# Telegram Channel Scraper — Posts, Views & Profiles (`vujeen/telegram-channel-scraper`) Actor
Scrape public Telegram channels: posts with text, views, dates and links, plus channel profiles and subscriber counts. Explicit status for every channel — never a silent empty result. No login, no API keys.
- **URL**: https://apify.com/vujeen/telegram-channel-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [FEDOR TRYAKIN](https://apify.com/vujeen) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, Lead generation, News
- **Stats:** 4 total users, 0 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet
## Pricing
Pay per usage
This Actor is paid per platform usage. The Actor is free to use, and you only pay for the Apify platform usage, which gets cheaper the higher subscription plan you have.
Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-usage
## What's an Apify Actor?
Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases.
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.
In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md):
```bash
npm install apify-client
```
In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md):
```bash
pip install apify-client
```
In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md):
````bash
# MacOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash
# Windows
irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex
```bash
In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md).
If your project is in a different language, use 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 — Posts, Views & Profiles
Scrape public Telegram channels without login, API keys or phone numbers:
**posts** (text, date, views, reactions, links, media flags, forwards),
**channel profiles** (title, description, subscriber count, verified status)
and ready-made **engagement analytics** (average / median / max views and
average reactions per channel).
The cheapest reliable Telegram scraper on the Store — and the only one that
returns an explicit status for every channel instead of a silent empty run.
### Built for reliability
Most Telegram scrapers fail silently: you pay, the run "succeeds", the
dataset is empty, and you never learn why. This Actor is designed around
one rule — **you always get an explicit answer for every channel**:
| `status` | What it means |
|---|---|
| `ok` | Channel scraped, posts included |
| `preview_disabled` | Channel exists, but its owner disabled the public web feed — Telegram does not expose its posts to anyone without joining. You still get the profile (title, subscribers, description) |
| `group` | The username belongs to a group/chat, which has no public feed — profile returned |
| `user_or_bot` | The username is a person or bot, not a channel |
| `not_found` | No public Telegram entity with this username |
No more guessing whether the scraper is broken or the channel is simply
not publicly readable.
### Output
One `channel` item per channel (profile + status), then one `post` item
per post:
```json
{
"type": "post",
"id": 525,
"channel": "durov",
"url": "https://t.me/durov/525",
"date": "2026-06-12T19:15:19+00:00",
"text": "Telegram's new update is out...",
"views": 448000,
"reactions": 3980,
"hasPhoto": false,
"hasVideo": true,
"forwardedFrom": "",
"externalLinks": ["https://example.com"]
}
````
```json
{
"type": "channel",
"username": "durov",
"status": "ok",
"title": "Pavel Durov",
"verified": true,
"subscribers": 11000000,
"description": "Thoughts from the Telegram founder...",
"avgViews": 2506200,
"medianViews": 2730000,
"maxViews": 3790000,
"avgReactions": 7160.5,
"postsScraped": 100
}
```
### Use cases
- **Market & trend monitoring** — track what niche channels publish,
measure views per post.
- **Competitor analysis** — posting frequency, engagement, content mix
(photos/videos/links) of any public channel.
- **Lead generation & research** — collect external links and contacts
channels share.
- **Archiving** — keep a structured history of channels you care about.
- **Alerting** — run on a Schedule, diff datasets, get notified about
new posts via integrations (Slack, email, webhooks).
### Input
```json
{
"channels": ["durov", "@telegram", "https://t.me/BotNews"],
"maxPostsPerChannel": 100,
"includePosts": true
}
```
Usernames, @handles and t.me links are all accepted. Set
`includePosts: false` to collect only profiles (fast and cheap, great
for validating large lists of channels).
### FAQ
**Do I need a Telegram account or API keys?**
No. The Actor reads Telegram's public web pages.
**Can it scrape private channels or groups?**
No, and neither can any honest scraper without joining them. The Actor
tells you explicitly when content is not publicly available instead of
returning an empty dataset.
**How many posts can it collect?**
Up to 5,000 per channel per run (newest first). Telegram's public feed
goes back to the channel's first post for most channels.
**Can I monitor channels on a schedule?**
Yes — create a Task, attach a Schedule, and consume new posts via API,
webhooks or integrations.
# Actor input Schema
## `channels` (type: `array`):
Channel usernames or URLs: durov, @durov or https://t.me/durov.
## `maxPostsPerChannel` (type: `integer`):
How many latest posts to collect from each channel (newest first).
## `includePosts` (type: `boolean`):
Turn off to collect only channel profiles (subscribers, description) — faster and cheaper.
## Actor input object example
```json
{
"channels": [
"durov",
"telegram"
],
"maxPostsPerChannel": 100,
"includePosts": true
}
```
# 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 '' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
token: '',
});
// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
"channels": [
"durov",
"telegram"
]
};
// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("vujeen/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 '' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("")
# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "channels": [
"durov",
"telegram",
] }
# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("vujeen/telegram-channel-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)
# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).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"
]
}' |
apify call vujeen/telegram-channel-scraper --silent --output-dataset
```
## MCP server setup
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"apify": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"mcp-remote",
"https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=vujeen/telegram-channel-scraper",
"--header",
"Authorization: Bearer "
]
}
}
}
```
## OpenAPI specification
```json
{
"openapi": "3.0.1",
"info": {
"title": "Telegram Channel Scraper — Posts, Views & Profiles",
"description": "Scrape public Telegram channels: posts with text, views, dates and links, plus channel profiles and subscriber counts. Explicit status for every channel — never a silent empty result. No login, no API keys.",
"version": "1.0",
"x-build-id": "Fmai8Ycb21bebmxpm"
},
"servers": [
{
"url": "https://api.apify.com/v2"
}
],
"paths": {
"/acts/vujeen~telegram-channel-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": {
"post": {
"operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-vujeen-telegram-channel-scraper",
"x-openai-isConsequential": false,
"summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.",
"tags": [
"Run Actor"
],
"requestBody": {
"required": true,
"content": {
"application/json": {
"schema": {
"$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
}
}
}
},
"parameters": [
{
"name": "token",
"in": "query",
"required": true,
"schema": {
"type": "string"
},
"description": "Enter your Apify token here"
}
],
"responses": {
"200": {
"description": "OK"
}
}
}
},
"/acts/vujeen~telegram-channel-scraper/runs": {
"post": {
"operationId": "runs-sync-vujeen-telegram-channel-scraper",
"x-openai-isConsequential": false,
"summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.",
"tags": [
"Run Actor"
],
"requestBody": {
"required": true,
"content": {
"application/json": {
"schema": {
"$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
}
}
}
},
"parameters": [
{
"name": "token",
"in": "query",
"required": true,
"schema": {
"type": "string"
},
"description": "Enter your Apify token here"
}
],
"responses": {
"200": {
"description": "OK",
"content": {
"application/json": {
"schema": {
"$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema"
}
}
}
}
}
}
},
"/acts/vujeen~telegram-channel-scraper/run-sync": {
"post": {
"operationId": "run-sync-vujeen-telegram-channel-scraper",
"x-openai-isConsequential": false,
"summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.",
"tags": [
"Run Actor"
],
"requestBody": {
"required": true,
"content": {
"application/json": {
"schema": {
"$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
}
}
}
},
"parameters": [
{
"name": "token",
"in": "query",
"required": true,
"schema": {
"type": "string"
},
"description": "Enter your Apify token here"
}
],
"responses": {
"200": {
"description": "OK"
}
}
}
}
},
"components": {
"schemas": {
"inputSchema": {
"type": "object",
"required": [
"channels"
],
"properties": {
"channels": {
"title": "Channels",
"type": "array",
"description": "Channel usernames or URLs: durov, @durov or https://t.me/durov.",
"items": {
"type": "string"
}
},
"maxPostsPerChannel": {
"title": "Max posts per channel",
"minimum": 0,
"maximum": 5000,
"type": "integer",
"description": "How many latest posts to collect from each channel (newest first).",
"default": 100
},
"includePosts": {
"title": "Include posts",
"type": "boolean",
"description": "Turn off to collect only channel profiles (subscribers, description) — faster and cheaper.",
"default": true
}
}
},
"runsResponseSchema": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"data": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"id": {
"type": "string"
},
"actId": {
"type": "string"
},
"userId": {
"type": "string"
},
"startedAt": {
"type": "string",
"format": "date-time",
"example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
},
"finishedAt": {
"type": "string",
"format": "date-time",
"example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
},
"status": {
"type": "string",
"example": "READY"
},
"meta": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"origin": {
"type": "string",
"example": "API"
},
"userAgent": {
"type": "string"
}
}
},
"stats": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"inputBodyLen": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 2000
},
"rebootCount": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"restartCount": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"resurrectCount": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"computeUnits": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
}
}
},
"options": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"build": {
"type": "string",
"example": "latest"
},
"timeoutSecs": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 300
},
"memoryMbytes": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 1024
},
"diskMbytes": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 2048
}
}
},
"buildId": {
"type": "string"
},
"defaultKeyValueStoreId": {
"type": "string"
},
"defaultDatasetId": {
"type": "string"
},
"defaultRequestQueueId": {
"type": "string"
},
"buildNumber": {
"type": "string",
"example": "1.0.0"
},
"containerUrl": {
"type": "string"
},
"usage": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"DATASET_READS": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"DATASET_WRITES": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 1
},
"KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"PROXY_SERPS": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
}
}
},
"usageTotalUsd": {
"type": "number",
"example": 0.00005
},
"usageUsd": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"DATASET_READS": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"DATASET_WRITES": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
"type": "number",
"example": 0.00005
},
"KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"PROXY_SERPS": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
```