Telegram cli

Source & Trust

1. Repository: https://github.com/baontq23/node-telegram-cli
2. npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/node-telegram-cli (published with provenance)
3. Credentials are stored securely via OS Keychain (macOS Keychain / Windows Credential Manager / Linux Secret Service), not in plaintext files

Installation

1. Requires Node.js >= 20
2. Install globally: npm install -g node-telegram-cli
3. Verify: ntg --version
4. Run ntg login once — interactive, requires phone number + OTP code from Telegram

Critical Rule: Always Use JSON Mode

1. Add --json flag to every command for machine-readable output
2. --json is a global flag — place it before or after the subcommand
3. Example: ntg --json inbox, ntg --json search @user "keyword"

Peer Format

1. @username — most reliable, e.g. @johndoe
2. Phone number — for contacts without username, e.g. +84901234567
3. me — your own Saved Messages
4. Chat title — group/channel name in quotes, e.g. "My Group"

Read Commands (No Side Effects)

1. ntg --json inbox — list recent conversations
2. ntg --json inbox --unread — only unread conversations
3. ntg --json inbox --private — only private 1-on-1 chats
4. ntg --json inbox --unread --private — combine filters
5. ntg --json inbox --chat --limit — messages from a specific chat
6. ntg --json search "keyword" — search in a specific chat
7. ntg --json global-search "keyword" — search across all chats
8. ntg --json chat-info — show group/channel info

Write Commands (Has Side Effects)

1. ntg msg "text" — send a text message
2. ntg msg "text" --silent — send silently (no notification sound)
3. ntg fwd — forward a message by ID
4. ntg mark-read — mark all messages as read
5. ntg delete-msg — delete a message
6. ntg send-photo — send a photo
7. ntg send-video — send a video
8. ntg send-file — send a text file as plain messages
9. ntg download --chat — download media from a message
10. ntg download --chat --type — specify media type (photo, video, audio, doc)
11. ntg view --chat — download and open with system viewer
12. ntg clean-downloads — delete all downloaded media files

Group Management

1. ntg create-group "Topic" @user1 @user2 — create a new group
2. ntg chat-add — add a user to a group
3. ntg chat-kick — remove a user from a group
4. ntg chat-rename "New Name" — rename a group
5. ntg chat-set-photo — set group photo

Contact Management

1. ntg add-contact — add a contact
2. ntg rename-contact — rename a contact

JSON Output Schemas

Inbox (conversation list)

1. name — contact/chat display name
2. peer — identifier to use as argument
3. peerType — "username" | "phone" | "id"
4. type — "user" | "group" | "channel"
5. unreadCount — number of unread messages
6. lastMessage — text/caption (empty string if media-only)
7. lastMessageId — use with ntg download for media
8. mediaType — "photo" | "video" | "document" | "audio" | "voice" | "sticker" | "location" | "contact" | "poll" | null
9. date — ISO 8601 timestamp

Chat messages (inbox --chat)

1. id — message ID
2. date — ISO 8601 timestamp
3. sender — sender display name
4. text — message text/caption
5. mediaType — same values as above
6. isOutgoing — true if sent by you

Error Handling

1. Exit code 0 = success
2. Exit code 1 = error (not logged in, peer not found, etc.)
3. If not logged in, commands fail with: "Not logged in. Run ntg login first."

Important Notes

1. Do NOT use ntg chat — it is interactive, blocks stdin, not suitable for automation
2. Session persists until ntg logout is called — no re-login needed between commands
3. Downloaded files are saved to ~/.telegram-cli/downloads/
4. Always specify --chat when downloading media to identify the source chat