tried making discord bots and it was great experience and I learned many new languages so I thought why not try this also.

Answer 1

I'm also new to python and telegram bots, but my first bot is running ok and I see the problem in your code. Your exception tells us Exception: Bot token is not defined. So your script doesn't get a token from the system var.
You say that you have your token in .env file. To get os variable from that file first of all we must import a module: from dotenv import load_dotenv.
Next we must import variables from that file using the function load_dotenv().
After that we can read our variables with os.getenv. So that line of your code seems to be correct. If there is no variable in the file os.getenv should get it from the os.
So your code may look like:
import os
import telebot
from dotenv import load_dotenv
load_dotenv()
API_TOKEN = os.getenv('API_KEY')
bot = telebot.TeleBot(API_TOKEN)
#bot.message_handler(commands=['hello'])
def send_welcome(message):
bot.reply_to(message, "HI!")
bot.polling()

Answer 2

try this:
import telebot
bot = telebot.TeleBot("API_KEY")
instead of:
import os
import telebot
API_TOKEN = os.getenv('API_KEY')
bot = telebot.TeleBot(API_TOKEN)