# Telegram Channel Scraper — Messages, Views & Links (`hichemdev/telegram-channel-scraper`) Actor

Scrape public Telegram channels: message text, publish date, view count, outbound links and media flags. No login, no API key.

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

## Pricing

from $2.00 / 1,000 messages

This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage.

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

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — 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 Channel Scraper — Messages, Views & Links

Scrape **public Telegram channels** — **message text, publish date, view count, outbound links, media flags** and channel info. No login, no phone number, no API key.

### What you can do with it

- 📈 **Crypto & market signal monitoring** — track calls and announcements across channels
- 📰 **News & OSINT monitoring** — follow public channels at scale
- 🏷️ **Brand/keyword monitoring** — filter messages mentioning your term
- 📊 **Content performance** — view counts per message

### Input

| Field | Type | Description |
|-------|------|-------------|
| `channels` | array | Public channels, e.g. `durov`, `@telegram`, or a `t.me/...` URL. |
| `maxMessages` | integer | Maximum messages to scrape in total. |
| `keyword` | string | Only keep messages containing this text. |

#### Example

```json
{ "channels": ["durov", "telegram"], "maxMessages": 500, "keyword": "update" }
```

### Output

```json
{
  "channel": "durov",
  "channelTitle": "Pavel Durov",
  "messageId": "526",
  "text": "Don't be surprised if you see tables, nested lists...",
  "date": "2026-08-14T12:03:11+00:00",
  "views": 22900000,
  "hasPhoto": true,
  "hasVideo": false,
  "links": ["https://telegram.org/blog"],
  "url": "https://t.me/durov/526"
}
```

Export to JSON, CSV, Excel, or pull live via the Apify API.

### Notes

- Reads Telegram's **public channel preview** (`t.me/s/<channel>`) — only channels that are public and have preview enabled are available.
- Paginates backwards through history automatically up to `maxMessages`.
- **Member lists are not available.** Telegram does not expose channel subscriber identities publicly — only the messages and their view counts. This Actor scrapes content, not people.

# Actor input Schema

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

Public Telegram channels, e.g. "durov", "@telegram" or "https://t.me/telegram".

## `maxMessages` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of messages to scrape in total.

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

Only keep messages whose text contains this word, e.g. "airdrop", "launch".

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

Optional. Telegram's public channel preview works without a proxy.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "channels": [
    "durov"
  ],
  "maxMessages": 20,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

All scraped items as JSON.

## `overview` (type: `string`):

Browse results in the Apify Console.

# 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"
    ],
    "maxMessages": 20,
    "keyword": ""
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("hichemdev/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"],
    "maxMessages": 20,
    "keyword": "",
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("hichemdev/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"
  ],
  "maxMessages": 20,
  "keyword": ""
}' |
apify call hichemdev/telegram-channel-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,hichemdev/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/sLuUGMaSaQ8dDpPKa/builds/X7ossfw0hNsPDlKsu/openapi.json