Telegram MCP Server

This server gives Claude direct access to your Telegram account — read messages, search conversations, send messages, and more. Once installed, you can ask Claude things like "what did Daniel say in the Stellar group today?" or "send a message to [person] saying [thing]".

10 tools for full Telegram access. Built by Gonçalo.

What you'll need before starting

• Python 3.10 or higher

• Claude Desktop app installed (download here)

• Claude Code installed (see below)

• Your Telegram account (with the app on your phone for verification)

• About 15 minutes

Related MCP server: mcp-telegram-claudecode

Installation

Step 1: Install Claude Code

If you don't have Claude Code yet, open your terminal (Terminal on Mac, Command Prompt or PowerShell on Windows) and run:

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

If you don't have npm, install Node.js first from https://nodejs.org (download the LTS version, run the installer, then try the command above again).

Step 2: Get your Telegram API credentials

Before starting the installation, you need to get API credentials from Telegram:

1. Go to https://my.telegram.org on your browser

2. Log in with your phone number (the one linked to your Telegram)

3. Click "API development tools"

4. Fill in the form:

   • App title: anything (e.g., "Claude MCP")

   • Short name: anything (e.g., "claudemcp")

   • Platform: Desktop

   • Description: leave blank or put anything

5. Click Create application

6. You'll see your API ID (a number) and API Hash (a long string). Keep this page open.

Step 3: Let Claude Code do the rest

Open your terminal and run:

claude

Then paste this prompt:

Prompt to paste into Claude Code:

I need you to install a Telegram MCP server on my machine. Here's what to do:

1. Check that Python 3.10+ is installed (run python3 --version on Mac/Linux, or python --version on Windows)

2. Create a Projects folder in my home directory if it doesn't exist

3. Clone the repo:
   cd ~/Projects (or %USERPROFILE%\Projects on Windows)
   git clone https://github.com/goncaloreis/telegram-mcp.git
   cd telegram-mcp

4. Set up Python virtual environment:
   python3 -m venv venv (or python -m venv venv on Windows)
   Activate it and install requirements: pip install -r requirements.txt

5. Run the session generator:
   python3 generate_session.py (or python generate_session.py on Windows)
   
   This will ask me for:
   - API ID (I have it ready)
   - API Hash (I have it ready)  
   - Phone number (my Telegram number with country code)
   - Verification code (Telegram will send it to my phone)
   
   Wait for me at each prompt. After it completes, it will print a session string — save this.

6. Create the .env file by copying .env.example:
   cp .env.example .env (or copy .env.example .env on Windows)
   
   Then edit .env and fill in:
   - TELEGRAM_API_ID=<my API ID>
   - TELEGRAM_API_HASH=<my API hash>
   - TELEGRAM_SESSION_STRING=<the session string from step 5>

7. Test the server by running: python server.py
   If it starts without errors, Ctrl+C to stop it.

8. Configure Claude Desktop by editing the config file:
   - Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
   - Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
   
   Add this to the mcpServers section (adapt paths for my OS):
   
   On Mac:
   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "telegram": {
         "command": "/bin/bash",
         "args": ["-c", "cd $HOME/Projects/telegram-mcp && source venv/bin/activate && python server.py"]
       }
     }
   }
   
   On Windows:
   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "telegram": {
         "command": "cmd",
         "args": ["/c", "cd /d %USERPROFILE%\\Projects\\telegram-mcp && venv\\Scripts\\activate && python server.py"]
       }
     }
   }

   If the file already has other MCP servers (like google-workspace), merge this into the existing mcpServers object — don't overwrite them.

9. Tell me to restart Claude Desktop (Cmd+Q on Mac, or close fully on Windows) and reopen it.

Start by checking my OS and Python version, then proceed step by step. Ask me if anything is unclear.

Step 4: Verify it works

After restarting Claude Desktop, click the tools icon (🔨) at the bottom of the chat input. You should see tools like telegram_list_chats, telegram_read_messages, telegram_send_message, etc.

Try asking Claude: "List my 5 most recent Telegram chats"

If it works, you're done! 🎉

Troubleshooting

"FloodWaitError" during session generation Telegram rate-limits login attempts. Wait the indicated time and try again.

"Session string error" or "auth key not found" The session string was probably copied incorrectly. Run python3 generate_session.py again.

Tools don't show up in Claude Desktop

• Check the config file for typos (especially commas between MCP entries)

• Paste the config into https://jsonlint.com to check it's valid JSON

• Restart Claude Desktop fully

Any other error Paste the error message to Gonçalo on Slack.

What can it do?

Once installed, you can ask Claude things like:

• "What are my most recent Telegram messages?"

• "Search my Telegram for messages about [topic]"

• "What did [person] say in [group] today?"

• "Send a message to [person] saying [thing]"

• "Read the last 10 messages in the Stellar group"

• "Find my conversation with [person]"

Claude will use the tools automatically — you just ask in plain language.

Security notes

• The .env file contains your Telegram session string, which is equivalent to being logged in to your account. Never share this file.

• The .gitignore is configured to exclude .env and session files from git.