# Telegram Channel Scraper — Posts, Views, Reactions & Media (`datakiln/telegram-channel-scraper`) Actor

Scrape public Telegram channels without login or API key. Get every post with text, date, views, reactions, photos, videos, link previews, hashtags, replies and forwards. Filter by date or keyword and fetch only new posts on schedule.

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

## Pricing

$1.00 / 1,000 posts

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 — posts, views, reactions & media

Extract posts from any **public Telegram channel** — no Telegram account, no phone number, no API key. Paste channel names or links and get clean, structured data: text, date, views, reactions, photos, videos, link previews, hashtags, mentions, replies and forwards.

**Pay only for what you get: $1 per 1,000 posts.** No monthly rental, no start fees.

### What can you do with it?

- 📈 **Monitor channels on a schedule** — turn on *Only new posts* and you get (and pay for) each post exactly once.
- 🔎 **Track keywords** — use Telegram's in-channel search to pull only posts that mention your brand, coin, product or topic.
- 📊 **Measure engagement** — views, reaction counts per emoji, paid Star reactions and subscriber counts for every channel.
- 🗞️ **Build news and crypto feeds** — full post text with links, link-preview titles and media URLs, ready for your AI pipeline or database.
- 🧪 **Research** — export a channel's full history between two dates for analysis.

### How to use

1. Add one or more channels: `durov`, `@telegram`, or `https://t.me/nytimes`.
2. Optionally set a date range, a keyword, or the maximum posts per channel.
3. Click **Start**. Download the results as JSON, CSV, Excel or HTML, or connect them to Make, Zapier, n8n, Google Sheets or your API.

### Input example

```json
{
  "channels": ["durov", "https://t.me/telegram"],
  "maxPostsPerChannel": 200,
  "dateFrom": "2026-01-01",
  "searchQuery": "",
  "onlyNewPosts": true
}
```

### Output example

```json
{
  "postId": 548,
  "url": "https://t.me/durov/548",
  "channel": "durov",
  "channelTitle": "Pavel Durov",
  "channelSubscribers": 10500000,
  "date": "2026-09-11T16:04:02+00:00",
  "isEdited": false,
  "author": "Pavel Durov",
  "text": "🤝 Telegram has become the sponsor of Codeforces …",
  "views": 2220000,
  "reactions": [{ "customEmojiId": "5399847211989246390", "count": 33300 }],
  "reactionsTotal": 52250,
  "paidStarReactions": 21600,
  "mediaType": "link_preview",
  "photos": [],
  "videos": [],
  "linkPreview": {
    "url": "https://codeforces.com/blog/entry/156620",
    "siteName": "Codeforces",
    "title": "Telegram Returns as Title Sponsor of Codeforces!"
  },
  "links": ["https://codeforces.com/blog/entry/156620"],
  "hashtags": [],
  "mentions": [],
  "isForwarded": false,
  "forwardedFrom": null,
  "replyTo": null,
  "scrapedAt": "2026-10-09T14:00:00+00:00"
}
```

#### All fields

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| `postId`, `url` | Post number and direct link |
| `channel`, `channelTitle`, `channelSubscribers` | Channel username, name and subscriber count |
| `date`, `isEdited` | Publish time (ISO 8601, UTC) and edit flag |
| `author` | Post signature, when the channel shows authors |
| `text`, `textLength` | Full post text with line breaks and emoji |
| `views` | View counter as a number (e.g. `18.9M` → `18900000`) |
| `reactions`, `reactionsTotal`, `paidStarReactions` | Count per reaction, total, and paid ⭐ reactions |
| `mediaType` | `photo`, `video`, `album`, `document`, `voice`, `poll`, `sticker`, `location`, `link_preview` or empty |
| `photos`, `videos`, `documents` | Media URLs, video thumbnails and durations, file names |
| `poll` | Question, type and options with percentages |
| `linkPreview` | URL, site name, title, description and image of the attached link |
| `links`, `hashtags`, `mentions` | Everything linked or tagged in the text |
| `isForwarded`, `forwardedFrom` | Original source of forwarded posts |
| `replyTo` | The post being replied to (id, link, author, text) |
| `channelInfo` | Optional: description, photo, verification and counters |

### Pricing

Pay-per-result: **$0.001 per post** ($1 per 1,000 posts). Platform usage is included. Cap the cost of any run with *Max total charge* in the run options — the scraper stops cleanly when the cap is reached.

### FAQ

**Do I need a Telegram account or API keys?** No. The scraper reads Telegram's public web preview (`t.me/s/…`), the same page anyone can open in a browser.

**Which channels work?** Any public channel that has a web preview. Private channels, invite-only groups and channels that disabled the preview are skipped with a clear log message.

**Why is some media empty?** Telegram's web preview doesn't show every media type (for example some stickers or large files). You still get the post, its text, date, views and link.

**Can I scrape the full history?** Yes — set *Max posts per channel* to `0`. Combine with *Posts from date* to stop at a specific day.

**How does "Only new posts" work?** The scraper remembers the newest post id per channel in a named key-value store in your account. On the next run it stops as soon as it reaches posts you already have.

**Is it legal?** It collects only publicly available information. You are responsible for using the data in line with Telegram's terms and the laws that apply to you, including data-protection rules.

### Related tools by DataKiln

- [YouTube Channel Email Finder — creator emails, socials & stats](https://apify.com/datakiln/youtube-channel-email-finder)
- [YouTube Comments Scraper — comments, replies & likes](https://apify.com/datakiln/youtube-comments-scraper)
- [Podcast Email Finder — host emails from Apple Podcasts RSS feeds](https://apify.com/datakiln/podcast-email-finder)
- [TikTok Profile & Email Finder — bio, stats & contacts](https://apify.com/datakiln/tiktok-profile-email-finder)
- [Website Contact Extractor — emails, phones & socials from any website](https://apify.com/datakiln/website-contact-extractor)

### Support

Found a bug or need a field that's missing? Open an issue on the **Issues** tab — we usually reply within 24 hours.

# Actor input Schema

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

Public Telegram channels. Use a username (durov), @username, or a link (https://t.me/durov). Private channels and groups without a public preview can't be scraped.

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

How many of the newest posts to collect from each channel. Set 0 for the full history.

## `dateFrom` (type: `string`):

Only posts published on or after this date (YYYY-MM-DD). Leave empty for no limit.

## `dateTo` (type: `string`):

Only posts published on or before this date (YYYY-MM-DD).

## `searchQuery` (type: `string`):

Return only posts that match this keyword (Telegram's own in-channel search).

## `onlyNewPosts` (type: `boolean`):

Remembers the last post seen in each channel and returns only newer posts next time. Ideal for scheduled monitoring — you never pay twice for the same post.

## `includeChannelInfo` (type: `boolean`):

Adds the channel's description, photo, verification badge and photo/video/link counters to each post. Title and subscriber count are always included.

## `skipEmptyPosts` (type: `boolean`):

Drops service messages and posts that the web preview can't show (e.g. stickers only).

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

How many channels to scrape at the same time.

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

Apify Proxy is used by default. Datacenter proxy is enough for Telegram.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "channels": [
    "durov",
    "telegram"
  ],
  "maxPostsPerChannel": 50,
  "onlyNewPosts": false,
  "includeChannelInfo": false,
  "skipEmptyPosts": false,
  "maxConcurrency": 5,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `posts` (type: `string`):

All scraped posts as structured JSON items.

## `postsTable` (type: `string`):

Posts in the overview table view.

# 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": [
        "durov",
        "telegram"
    ],
    "maxPostsPerChannel": 50,
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("datakiln/telegram-channel-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 = {
    "channels": [
        "durov",
        "telegram",
    ],
    "maxPostsPerChannel": 50,
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("datakiln/telegram-channel-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 '{
  "channels": [
    "durov",
    "telegram"
  ],
  "maxPostsPerChannel": 50,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}' |
apify call datakiln/telegram-channel-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,datakiln/telegram-channel-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/00d3KF35YbwyUv9vp/builds/Kn1Hdw06Hcrdv3j6c/openapi.json