# Bot API 5.6

#### December 30, 2021

**Bot API 5.6**

- Improved support for [Protected Content](https://telegram.org/blog/protected-content-delete-by-date-and-more#protected-content-in-groups-and-channels).
- Added the parameter *protect_content* to the methods [sendMessage](#sendmessage), [sendPhoto](#sendphoto), [sendVideo](#sendvideo), [sendAnimation](#sendanimation), [sendAudio](#sendaudio), [sendDocument](#senddocument), [sendSticker](#sendsticker), [sendVideoNote](#sendvideonote), [sendVoice](#sendvoice), [sendLocation](#sendlocation), [sendVenue](#sendvenue), [sendContact](#sendcontact), [sendPoll](#sendpoll), [sendDice](#senddice), [sendInvoice](#sendinvoice), [sendGame](#sendgame), [sendMediaGroup](#sendmediagroup), [copyMessage](#copymessage), [forwardMessage](#forwardmessage) to allow sending messages with protected content to any chat.
- Added support for [spoiler entities](https://telegram.org/blog/reactions-spoilers-translations#spoilers), which will work in Telegram versions released after December 30, 2021. Older clients will display *unsupported message*.
- Added new [MessageEntity](#messageentity) type "spoiler".
- Added the ability to specify spoiler entities using [HTML](#html-style) and [MarkdownV2](#markdownv2-style) formatting options.

#### MessageEntity
This object represents one special entity in a text message. For example, hashtags, usernames, URLs, etc.

|Field|Type|Description|
|-----------|
|type|String|Type of the entity. Currently, can be "mention" (`@username`), "hashtag" (`#hashtag`), "cashtag" (`$USD`), "bot_command" (`/start@jobs_bot`), "url" (`https://telegram.org`), "email" (`do-not-reply@telegram.org`), "phone_number" (`+1-212-555-0123`), "bold" (**bold text**), "italic" (*italic text*), "underline" (underlined text), "strikethrough" (strikethrough text), "spoiler" (spoiler message), "code" (monowidth string), "pre" (monowidth block), "text_link" (for clickable text URLs), "text_mention" (for users [without usernames](https://telegram.org/blog/edit#new-mentions))|

#### sendMessage

Use this method to send text messages. On success, the sent [Message](#message) is returned.

|Parameter|Type|Required|Description|
|-----------|
|protect_content|Boolean|Optional|Protects the contents of sent messages from forwarding and saving|

#### Formatting options

The Bot API supports basic formatting for messages. You can use bold, italic, underlined, strikethrough, and spoiler text, as well as inline links and pre-formatted code in your bots' messages. Telegram clients will render them accordingly. You can use either markdown-style or HTML-style formatting.

Message entities can be nested, providing following restrictions are met:
- If two entities have common characters then one of them is fully contained inside another.
- *bold*, *italic*, *underline*, *strikethrough*, and *spoiler* entities can contain and can be part of any other entities, except *pre* and *code*.
- All other entities can't contain each other.

###### MarkdownV2 style

To use this mode, pass *MarkdownV2* in the *parse_mode* field. Use the following syntax in your message:

    *bold \*text*
    _italic \*text_
    __underline__
    ~strikethrough~
    ||spoiler||
    *bold _italic bold ~italic bold strikethrough ||italic bold strikethrough spoiler||~ __underline italic bold___ bold*

###### HTML style

To use this mode, pass *HTML* in the *parse_mode* field. The following tags are currently supported:

    <b>bold</b>, <strong>bold</strong>
    <i>italic</i>, <em>italic</em>
    <u>underline</u>, <ins>underline</ins>
    <s>strikethrough</s>, <strike>strikethrough</strike>, <del>strikethrough</del>
    <span class="tg-spoiler">spoiler</span>
    <b>bold <i>italic bold <s>italic bold strikethrough <span class="tg-spoiler">italic bold strikethrough spoiler</span></s> <u>underline italic bold</u></i> bold</b>

#### forwardMessage

|Parameter|Type|Required|Description|
|-----------|
|protect_content|Boolean|Optional|Protects the contents of the forwarded message from forwarding and saving|

#### copyMessage

|Parameter|Type|Required|Description|
|-----------|
|protect_content|Boolean|Optional|Protects the contents of the sent message from forwarding and saving|

#### sendPhoto

|Parameter|Type|Required|Description|
|-----------|
|protect_content|Boolean|Optional|Protects the contents of the sent message from forwarding and saving|

#### sendAudio

|Parameter|Type|Required|Description|
|-----------|
|protect_content|Boolean|Optional|Protects the contents of the sent message from forwarding and saving|

#### sendDocument

|Parameter|Type|Required|Description|
|-----------|
|protect_content|Boolean|Optional|Protects the contents of the sent message from forwarding and saving|

#### sendVideo

|Parameter|Type|Required|Description|
|-----------|
|protect_content|Boolean|Optional|Protects the contents of the sent message from forwarding and saving|

#### sendAnimation

|Parameter|Type|Required|Description|
|-----------|
|protect_content|Boolean|Optional|Protects the contents of the sent message from forwarding and saving|

#### sendVoice

|Parameter|Type|Required|Description|
|-----------|
|protect_content|Boolean|Optional|Protects the contents of the sent message from forwarding and saving|

#### sendVideoNote

|Parameter|Type|Required|Description|
|-----------|
|protect_content|Boolean|Optional|Protects the contents of the sent message from forwarding and saving|

#### sendMediaGroup

|Parameter|Type|Required|Description|
|-----------|
|protect_content|Boolean|Optional|Protects the contents of the sent messages from forwarding and saving|

#### sendLocation

|Parameter|Type|Required|Description|
|-----------|
|protect_content|Boolean|Optional|Protects the contents of the sent message from forwarding and saving|

#### sendVenue

|Parameter|Type|Required|Description|
|-----------|
|protect_content|Boolean|Optional|Protects the contents of the sent message from forwarding and saving|

#### sendContact

|Parameter|Type|Required|Description|
|-----------|
|protect_content|Boolean|Optional|Protects the contents of the sent message from forwarding and saving|

#### sendPoll

|Parameter|Type|Required|Description|
|-----------|
|protect_content|Boolean|Optional|Protects the contents of the sent message from forwarding and saving|

#### sendDice

|Parameter|Type|Required|Description|
|-----------|
|protect_content|Boolean|Optional|Protects the contents of the sent message from forwarding|

#### sendSticker

|Parameter|Type|Required|Description|
|-----------|
|protect_content|Boolean|Optional|Protects the contents of the sent message from forwarding and saving|

#### sendInvoice

|Parameter|Type|Required|Description|
|-----------|
|protect_content|Boolean|Optional|Protects the contents of the sent message from forwarding and saving|

#### sendGame

|Parameter|Type|Required|Description|
|-----------|
|protect_content|Boolean|Optional|Protects the contents of the sent message from forwarding and saving|