# Telegram Channel Scraper (`pulselab/telegram-channel-scraper`) Actor

Scrape public Telegram channels with no login or API key. One row per post: text, views, reactions, photos, videos, links. Plus a channel summary row: subscribers, posts per day, average views, engagement rate. Keyword & date filters, new-posts-only mode for monitoring. Failed channels cost $0.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/pulselab/telegram-channel-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Pulse Lab](https://apify.com/pulselab) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $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 (No Login)

Paste public Telegram channel names or links and get every post as a clean row — text, views, reactions, photos, videos, links — plus **one summary row per channel** with subscribers, posting rate, average views and engagement rate.

No Telegram account, no API key, no phone number. It reads the public web preview (`t.me/s/channel`) the same way a browser does, so there is nothing that can get banned.

### What you get

**One row per post**

| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| `channel`, `postId`, `url` | `cointelegraph`, `72574`, `https://t.me/cointelegraph/72574` |
| `date`, `edited` | `2026-10-09T05:30:21+00:00`, `false` |
| `text` | Full post text with line breaks |
| `views` | `5590` |
| `reactions`, `reactionsTotal` | `[{"emoji":"🔥","count":24},{"emoji":"❤","count":15}]`, `50` (paid star reactions appear as `stars`) |
| `photos` | Array of image URLs |
| `videos` | `[{"url","thumbnailUrl","duration"}]` |
| `links`, `documents`, `poll` | Links found in the text, attached file names, poll question |
| `forwardedFrom`, `replyTo`, `authorSignature` | Where available |
| `hasMedia`, `isServiceMessage` | Booleans |

**One row per channel** (`type: "channel"`)

| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `title`, `username`, `verified`, `description`, `photoUrl` | Channel profile |
| `subscribers` | Subscriber count as a number (`332000`) and as shown (`332K`) |
| `photosCount`, `videosCount`, `filesCount`, `linksCount` | Channel media counters |
| `postsLast7Days`, `postsPerDay` | Posting activity in the scanned sample |
| `avgViews`, `avgReactions` | Averages over the scanned posts |
| `engagementRate` | `avgViews / subscribers` — handy for vetting channels before buying ads |
| `latestPostDate`, `latestPostId` | Freshness |
| `status` | `OK`, `NOT_FOUND`, `NO_PREVIEW` or `UNAVAILABLE` |

### Input

| Field | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `channels` | — | One per line: `durov`, `@durov`, `https://t.me/durov`, `t.me/s/durov`. A post link such as `https://t.me/durov/548` fetches just that post. |
| `maxPostsPerChannel` | 100 | How many of the newest posts to scan per channel (up to 5,000). |
| `dateFrom` | — | Keep only posts on or after this date (`YYYY-MM-DD`). Scanning stops at older posts. |
| `keywords` | — | Keep only posts containing at least one keyword (case-insensitive). |
| `includeChannelInfo` | true | Add the channel summary row. |
| `onlyNewPosts` | false | Remember the newest post per channel and return only newer ones next time. Pair with a schedule to monitor channels. |
| `proxyConfiguration` | off | Not needed in normal use. |

```json
{
  "channels": ["cointelegraph", "durov", "https://t.me/telegram/441"],
  "maxPostsPerChannel": 200,
  "keywords": ["ETF", "bitcoin"],
  "dateFrom": "2026-10-01"
}
```

### Pricing

You pay per row delivered: one price per **post** and one per **channel summary**. Channels that cannot be read (`NOT_FOUND`, `NO_PREVIEW`, `UNAVAILABLE`) are reported but **not charged**. Typical speed is about 300 posts in under 10 seconds.

### Good to know

- **Works only for public channels with web preview enabled** — the same ones you can open at `t.me/s/<channel>` in a browser. Private channels, groups, members lists and comments need a logged-in account and are deliberately not supported.
- `channel` is the username used in the post URLs. If a channel was renamed, this is the current name even when you entered the old one.
- `views` and `subscribers` are parsed from Telegram's rounded numbers (`1.5M`, `332K`).
- Media URLs point to Telegram's CDN and may expire after a while; download soon if you need the files.
- Reactions are shown for channels that have them enabled; otherwise the array is empty.

### Use cases

- Monitor news, crypto or product channels on a schedule and push new posts to Slack, Sheets or a webhook (`onlyNewPosts: true`).
- Vet channels before buying placements: subscribers vs. average views (`engagementRate`), posting frequency, reactions.
- Build datasets of posts by keyword and date range for research.

### FAQ

**Is this the Telegram API?** No. It reads public web previews. If Telegram changes the page layout the Actor is updated.

**Can it get comments or group members?** No — those require a logged-in account, which is against the spirit of this Actor (no accounts, nothing to ban).

**Something looks wrong?** Open an issue in the Issues tab and it will be fixed.

# Actor input Schema

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

Public channel usernames or links, one per line: durov, @durov, https://t.me/durov, t.me/s/durov. A post link (https://t.me/durov/548) fetches just that post. Private invite links (t.me/+...) are not supported.

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

How many of the most recent posts to scan per channel (1-5000). Filters below are applied to these scanned posts.

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

Keep only posts published on or after this date (YYYY-MM-DD). Scanning stops at older posts, so this also saves time.

## `keywords` (type: `array`):

Keep only posts whose text contains at least one of these words (case-insensitive). Leave empty to keep all posts.

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

Adds one row per channel with title, subscribers, description, verified flag, posts per day, average views, average reactions, engagement rate and latest post date.

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

Remembers the newest post seen per channel and returns only newer posts on the next run. Ideal for scheduled monitoring.

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

Not needed normally: Telegram's public web preview works without a proxy. Enable only if you see repeated 429 errors.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "channels": [
    "durov",
    "telegram",
    "cointelegraph"
  ],
  "maxPostsPerChannel": 100,
  "includeChannelInfo": true,
  "onlyNewPosts": false
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

No description

## `channels` (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": [
        "durov",
        "telegram",
        "cointelegraph"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("pulselab/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",
        "cointelegraph",
    ] }

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

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,pulselab/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/W1bJxTLY7JolBXnXQ/builds/CTQqtT4n8mU9pr5Lx/openapi.json