# Telegram Scraper - Channels, Messages, Media & Search (`scrapesage/telegram-scraper`) Actor Scrape public Telegram channels: full message history, media, reactions, polls, forwards, replies, link previews, channel stats, and in-channel keyword search. HTTP-only, no login or phone number required. - **URL**: https://apify.com/scrapesage/telegram-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [Scrape Sage](https://apify.com/scrapesage) (community) - **Categories:** Social media, News, Lead generation - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $2.00 / 1,000 message scrapeds This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours, and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store. In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server. Actors are written with capital "A". ## How to integrate an Actor? If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects. You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## Telegram Scraper - Channels, Messages, Media & Search Extract data from **public Telegram channels** at scale — full **message history**, **media**, **reactions**, **polls**, **forwards**, **replies**, **link previews**, **channel stats**, and **in-channel keyword search**. **No login, no phone number, no API keys.** No login / no cookies — HTTP-only (no headless browser) for fast, low-cost, reliable runs. ### Why this Telegram scraper? | Typical scrapers | This actor | |---|---| | Require a phone number, login, or API credentials | No login, no phone number, no API keys — reads the public web preview | | Return plain message text only | Returns text **plus** views, author, forwards, replies, hashtags, mentions, links, media, polls and link previews | | Headless browser, slow and expensive | HTTP-only (Cheerio) — fast, low-cost, reliable | | No way to filter inside a channel | Native **in-channel keyword search** returns only matching messages | | Whole-timeline only | Filter by date range (newer than / older than, ISO or relative like `7 days`) | | Channel metadata is an afterthought | Dedicated `channelInfo` mode for title, description, subscriber and content counts | ### Use cases - **Crypto / web3 monitoring** — track trading-signal channels and community sentiment across many channels at once. - **OSINT & threat intelligence** — collect message history, forwards, and link previews from public channels for analysis. - **News & topic aggregation** — pull fresh posts from news and announcement channels and filter to a recent date window. - **Brand & competitor tracking** — search channels by keyword to surface only mentions you care about. - **LLM / RAG dataset building** — export clean, structured message records for fine-tuning, retrieval, and sentiment pipelines. ### How to use 1. [Sign up for Apify](https://console.apify.com/sign-up) — the free plan is enough to try this actor. 2. Open the **Telegram Scraper**, fill in the inputs you need, and click **Start**. 3. Watch results stream into the dataset table as each record is parsed. 4. **Export** as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, or RSS — or pull results programmatically via the [Apify API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2). ### Input ```json { "channels": ["@durov", "https://t.me/telegram"], "resultsType": "messages", "maxMessages": 200, "searchQuery": "", "oldestMessageDate": "30 days", "downloadMedia": false, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true } } ```` - **`channels`** *(required, array)* — public channels to scrape. Accepts `@username`, plain `username`, or a `t.me/username` URL (also `t.me/s/username`). Private/invite-only channels are not supported. - **`resultsType`** *(string, default `messages`)* — `messages` to scrape each channel's messages, or `channelInfo` for channel metadata/stats only. - **`maxMessages`** *(integer, default `100`)* — max messages per channel. Ignored when `resultsType` is `channelInfo`. - **`searchQuery`** *(string, optional)* — when set, returns only messages matching this keyword in each channel, using Telegram's native in-channel search. Leave empty to scrape the full timeline. - **`oldestMessageDate`** *(string, optional)* — stop once messages older than this date are reached. Accepts ISO dates (e.g. `2026-01-01`) or relative values like `7 days`, `3 months`. - **`newestMessageDate`** *(string, optional)* — skip messages newer than this date. Accepts ISO or relative values like `1 day`. - **`downloadMedia`** *(boolean, default `false`)* — download photos/videos/documents into the run's key-value store and add a reference to each record. Media URLs are always included regardless of this setting. - **`proxyConfiguration`** *(object)* — proxy settings; Apify Proxy (datacenter) recommended for reliability at scale. ### Output In `messages` mode, each message is one dataset record: ```json { "channel": "durov", "messageId": 372, "url": "https://t.me/durov/372", "date": "2026-05-21T14:02:11+00:00", "text": "Example post text...", "views": 1200000, "author": "Pavel Durov", "forwardedFrom": null, "forwardedFromUrl": null, "replyToUrl": null, "isPinned": false, "hashtags": ["#telegram"], "mentions": ["@telegram"], "links": ["https://example.com"], "media": [{ "type": "photo", "url": "https://cdn5.telesco.pe/file/..." }], "poll": null, "linkPreview": null } ``` In `channelInfo` mode, each record contains `channel`, `url`, `title`, `username`, `description`, `avatarUrl`, `subscribers`, and content counts (`photosCount`, `videosCount`, `filesCount`, `linksCount`). Notes: - Optional fields are returned as `null` when Telegram doesn't expose them on the public preview (e.g. `author`, `views`, `forwardedFrom`, `poll`, `linkPreview`). - When `downloadMedia` is enabled and a file is stored, each `media` item gains a `storeKey` pointing to the run's key-value store; media URLs are always present either way. - Private/invite-only channels are skipped with a clear log message; the run still completes as a success. ### Automate & schedule Run this actor on autopilot and pull results into your own stack: - **[Apify API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2)** — start runs, fetch datasets, and manage schedules over REST. - **[apify-client for JavaScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/)** and **[apify-client for Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/)** — official SDKs. - **[Schedules](https://docs.apify.com/platform/schedules)** — run it on a cron to keep your data fresh. - **[Webhooks](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/webhooks)** — trigger downstream actions the moment a run finishes. ```js import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; const client = new ApifyClient({ token: 'MY_APIFY_TOKEN' }); const run = await client.actor('scrapesage/telegram-scraper').call({ channels: ['@durov', 'https://t.me/telegram'], resultsType: 'messages', maxMessages: 200, oldestMessageDate: '30 days', downloadMedia: false, }); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); console.log(`Got ${items.length} records`); ``` ### Integrate with any app Connect the dataset to 5,000+ apps — no code required: - **[Make](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/make)** — multi-step automation scenarios. - **[Zapier](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/zapier)** — push new records straight into your CRM or sheet. - **[Slack](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/slack)** — get notified when a run finds something new. - **[Google Drive / Sheets](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/drive)** — auto-export every run to a spreadsheet. - **[Airbyte](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/airbyte)** — pipe results into your data warehouse. - **[GitHub](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/github)** — trigger runs from commits or releases. ### Use with AI assistants (MCP) The output is clean, LLM-ready JSON. Call this actor from Claude, ChatGPT, or any agent framework through the **[Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp)** — ask your assistant to "pull the last 200 messages from @durov and summarize what changed this week" and let it run this scraper for you. ### More scrapers from scrapesage Need data from other sources? Try these scrapesage actors: - [facebook-ad-library-scraper](https://apify.com/scrapesage/facebook-ad-library-scraper) — Meta/Instagram competitor ad intelligence. - [google-ads-transparency-scraper](https://apify.com/scrapesage/google-ads-transparency-scraper) — see who's advertising what on Google. - [bark-scraper](https://apify.com/scrapesage/bark-scraper) — Bark.com provider profiles & leads. - [sam-gov-scraper](https://apify.com/scrapesage/sam-gov-scraper) — US federal contract opportunities & contacts. - [eventbrite-scraper](https://apify.com/scrapesage/eventbrite-scraper) — events plus organizer leads with contacts. - [airbnb-scraper](https://apify.com/scrapesage/airbnb-scraper) — short-stay listings, prices, availability & market monitor. - [linkedin-jobs-scraper](https://apify.com/scrapesage/linkedin-jobs-scraper) — filter-based LinkedIn job postings, no login. ### Tips - Pass channels as `@username`, plain `username`, or full `t.me/...` links — the actor normalizes all three. - Combine `searchQuery` with your channel list to pull only on-topic messages instead of the whole timeline (note: it searches within the channels you provide, not all of Telegram). - Use `oldestMessageDate` / `newestMessageDate` with relative values like `7 days` to keep recurring runs lightweight. - Only enable `downloadMedia` when you need the actual files — URLs are always included, and skipping the download keeps runs faster and cheaper. - Keep `proxyConfiguration` on Apify Proxy (datacenter) for reliable runs at scale. ### FAQ **Do I need a Telegram account, phone number, or API key?** No. The actor reads Telegram's public web preview over HTTP — no login, no phone number, no credentials. **Can it scrape private or invite-only channels?** No. Only public channels are accessible via the public web preview. Private/invite-only channels (and standard user-account messages) are skipped with a clear log message. **Is this legal?** The actor only collects publicly visible data from public channels. You are responsible for using the data in line with Telegram's terms and applicable laws. **What if a channel has no matching messages?** Empty results are reported as a successful run. Date filters and `searchQuery` may legitimately return zero records for a given channel. **In what formats can I export the data?** JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, or RSS via the Apify console, or programmatically through the [Apify API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2). **Where do downloaded media files go?** Into the run's default key-value store (when `downloadMedia` is enabled), with a `storeKey` reference added to each media item in the dataset. ### Need help? Open an issue on the actor's **Issues** tab, or visit the [Apify help center](https://help.apify.com/). Feature requests are welcome — this actor is actively maintained. # Actor input Schema ## `channels` (type: `array`): Public Telegram channels to scrape. Accepts @username, plain username, or t.me/username URL (also t.me/s/username). Private/invite-only channels are not supported. ## `resultsType` (type: `string`): Scrape messages from each channel, or only the channel's metadata/stats. ## `maxMessages` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of messages to scrape from each channel. Ignored when 'What to scrape' is 'Channel info only'. ## `searchQuery` (type: `string`): Optional. When set, only messages matching this keyword are returned for each channel (uses Telegram's native in-channel search). Leave empty to scrape the full timeline. ## `oldestMessageDate` (type: `string`): Optional. Stop scraping a channel once messages older than this date are reached. Accepts ISO date (e.g. 2026-01-01) or relative values like '7 days', '3 months'. ## `newestMessageDate` (type: `string`): Optional. Skip messages newer than this date. Accepts ISO date or relative values like '1 day'. ## `downloadMedia` (type: `boolean`): Download photos/videos/documents attached to messages into the run's key-value store and add a reference to each record. Media URLs are always included regardless of this setting. ## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`): Proxy settings. Telegram's public web preview is lenient, but a proxy improves reliability at scale. Apify Proxy (datacenter) recommended. ## Actor input object example ```json { "channels": [ "@telegram", "https://t.me/durov" ], "resultsType": "messages", "maxMessages": 100, "downloadMedia": false, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true } } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `messages` (type: `string`): One record per Telegram message (in 'messages' mode) or per channel (in 'channelInfo' mode), stored in the default dataset. ## `media` (type: `string`): Photos, videos, voice notes, and documents downloaded into the default key-value store when 'Download media files' is enabled. # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "channels": [ "telegram", "durov" ] }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("scrapesage/telegram-scraper").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); items.forEach((item) => { console.dir(item); }); // 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs ``` ## Python example ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient # Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token # Replace '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "channels": [ "telegram", "durov", ] } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("scrapesage/telegram-scraper").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "channels": [ "telegram", "durov" ] }' | apify call scrapesage/telegram-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=scrapesage/telegram-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Telegram Scraper - Channels, Messages, Media & Search", "description": "Scrape public Telegram channels: full message history, media, reactions, polls, forwards, replies, link previews, channel stats, and in-channel keyword search. HTTP-only, no login or phone number required.", "version": "1.0", "x-build-id": "hpNZe6z2f9XPJ3orU" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/scrapesage~telegram-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-scrapesage-telegram-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/scrapesage~telegram-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-scrapesage-telegram-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/scrapesage~telegram-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-scrapesage-telegram-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "required": [ "channels" ], "properties": { "channels": { "title": "Channels / usernames", "type": "array", "description": "Public Telegram channels to scrape. Accepts @username, plain username, or t.me/username URL (also t.me/s/username). Private/invite-only channels are not supported.", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "resultsType": { "title": "What to scrape", "enum": [ "messages", "channelInfo" ], "type": "string", "description": "Scrape messages from each channel, or only the channel's metadata/stats.", "default": "messages" }, "maxMessages": { "title": "Max messages per channel", "minimum": 1, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of messages to scrape from each channel. Ignored when 'What to scrape' is 'Channel info only'.", "default": 100 }, "searchQuery": { "title": "Keyword search (within channel)", "type": "string", "description": "Optional. When set, only messages matching this keyword are returned for each channel (uses Telegram's native in-channel search). Leave empty to scrape the full timeline." }, "oldestMessageDate": { "title": "Only messages newer than", "type": "string", "description": "Optional. Stop scraping a channel once messages older than this date are reached. Accepts ISO date (e.g. 2026-01-01) or relative values like '7 days', '3 months'." }, "newestMessageDate": { "title": "Only messages older than", "type": "string", "description": "Optional. Skip messages newer than this date. Accepts ISO date or relative values like '1 day'." }, "downloadMedia": { "title": "Download media files", "type": "boolean", "description": "Download photos/videos/documents attached to messages into the run's key-value store and add a reference to each record. Media URLs are always included regardless of this setting.", "default": false }, "proxyConfiguration": { "title": "Proxy configuration", "type": "object", "description": "Proxy settings. Telegram's public web preview is lenient, but a proxy improves reliability at scale. Apify Proxy (datacenter) recommended.", "default": { "useApifyProxy": true } } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```