The link goes into an app, not a browser
How to use a VLESS link comes down to one sequence. Copy the link, open an app that reads VLESS links, choose its add-from-clipboard option or scan the QR code from the bot, then pick a city and connect. Whether you received a single line that starts with vless:// or an address that leads to a list of such lines, the destination is the same: a client app. Some guides call the thing a VLESS key; here it is simply the link the bot sends.
Typing it into a browser's address bar gets you nothing useful, because the link is an instruction for an app and not a page to read.
Import, in the order that avoids most mistakes
Ask the bot for the link and wait for the reply, which takes about a minute.
Copy the whole message. On a phone, press and hold it in the chat; on a computer, select it. Check that the last characters survived the copy.
Open the app and look for an add or import option. The wording differs between apps and versions, and it is usually something close to add from clipboard or scan a QR code.
Confirm that an entry, or a list of cities, has appeared. Choose a city and press connect.
Accept the VPN permission if you are on a phone, then open an ordinary page to see that it loads.
What sits inside a vless:// line
A single VLESS line has a fixed shape. The word vless comes first, then a user ID, an at sign, an address and a port. A question mark opens a run of settings, such as the transport type and the security mode, and after a hash sign comes a name that the app shows in its list. The shape is set out in a proposal in the Xray project, which calls itself a proposal that may still change, so apps follow it closely but not always identically.
Leave the parts alone. The ID is what the server uses to recognise the link, the address and port say where the server is, and the settings must match what that server expects. Change one character and the connection fails without telling you why. A subscription link is one step up: rather than one line it is an address from which the app fetches a list of lines, which is how a single link can show several cities.
When the import fails: what to look at first
- Only part of the link was copied, because the message wrapped or a character was cut off. Copy it again from the chat in full.
- The link was opened in a browser or another messenger instead of being pasted into the VPN app.
- The app is an old version. Update it from the store and try again.
- The device had no working connection while the app tried to fetch the list. On hotel or hostel Wi-Fi that wants a web login first, finish the login and retry; on mobile data, check that your allowance has not run out.
- The term has ended. A term stops connecting after its last day, and a new one is paid for in the bot.
Moving the link between your own devices
The link has no device limit, so a laptop can use the same one as your phone. Open Telegram on the laptop and copy the message from the same chat, or send the link to yourself in Saved Messages. Group chats, shared documents and screenshots posted anywhere are the wrong places, because whoever holds the link can use it.
A fair warning before the rule: this page comes from the seller of the link, so weigh the advice accordingly. The rule has a reason that holds without that, though. A link passed around is a term you paid for, used up by people you do not know. Handing it to strangers also runs against the service's own terms, which make each link personal, and a workplace or hostel network may add conditions of its own; those, and the law where you are, are yours to check.
Before you ask for help in the bot
- Date and time are set to automatic, since secure connections depend on a correct clock.
- No other VPN or proxy app is switched on, because a phone runs only one at a time.
- You have tried both mobile data and Wi-Fi, in case the trouble belongs to one network.
- You have tried a second city from the list.
- You have tried a second app with the same link.
- When you do write to the bot, say which app, which network and what the app displayed.
Questions
Do I pick the city inside the app or in the link?
Inside the app. After the import it shows a list of cities, and you choose one there before pressing connect. If you want a different city later, switch within the app. The link itself stays as it is and never needs editing.
The app rejects the link. Should I edit it?
No. Copy it again from the chat in full first. If the app still refuses it, put the same link into another client from the list instead of changing characters. A hand-edited link tends to fail in ways that tell you nothing about the cause.
Do I need to keep Telegram open once the link is in the app?
No. Telegram is only where the link is issued. Once the app holds the link, the connection runs without the chat, and only paying for a new term, when you want one, takes you back to the bot.
Is the QR code the same thing as the link?
It plays the same role. A QR code writes a short piece of text as a picture so a camera can read it. The app turns what it scans into an entry just as it does with a pasted link, so use whichever is easier: scan when the link is on another screen, paste when it is on this one.
Does an iPhone need a different link from an Android phone?
No. The link has no device limit and nothing in the way you obtain it depends on the platform. What changes is the app you put it into, so an iPhone and an Android phone can sit on one link each with their own client.
Can I open the link on my phone by tapping it in the chat?
Sometimes. Some clients register themselves to open such links and some do not, and a tap that opens nothing is not a fault in the link. Copying the message and importing from the clipboard is the route to try first.
Ask the bot, paste the link, connect. Paying comes only after the free days.
Ask the Iskele bot for a link