Thanks for opening this. I noticed the overlap after opening #5275 for the same Bot API 10.1 Rich Messages send-side surface.

I’m happy to defer to maintainer preference on merge order, but for coordination: #5275 covers a few pieces that may be useful to fold into whichever PR maintainers prefer as the base:

• InputRichMessageContent export/docs integration for inline content usage
• Chat.send_rich_message / Chat.send_rich_message_draft
• User.send_rich_message / User.send_rich_message_draft
• Message.reply_rich_message
• docs tree entries for both new input classes
• a Chango fragment tied to the PR
• focused tests for the shortcuts and input content class

If maintainers prefer this PR as the base, I can help port the missing pieces here rather than keeping two competing PRs open. If #5275 is easier to review because it already includes the shortcut/docs surface, I’m also happy to continue there and adjust scope as requested.

Either way, I’d like to avoid duplicating effort and get the initial send-side slice landed cleanly before tackling the full RichText* / RichBlock* hierarchy.

I opened a small PR against this branch with the pieces from #5275 that don't overlap with your existing implementation: Phil9l#1

It keeps your InputRichMessage, Bot.send_rich_message, Bot.send_rich_message_draft, ExtBot, changelog, and existing tests intact, and adds only:

• InputRichMessageContent
• docs tree entries / inline content docs mention
• Chat / User rich-message shortcuts
• Message.reply_rich_message
• focused shortcut + content tests

Focused checks passed locally:

python -m pytest -o 'addopts=' tests/test_inputrichmessage.py tests/test_bot.py tests/test_chat.py tests/test_user.py tests/test_message.py -k 'rich_message or inputrichmessage' -q
# 34 passed, 2814 deselected

python -m ruff check src/telegram/_inputrichmessage.py src/telegram/_chat.py src/telegram/_inline/inputmessagecontent.py src/telegram/_message.py src/telegram/_user.py tests/test_inputrichmessage.py tests/test_chat.py tests/test_message.py tests/test_user.py
# All checks passed

python -m ruff format --check src/telegram/_inputrichmessage.py src/telegram/_chat.py src/telegram/_inline/inputmessagecontent.py src/telegram/_message.py src/telegram/_user.py tests/test_inputrichmessage.py tests/test_chat.py tests/test_message.py tests/test_user.py
# 9 files already formatted

If you'd rather not take a PR into your fork, I can also squash/format it as a plain patch here.

Thanks @tymrtn — really appreciate you coordinating here rather than letting two PRs race on this.

I've merged your fork PR into this branch (rebased, so your commit keeps your authorship), and #5263 now covers the full send-side surface:

• InputRichMessage + Bot.send_rich_message / send_rich_message_draft + ExtBot (already here)
• InputRichMessageContent
• Chat.send_rich_message / Chat.send_rich_message_draft
• User.send_rich_message / User.send_rich_message_draft
• Message.reply_rich_message
• docs tree entries for both input classes + inline content mention
• focused tests for the shortcuts and the content class

This stays scoped to the send path — no RichText* / RichBlock* receiving hierarchy and no BOT_API_VERSION bump yet — so test_official is expected to stay red until the full 10.1 lands.

Maintainers — if you're happy to use this as the single base for the 10.1 send-side slice, I'd suggest consolidating here and closing #5275 to avoid the duplicate. Happy to adjust scope either way.

Follow-up helper PR for CI scope: Phil9l#2

It keeps this PR as the send-side slice and makes test_official explicit about what remains out of scope for Bot API 10.1:

• full receive-side RichText* / RichBlock* hierarchy
• RichMessage
• Link / InputMediaLink
• join request query methods/fields
• editMessageText rich-message editing changes
• other newly scraped 10.1 fields not implemented here

It also applies the Chango filename/content that CI requested, avoiding the failed bot push into the fork.

Local checks on top of current #5263 head:

TEST_OFFICIAL=true PYTHONPATH=src python -m pytest -o 'addopts=' tests/test_official/test_official.py -q
# 481 passed

python -m pytest -o 'addopts=' tests/test_inputrichmessage.py tests/test_bot.py tests/test_chat.py tests/test_user.py tests/test_message.py -k 'rich_message or inputrichmessage' -q
# 34 passed, 2814 deselected

python -m ruff check tests/test_official/exceptions.py tests/test_official/scraper.py
# All checks passed

python -m ruff format --check tests/test_official/exceptions.py tests/test_official/scraper.py
# 2 files already formatted

git diff --check
# clean

This should make the CI signal match the stated scope rather than pressuring this PR to become the whole 10.1 implementation.

Closing b/c after the refactor most of this would have to be redone. See #5261 (comment)