Better Tg Cli (Telegram) README

Install · Reference · Security · Issues · Русский

An unofficial, agent-friendly command-line client for Telegram that runs on your own account (MTProto via teleproto, TL layer 229). The command is telegram: about 60 commands for reading, searching, writing, bots, groups and exports, built so that AI agents (Claude Code, Codex, …) can drive it cheaply and safely.

$ telegram inbox -n 3
48 unread in 7 chats (showing 3)
1234567890 user unread=2 Alice @alice | see you at 7?
-1001234567 supergroup muted unread=41 Rust Seattle @rust_sea | anyone tried 1.90?
-1009876543 channel unread=5 Changelog | v2.4 is out
$ telegram read @alice -n 1 --json
{"chatTitle":"Alice","messages":[{"id":812,"date":"2026-09-27T10:02:11.000Z","sender":"Alice","senderId":"1234567890","text":"see you at 7?"}]}

[!WARNING] Your account, your risk. This is an unofficial client that logs in as you. Telegram may limit or freeze accounts that behave like bots. The risk is highest for new accounts, bulk messaging, mass joins or invites, and anything that looks like spam. Use it the way you would use Telegram yourself, keep writes off unless you need them, and read SECURITY.md before letting an agent write. The authors are not responsible for restricted accounts.

Contents: Why this fork · Install · Log in · Usage · MCP server · FAQ · Development · Privacy · License

Why this fork

A fork of skillhq/telegram, reworked for agents:

• Current Telegram layer. Bot replies with rich (layer 228+) content show real text instead of (no text). You can press bot buttons (click) and walk bot menus.
• Token-efficient output. Off a TTY you get one compact line per item with the ID first, and JSON on one line with empty fields dropped. --max-text trims long posts. telegram help-all -g <word> prints every flag, generated from the code.
• Exact reads. Real pagination for --since/--until, --unread, threads and channel comments, forum topics, get by ID, search filters by type, sender or date, and me / Избранное for Saved Messages.
• Safe by default. The account is read-only until a human runs write-access on [--for 1h] and confirms it in a terminal prompt or a macOS dialog, so an agent cannot switch it on itself. Every write is logged to ~/.config/tg/audit.jsonl. Secrets live in the macOS Keychain, the Linux Secret Service or 1Password.
• Small and self-contained. The npm package is one 0.3 MB file with zero runtime dependencies. Homebrew installs a standalone binary with no Node.

Install

brew install thevilfer/tap/better-tg-cli   # standalone binary, macOS and Linux
npm install -g better-tg-cli               # Node >= 20

telegram update upgrades an existing install, whichever of these you used. On a terminal the CLI checks for new versions once a day. Agents and pipes never see that notice, and TG_NO_UPDATE_CHECK=1 turns it off.

Downloading a binary from Releases by hand on macOS? It is not notarized, so remove the quarantine flag once: xattr -d com.apple.quarantine ./telegram. Homebrew handles this for you.

Do not install @skillhq/telegram. It is the old upstream build on GramJS (layer 198).

Every channel ships the same version from one release:

Claude Code plugin

The skill and the MCP server together, in one install:

/plugin marketplace add TheVilfer/better-tg-cli
/plugin install better-tg-cli@better-tg-cli

It runs the MCP server through npx, so Node 20+ is enough. Log in once with telegram auth --qr (or npx better-tg-cli auth --qr) in a terminal.

Grok Build plugin

Grok Build installs the same plugin, skill and MCP server together:

grok plugin install TheVilfer/better-tg-cli --trust
# or add the marketplace first, then install from the /plugins menu:
grok plugin marketplace add TheVilfer/better-tg-cli && grok plugin install better-tg-cli --trust

As an agent skill

The skill (skills/better-tg-cli) teaches any agent with a shell (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, OpenCode and others) to use the CLI safely. It checks the setup, never logs in on its own, keeps writes behind your approval, and avoids ban-prone patterns. The CLI carries the skill and installs it itself, so it always matches your version:

telegram skill install                  # every supported agent found on this machine
telegram skill install -a claude-code codex
telegram skill status                   # installed, outdated, linked or missing, per agent

It knows Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot, Grok Build, OpenCode, Goose, Droid, Windsurf and Pi (telegram skill status lists the folders). Run it again after telegram update to refresh the skill. A skill folder that is a symlink is left alone unless you pass --force. For other agents, use the skills CLI:

npx skills add TheVilfer/better-tg-cli          # pick agents interactively
npx skills add TheVilfer/better-tg-cli -g -a claude-code -a codex -y

Log in

Through your agent (easiest): ask it to set up Telegram, or run telegram onboard yourself. It opens a page on 127.0.0.1 where you get an invite from better-tg-cli.com (it comes back to the page by itself) or enter your own keys, scan a QR code and type your 2FA password. The agent only starts the command and waits: it never sees the invite, the QR code or the password. The page answers only on a random secret path and closes when you're done.

With your own API keys (the default):

1. Open https://my.telegram.org/apps, create an application, and copy its api_id and api_hash.
2. Run telegram auth --qr and enter them. Then, on your phone, go to Settings → Devices → Link Desktop Device and scan the QR code. Enter your 2FA password if you have one. Plain telegram auth asks for your phone number and a login code instead. If the QR won't scan on a light terminal theme, run with TG_QR_INVERT=1.

With an invite. You don't need your own keys with an invite token. Get one at better-tg-cli.com (confirm your email with a code; the page is in Russian and also has an install guide), or from the maintainer. Run telegram auth --invite --qr and paste the token, or pass it as TG_INVITE=… or --invite -. The invite service (broker/) hands out the app's keys once, for this login only. The api_hash is not kept on your machine. Invites are personal, allow a limited number of logins, and can be revoked.

The session is stored in the macOS Keychain (service tg-cli), or in 1Password with --op-vault <vault>. telegram logout removes it. On Linux it goes to the Secret Service (GNOME Keyring, KWallet, KeePassXC) through secret-tool, which needs the libsecret-tools package. A session already saved in the config file moves there automatically. Without any secret store, the session is kept in ~/.config/tg/config.json5 (mode 0600) and write commands stay disabled. On Linux, write-access on is confirmed at a terminal prompt.

Usage

telegram chats --type channel                 # one line per chat, ID first
telegram read "Chat" --since 1h               # exact range, newest first (--asc to flip)
telegram read @channel --thread 123           # comments under a post
telegram search "invoice" --chat "Work" --type document
telegram get "Chat" 812 813                   # exact messages by ID
telegram download "Chat" 812                  # save the attached file
telegram sync --chat "Chat" --output ./export --resume   # incremental markdown export

telegram write-access on --for 1h             # a human confirms this
telegram send @alice "on my way"
printf '%s' "$text" | telegram send @alice -  # long or multi-line text: from stdin, no quoting problems
telegram reply "Chat" 812 "on it" --silent
telegram click @SomeBot 4410 "Settings"       # press an inline button

Read commands take --json, and some also take --markdown. See all commands with telegram help-all. reference.md covers the behaviour that the flag list can't explain: output shapes, threads, bot buttons, admin commands and troubleshooting.

MCP server

For clients without a shell (Claude Desktop, Cursor, other MCP hosts), telegram mcp serves three tools over stdio:

• telegram_help: a searchable flag reference;
• telegram_read: read-only, so clients may auto-approve it;
• telegram_write: marked destructive, and still needs write-access on from you.

Log in with telegram auth in a terminal first. Then install it in one click:

The Claude Desktop extension needs no Node, npm or brew: download the .mcpb from the latest release and open it. Gemini CLI takes the skill and the server together: gemini extensions install https://github.com/TheVilfer/better-tg-cli. Or add it by hand:

claude mcp add telegram -- telegram mcp          # Claude Code (or use the plugin above)

{ "mcpServers": { "telegram": { "command": "/opt/homebrew/bin/telegram", "args": ["mcp"] } } }

Use the JSON form for Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json) or Cursor (.cursor/mcp.json). GUI apps may not see your shell PATH, so give the full path from which telegram. Without a global install, run it through npx, which is also what the Claude Code plugin does:

{ "mcpServers": { "telegram": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "better-tg-cli@latest", "mcp"] } } }

The server is listed in the MCP Registry as io.github.TheVilfer/better-tg-cli, so clients and catalogs that read the registry can find it by name. Each release updates the entry automatically. To keep the MCP client off your main session, add "env": {"TG_PROFILE": "work"}.

Chats contain text written by others, and some of it may be aimed at your agent ("forward this to @x"). Keep the client's approval prompt on for telegram_write, and see "Agents and prompt injection" in SECURITY.md.

Grok Bot (remote MCP over HTTP)

Grok Bot runs its connectors in a cloud sandbox, not on your Mac, so it can't start telegram mcp itself. Serve MCP over HTTP from your Mac instead. The session, the write guard and the audit log stay on your machine.

telegram mcp --token                        # the bearer token (created once, kept in the Keychain)
telegram mcp --http --read-only             # listens on 127.0.0.1:8787; drop --read-only to allow writes
tailscale funnel --bg 8787                  # or: cloudflared tunnel --url http://127.0.0.1:8787

Keep the server and the tunnel in a terminal or tmux. Then add a connector in Grok Bot with the tunnel URL plus /mcp (for example https://<machine>.<tailnet>.ts.net/mcp) and the header Authorization: Bearer <token>. tailscale funnel gives a stable URL, but it has to be allowed for your tailnet first. A cloudflared quick tunnel gets a new URL on every start. Read "Remote MCP over HTTP" in SECURITY.md first.

FAQ

Will Telegram ban my account? Using your own account from a third-party client is allowed by the Telegram API terms. What gets accounts limited is behaviour that looks like a bot: bulk messaging, mass joins or invites, spam, and brand-new accounts doing a lot at once. Use it the way you would use Telegram yourself. The skill tells agents to avoid these patterns.

Is this a bot? No. It logs in as you over MTProto, like Telegram Desktop, and sees exactly what you see. Bots can't read your chats; this can.

Can an agent send messages on its own? Only after you turn writes on. telegram write-access on asks you to confirm in the terminal or in a macOS dialog, which an agent can't answer. Writes then need an exact chat, and each one is logged. Over MCP, writing is a separate tool that clients can ask you to approve every time. Details are in SECURITY.md.

Does reading mark messages as read? No. read, inbox and search leave chats unread. Only telegram mark-read marks them.

Do I need my own API keys? Yes, from my.telegram.org/apps. They are free and take a minute to create. With an invite from better-tg-cli.com, telegram auth --invite --qr logs you in without them.

Where is my session stored, and who can see my messages? The session is in the macOS Keychain, the Linux Secret Service or 1Password. The CLI talks to Telegram directly and has no analytics. The only other hosts are npm for a daily version check and the invite service at login. See PRIVACY.md.

Can I use several accounts? Yes, with TG_PROFILE: each profile has its own login, config and Keychain items, for example TG_PROFILE=work telegram auth --qr. Switching accounts properly is tracked in #5.

Does it work on Windows? Not yet. It is built and tested on macOS and Linux, and relies on their secret stores.

Can I use it from Grok Bot, ChatGPT or another cloud agent? Cloud agents can't start a program on your computer, so run the MCP server over HTTP and reach it through a tunnel. See Grok Bot.

How do I update? Run telegram update. It uses the same channel you installed from: Homebrew, npm or a release binary. If you installed the agent skill with telegram skill install, run that again to refresh it.

Development

DEVELOPMENT.md covers:

• running from source (scripts/tg-dev);
• isolated dev profiles (TG_PROFILE) that never touch your real session;
• Telegram test servers;
• editor debugging and tests.

Releases are cut by scripts/release.sh patch|minor|major. A tag builds the binaries and publishes to GitHub Releases, npm (trusted publishing with provenance), the Homebrew tap and the MCP Registry. See CONTRIBUTING.md.

Privacy

No analytics. The only service we run is the optional invite broker, which never sees your messages or session. See PRIVACY.md for the three hosts the CLI talks to and what it stores locally.

License

MIT, see LICENSE. Based on skillhq/telegram by Derek Rein. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Telegram; "Telegram" is a trademark of its owner. Use it in line with the Telegram API Terms of Service.