better-telegram-mcp

mcp-name: io.github.n24q02m/better-telegram-mcp

Production-grade MCP server for Telegram with dual-mode support: Bot API (via httpx) for quick bot integrations and MTProto (via Telethon) for full user-account access including message search, history browsing, contact management, and group creation.

Features

• 6 mega-tools with action dispatch: messages, chats, media, contacts, config, help
• Dual mode: Bot API (httpx) for bots, MTProto (Telethon) for user accounts
• 3-tier token optimization: Only 6 tools registered instead of 30+ individual endpoints
• Tool annotations: Each tool declares readOnlyHint, destructiveHint, idempotentHint, openWorldHint
• MCP Resources: Documentation available as telegram://docs/* resources
• Auto-detect mode: Set bot token for bot mode, or API credentials for user mode

Quick Start

Bot Mode

1. Open Telegram, search for @BotFather
2. Send /newbot, follow prompts to name your bot
3. Copy the token (format: 123456789:ABCdefGHI-JKLmnoPQRstUVwxyz)
4. Run:

TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=123456:ABC-DEF uvx --python 3.13 better-telegram-mcp

User Mode

1. Go to https://my.telegram.org, login with your phone number
2. Click "API development tools", create an app
3. Note your api_id (integer) and api_hash (32-char hex string)
4. Add to your MCP config with all required env vars (see examples below)
5. Start using — on first run, auth happens automatically:
   • Server auto-sends an OTP code to your Telegram app (not SMS, not browser)
   • A terminal window opens for you to enter the OTP code directly (no AI relay needed)
   • If 2FA is enabled: set TELEGRAM_PASSWORD env var, or enter it in the terminal prompt
   • In headless environments (Docker, SSH, no desktop): use config(action='auth', code='12345') as fallback
6. Done — session file persists at ~/.better-telegram-mcp/<name>.session, no more auth needed on subsequent runs

Security: The session file has 600 permissions (owner-only). Treat it like a password — anyone with this file can access your Telegram account.

Configuration

All configuration is via environment variables with TELEGRAM_ prefix:

Variable	Required	Default	Description
TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN	Bot mode	-	Bot token from @BotFather
TELEGRAM_API_ID	User mode	-	API ID from my.telegram.org
TELEGRAM_API_HASH	User mode	-	API hash from my.telegram.org
TELEGRAM_PHONE	User mode	-	Phone number with country code (e.g., +84912345678). Required for auto OTP send on startup.
TELEGRAM_PASSWORD	No	-	Two-Step Verification password. If set, used automatically during sign-in. If not set and 2FA is enabled, sign-in will fail with SessionPasswordNeededError.
TELEGRAM_SESSION_NAME	No	default	Session file name (for multiple accounts)
TELEGRAM_DATA_DIR	No	~/.better-telegram-mcp	Data directory for session files

Mode detection: If TELEGRAM_API_ID + TELEGRAM_API_HASH are set, user mode is used (priority). Otherwise, TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN is used for bot mode. No silent fallback between modes.

MCP Config Examples

Claude Code

# Bot mode
claude mcp add telegram -e TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=123456:ABC-DEF -- uvx --python 3.13 better-telegram-mcp

# User mode (auto-auth on first run)
claude mcp add telegram -e TELEGRAM_API_ID=12345 -e TELEGRAM_API_HASH=abc123 -e TELEGRAM_PHONE=+84912345678 -- uvx --python 3.13 better-telegram-mcp

Claude Desktop / Cursor

Bot mode:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "telegram": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["--python", "3.13", "better-telegram-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN": "123456:ABC-DEF"
      }
    }
  }
}

User mode:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "telegram": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["--python", "3.13", "better-telegram-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "TELEGRAM_API_ID": "12345678",
        "TELEGRAM_API_HASH": "your-api-hash-from-my-telegram-org",
        "TELEGRAM_PHONE": "+1234567890",
        "TELEGRAM_PASSWORD": "your-2fa-password-if-enabled"
      }
    }
  }
}

VS Code Copilot

Add to .vscode/mcp.json:

{
  "servers": {
    "telegram": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["--python", "3.13", "better-telegram-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN": "123456:ABC-DEF"
      }
    }
  }
}

Docker

# Bot mode
docker run -i --rm -e TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=123456:ABC-DEF n24q02m/better-telegram-mcp

# User mode (auto-auth on first run, mount session dir for persistence)
docker run -i --rm \
  -e TELEGRAM_API_ID=12345 \
  -e TELEGRAM_API_HASH=abcdef123456 \
  -e TELEGRAM_PHONE=+84912345678 \
  -v ~/.better-telegram-mcp:/data \
  n24q02m/better-telegram-mcp

Docker config for MCP clients:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "telegram": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run", "-i", "--rm",
        "-e", "TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN",
        "n24q02m/better-telegram-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN": "123456:ABC-DEF"
      }
    }
  }
}

Note: For user mode in Docker, mount the session directory with -v ~/.better-telegram-mcp:/data so the session persists across container restarts. On first run, complete auth via config(action='auth', code='YOUR_CODE') (terminal auth is not available in Docker).

Mode Capabilities

Feature	Bot Mode	User Mode
Send messages	Y	Y
Edit messages	Y	Y
Delete messages	Y	Y
Forward messages	Y	Y
Pin messages	Y	Y
React to messages	Y	Y
Search messages	-	Y
Browse history	-	Y
List chats	-	Y
Get chat info	Y	Y
Create groups/channels	-	Y
Join/Leave chats	Partial	Y
Manage members	Y	Y
Admin promotion	Y	Y
Chat settings	Y	Y
Forum topics	Partial	Y
Send media (photo/file/voice/video)	Y	Y
Download media	-	Y
List contacts	-	Y
Search contacts	-	Y
Add contacts	-	Y
Block/Unblock users	-	Y

Tool Reference

Use the help tool for full documentation:

help(topic="messages")  # Message operations
help(topic="chats")     # Chat management
help(topic="media")     # Media send/download
help(topic="contacts")  # Contact management
help(topic="all")       # Everything

Troubleshooting

Error	Cause	Fix
No Telegram credentials found	Neither bot token nor API credentials set	Set TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN or TELEGRAM_API_ID + TELEGRAM_API_HASH
Invalid bot token	Token revoked or wrong	Regenerate via /token in @BotFather
Authentication required	Session not yet authorized	Complete auth in the terminal window, or use config(action='auth', code='YOUR_CODE') in headless environments
PhoneNumberInvalidError	Wrong phone format	Include country code with + (e.g., +84912345678)
SessionPasswordNeededError	2FA enabled but no password	Set TELEGRAM_PASSWORD env var in your MCP config
FloodWaitError	Too many auth attempts	Wait the indicated seconds before retrying
requires user mode	Action not available in bot mode	Switch to user mode (API ID + Hash)
Session lost after Docker restart	Data volume not mounted	Add -v ~/.better-telegram-mcp:/data
OTP sent but where?	Code goes to Telegram app	Check the Telegram app on your phone (not SMS, not browser). Look for a message from "Telegram" with a login code.
How to enter OTP code?	Terminal window should open	Enter the code in the terminal window that opens automatically. If no terminal (headless/Docker), use config(action='auth', code='12345')
Need to re-send OTP	Code expired or not received	Call config(action='send_code') to request a new code

Compatible With

Also by n24q02m

Server	Description	Install
better-notion-mcp	Notion API for AI agents	npx -y @n24q02m/better-notion-mcp@latest
better-email-mcp	Email (IMAP/SMTP) for AI agents	npx -y @n24q02m/better-email-mcp@latest
wet-mcp	Web search, extraction, library docs	uvx --python 3.13 wet-mcp@latest
mnemo-mcp	Persistent AI memory with hybrid search	uvx mnemo-mcp@latest
better-godot-mcp	Godot Engine for AI agents	npx -y @n24q02m/better-godot-mcp@latest

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md.

License

MIT - See LICENSE.