# Telegram Channel Posts: Text, Views and Date by Channel (`accountable_eel/telegram-channel-posts-lookup`) Actor

Telegram channel posts scraper: one row per post with text, date, views, media type and link, newest first, paged back through the channel history. No login, no bot token. Optional new-posts-only monitoring.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/accountable_eel/telegram-channel-posts-lookup.md
- **Developed by:** [Adriana Voss](https://apify.com/accountable_eel) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.00 / 1,000 telegram post returneds

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
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.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## 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.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Telegram Channel Posts: Text, Views and Date by Channel

Per-item lookup actor for Telegram Channel Posts: Text, Views and Date by Channel. See README for pricing and evidence.

### How to use

1. **In the Apify Console.** Open the actor page and click **Start** — the `channels` field is already pre-filled with a working example. Results land in the run's dataset as soon as each item is found.
2. **Via the API.** Call it directly with a POST request — no Console needed once you have an API token:
   ```bash
   curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/accountable_eel~telegram-channel-posts-lookup/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_TOKEN>" \
     -X POST \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{"channels":["telegram"]}'
   ```
3. **On a schedule.** Save this actor as an Apify **Task** with the input you want, then add a **Schedule** (hourly, daily, weekly) so it runs on its own — no server of your own required.

### Input

```json
{
  "channels": [
    "telegram"
  ]
}
```

One public channel per line: telegram, @telegram or https://t.me/telegram. Private channels and invite links are not supported. Accepted formats: telegram, @durov, https://t.me/s/telegram.

```json
{
  "items": ["<identifier-1>", "<identifier-2>"],
  "maxConcurrency": 5
}
```

`items` is a list of Public Telegram channel usernames. One dataset row is returned
per item; rows with `"found": false` are never charged.

### Output

One row per item, for example:

| query | found | status | channel | channelTitle | channelUrl | subscribers | postCount | monitorStatus | posts | postId | postUrl | text | date | views | viewsRaw | mediaType | linkUrl | isNew | firstSeenAt | scrapedAt |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| telegram | true | OK | <channel username> | <channel name> | <channel preview link> | <subscribers> | <posts returned for this channel> | <monitoring status> | \<all posts (full list)> | <post number> | <post link> | <post text> | <posted at> | <views> | <views as telegram shows them> | \<media (photo / video)> | <link shown in the post preview> | <new since the last run> | <first seen on a run> | 1970-01-01T00:00:00.000Z |

A miss comes back as a row with `"found": false` and is never charged.

### Pricing

Pay-per-event. A flat per-run fee covers session/proxy warmup; you're billed
per item only when data is actually found and returned — see
`.actor/pay_per_event.json` for exact prices. A miss is never charged.

### Use it from Clay, n8n, Make, or an AI agent

This actor runs synchronously over plain HTTP — call it directly from a script, a workflow tool, or an AI agent, no Apify Console needed once you have an API token.

```bash
curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/accountable_eel~telegram-channel-posts-lookup/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_TOKEN>" \
  -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"channels":["telegram"]}'
```

**n8n.** Add an HTTP Request node: Method `POST`, URL `https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/accountable_eel~telegram-channel-posts-lookup/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_TOKEN>`, Body Content Type `JSON`, JSON Body `{"channels":["telegram"]}` (swap in an expression from an earlier node for a real value).

**Clay.** Add an "HTTP API" column: Method `POST`, URL `https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/accountable_eel~telegram-channel-posts-lookup/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_TOKEN>`, Body `{"channels":["{{channel}}"]}`, mapping the row's channel into the `channels` array.

**MCP.** In Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client with the Apify MCP server, ask for "telegram channel posts scraper" — the agent will find and run this actor.

# Actor input Schema

## `channels` (type: `array`):

One public channel per line: telegram, @telegram or https://t.me/telegram. Private channels and invite links are not supported. Accepted formats: telegram, @durov, https://t.me/s/telegram. You're only charged for the ones we actually find — a miss costs nothing.

## `maxPosts` (type: `integer`):

Newest first, 20 posts per Telegram page, up to 500. You pay per post returned, so this is also your budget control.

## `testRun` (type: `boolean`):

Turn this on to test your input on a small sample before running the full list. Turn it off to process everything.

## `onlyFound` (type: `boolean`):

Only keep rows where something was actually found. Misses are always free, whether or not you show them here.

## `includeKeywords` (type: `array`):

Optional. Only keep results that mention at least one of these words (e.g. a job title, a city, a product name). Leave empty to keep everything.

## `excludeKeywords` (type: `array`):

Optional. Drop any result that mentions one of these words. Leave empty to skip nothing.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Optional. Stop the run once this many results have been found — useful for a quick, cheap sample. Leave blank for no limit.

## `onlyNewSinceLastRun` (type: `boolean`):

Turns this actor into a channel alert. Posts already returned by an earlier run of the same watchlist are dropped before you are billed, so a quiet run costs only the run fee. The first run returns the recent posts and remembers them.

## `deltaName` (type: `string`):

Leave empty and one is derived from your channel list and filters. Type your own name to keep one memory across list edits. A named watchlist with monitoring off still returns every post, stamped with isNew and firstSeenAt.

## `columns` (type: `array`):

Choose which pieces of information to include in each result row. All are included by default.

## `expandRows` (type: `boolean`):

When on, each post found gets its own row instead of being grouped under its channel. You're still only charged once per channel, no matter how many rows it produces.

## `maxConcurrency` (type: `integer`):

Parallel requests. Keep conservative — this target has no browser fallback, so getting blocked costs more than slow-and-steady.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Apify Proxy config. This target is a free public API that needs no proxy — defaults to off, but you can turn one on if you prefer.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "channels": [
    "telegram"
  ],
  "maxPosts": 40,
  "testRun": false,
  "onlyFound": false,
  "includeKeywords": [],
  "excludeKeywords": [],
  "onlyNewSinceLastRun": false,
  "deltaName": "",
  "columns": [
    "channel",
    "channelTitle",
    "channelUrl",
    "subscribers",
    "postCount",
    "monitorStatus",
    "posts",
    "postId",
    "postUrl",
    "text",
    "date",
    "views",
    "viewsRaw",
    "mediaType",
    "linkUrl",
    "isNew",
    "firstSeenAt"
  ],
  "expandRows": true,
  "maxConcurrency": 5,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# 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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "channels": [
        "telegram"
    ],
    "includeKeywords": [],
    "excludeKeywords": []
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("accountable_eel/telegram-channel-posts-lookup").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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "channels": ["telegram"],
    "includeKeywords": [],
    "excludeKeywords": [],
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("accountable_eel/telegram-channel-posts-lookup").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).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"
  ],
  "includeKeywords": [],
  "excludeKeywords": []
}' |
apify call accountable_eel/telegram-channel-posts-lookup --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,accountable_eel/telegram-channel-posts-lookup"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/FGCV41hqP8W42yfJX/builds/QXPVmysv8EiJsfFSO/openapi.json