Feature Request

What is this?

Telegram Bot API 9.4 (released February 9, 2026) added Private Chat Topics — bots can now create topics directly in 1-on-1 DM chats, no supergroup needed.

API changelog: https://core.telegram.org/bots/api-changelog#february-9-2026
API reference: https://core.telegram.org/bots/api#forum-topics

Use case

Currently Hermes uses a single DM conversation for all projects and tasks. For users working on multiple long-running projects, context gets mixed together.

With Private Chat Topics support, a user could:

1. Ask Hermes to create a topic per project directly in the existing DM chat
2. Each topic would have its own conversation session and context
3. No need to create groups, add bots as admins, or change any settings

Example:

• Topic "Accessibility Auditor skill" — work on the Hermes skill
• Topic "Website & bot" — work on the production web service
• Topic "General" — new directions and misc tasks

How it would work

• User asks: "Create a topic for my accessibility project"
• Hermes calls createForumTopic in the private chat
• All subsequent messages in that topic are scoped to that session
• message_thread_id is used in all sendMessage calls to reply in the correct topic
• Each topic maps to an isolated Hermes session / conversation context

Bot API methods involved

• createForumTopic — create a named topic in the DM chat
• editForumTopic — rename a topic
• deleteForumTopic — remove a topic
• closeForumTopic / reopenForumTopic — archive/restore
• message_thread_id on sendMessage — send into specific topic

Benefit

Clean project separation without any extra setup — right inside the existing DM with the bot. Each topic becomes an isolated workspace with its own conversation history.

Note: this was previously filed with incorrect information stating topics only work in supergroups. Bot API 9.4 added Private Chat Topics in February 2026, making this fully feasible in 1-on-1 chats.

Requested by a blind developer using Hermes for accessibility tooling projects.