# Telegram Channel Scraper & Monitor (`brick_joey_yto/telegram-scraper`) Actor

Scrape public Telegram channels anonymously — posts, views, reactions, subscriber counts and engagement stats. Channel monitoring and keyword watchlists for researchers, analysts and marketers. From $1/1,000 results.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/brick\_joey\_yto/telegram-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [William Billings](https://apify.com/brick_joey_yto) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, Lead generation, Automation
- **Stats:** 1 total users, 0 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$1.00 / 1,000 results

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/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 Scraper & Monitor

Extract data from **public Telegram channels** — no account, no Bot API key, no phone number required. Get channel stats, full post history with view counts and reactions, monitor channels for new posts, and compute engagement metrics. Built for researchers, OSINT analysts, crypto/finance trackers, media monitors, and social-listening teams.

### Why this actor?

Most Telegram scrapers dump raw messages. This one is built for **analysis and monitoring**:

- **Channel intelligence** — subscribers, media counts, description, profile
- **Post metrics** — every post includes views, reactions, forwards, media type
- **Watch mode** — fetch only posts *new since your last run* (by date or post ID) — perfect for scheduled monitoring
- **Snapshots** — per-channel engagement summary (avg views, engagement rate) across any channel list — build your own TGStat
- **Anonymous & free to run** — uses Telegram's public web preview, no credentials

### Modes

| Mode | Output | Use case |
|---|---|---|
| `channel` | One row per channel: title, subscribers, media counts, description | Channel lookup & vetting |
| `posts` | One row per post: text, date, views, reactions, media flags | Full history export, content analysis |
| `watch` | Posts published after a date or post ID | Scheduled monitoring & alerts |
| `snapshot` | Per-channel: latest post ID, avg views, engagement rate | Channel analytics, leaderboards |

### Input examples

**Channel profile:**

```json
{ "mode": "channel", "channels": ["bitcoin", "durov"] }
```

**Recent posts with keyword filter:**

```json
{ "mode": "posts", "channels": ["bitcoin"], "maxPostsPerChannel": 100, "keyword": "etf" }
```

**Monitoring — only new posts since last run** (schedule daily):

```json
{ "mode": "watch", "channels": ["bitcoin"], "publishedAfter": "2026-09-28" }
```

or precisely:

```json
{ "mode": "watch", "channels": ["bitcoin"], "afterPostId": 20400 }
```

**Engagement snapshots across a list:**

```json
{ "mode": "snapshot", "channels": ["bitcoin", "ethereum", "durov", "telegram"] }
```

### Output fields

**channel records** — `username`, `title`, `description`, `subscribers`, `photosCount`, `videosCount`, `filesCount`, `photoUrl`, `url`

**post records** — `channel`, `postId`, `url`, `date` (ISO), `text`, `views`, `reactions` `[{emoji, count}]`, `forwardedFrom`, `hasPhoto`, `hasVideo`, `hasDocument`, `hasPoll`, `linkPreview`

**snapshot records** — channel fields plus `latestPostId`, `latestPostDate`, `postsInSample`, `avgViewsLast20`, `maxViewsLast20`, `totalReactionsLast20`, `engagementRate` (avg views ÷ subscribers, %)

All human counters (`184K`, `5.16K`) are normalized to integers.

### Tips for scheduled monitoring

1. Run `snapshot` or `posts` once to get `latestPostId` per channel.
2. Store it, then schedule `watch` runs with `afterPostId` — you only pay for *new* posts.
3. Pair with a webhook/dataset-diff integration to get alerts.

### Limits & caveats

- **Public channels only.** Private groups/channels and member lists require authentication and are not supported.
- The public preview serves ~20 posts per page — deep history works via pagination but each 20 posts costs a request.
- Subscriber counts reflect the public counter (rounded by Telegram, e.g. `184K`).
- Edited/deleted posts reflect their current public state.

### Pricing

**$1.00 per 1,000 results** (pay-per-event). A 20-post scan of one channel costs a fraction of a cent. Scheduled watchlists are nearly free.

***

*Not affiliated with Telegram. Scrapes public web preview pages only. Respect Telegram's Terms of Service and applicable law.*

# Actor input Schema

## `mode` (type: `string`):

channel = channel profile + stats (subscribers, media counts). posts = full message history with views/reactions. watch = posts published since a date/post-id (monitoring). snapshot = per-channel engagement summary across a channel list.

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

Public channel usernames or links, e.g. \['bitcoin', 'durov'] or 'https://t.me/bitcoin'. Required for all modes.

## `keyword` (type: `string`):

posts/watch modes: only emit posts containing this text (case-insensitive).

## `publishedAfter` (type: `string`):

watch mode: only posts after this date/time (YYYY-MM-DD or ISO). For scheduled runs, set to last run date.

## `afterPostId` (type: `integer`):

watch mode: only posts with ID greater than this (use last post ID from previous run for precise resumption).

## `maxPostsPerChannel` (type: `integer`):

posts mode: how far back to paginate (each page = ~20 posts).

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

Global cap on rows returned.

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

Optional Apify proxy — usually unnecessary (public web preview), enable if you see blocks.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "mode": "posts",
  "maxPostsPerChannel": 50,
  "maxResults": 200
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

Dataset containing channel, post, or snapshot records

# 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 = {};

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

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("brick_joey_yto/telegram-scraper").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 '{}' |
apify call brick_joey_yto/telegram-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

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/JrwTCgsFcf1UFy5p2/builds/vrqGpCS8pYNesQLfX/openapi.json