Telegram History

Fetch message history from any Telegram chat using MTProto (Telethon). The Bot API cannot read chat history — this skill uses the user API instead.

Setup

1. Install Telethon

pip3 install telethon

2. Get API credentials

Go to https://my.telegram.org/apps and create an app. Save credentials in the skill directory:

cat > <skill-dir>/api_credentials.json << 'EOF'
{"api_id": YOUR_API_ID, "api_hash": "YOUR_API_HASH"}
EOF

3. Login (one-time)

All paths below are relative to the skill directory.

# Step 1: Request a login code (sent to your Telegram app)
python3 scripts/login.py send +1234567890

# Output: Code sent! phone_code_hash: abc123
# Output: Run: python3 login.py verify +1234567890 <code> abc123

# Step 2: Verify with the code you received
# IMPORTANT: Do NOT send the code via Telegram — Telegram detects shared codes and blocks login.
# Use a file, another messenger, or run the command directly in terminal.
python3 scripts/login.py verify +1234567890 <CODE> <PHONE_CODE_HASH>

# If 2FA is enabled, append your password:
python3 scripts/login.py verify +1234567890 <CODE> <PHONE_CODE_HASH> <2FA_PASSWORD>

# Check login status:
python3 scripts/login.py check +1234567890

Session persists in session/ — no need to re-login after initial setup.

Usage

# Fetch last 50 messages from a chat
python3 scripts/tg_history.py history <chat_id> --limit 50

# Fetch from a forum topic
python3 scripts/tg_history.py history <chat_id> --topic <topic_id> --limit 30

# JSON output
python3 scripts/tg_history.py history <chat_id> --json

# Paginate (messages before a specific ID)
python3 scripts/tg_history.py history <chat_id> --offset-id <msg_id> --limit 50

Notes

• Group chat IDs use -100 prefix (e.g., -1001234567890)
• Forum topic IDs = the thread/topic message ID
• Sender names are resolved automatically
• All paths (session, credentials) are resolved relative to the skill directory — works regardless of install location