telegram-multi-vibes
Connect a Telegram bot to your Claude Code with an MCP server. Forked from claude-plugins-official/telegram (Apache-2.0); see LICENSE.
The MCP server logs into Telegram as a bot and provides tools to Claude to reply, react, or edit messages. When you message the bot, the server forwards the message to your Claude Code session.
This fork adds topic awareness end-to-end. Two flavours of topics work the same way in code:
- Threaded Mode in DMs (Bot API 9.4+, recommended for personal use). Toggle it on in @BotFather's mini-app: open BotFather's profile, tap Open App, pick your bot, Bot Settings → Threaded Mode. Once on, your DM with the bot becomes a forum — you can create topics inside the chat, and each topic carries its own
message_thread_id. Messages arrive with thread_id in the <channel> meta and replies thread back automatically. No supergroup needed.
- Forum supergroups also work. The same
thread_id plumbing applies, plus per-topic access policy via /telegram:access topic … — see ACCESS.md.
Multi-session support (one bot driving several concurrent Claude Code sessions, each bound to a topic) is the next milestone.
Prerequisites
- Bun — the MCP server runs on Bun. Install with
curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash.
Quick Setup
Default pairing flow for a single-user DM bot. See ACCESS.md for groups and multi-user setups.
1. Create a bot with BotFather.
Open a chat with @BotFather on Telegram and send /newbot. BotFather asks for two things:
- Name — the display name shown in chat headers (anything, can contain spaces)
- Username — a unique handle ending in
bot (e.g. my_assistant_bot). This becomes your bot's link: t.me/my_assistant_bot.
BotFather replies with a token that looks like 123456789:AAHfiqksKZ8... — that's the whole token, copy it including the leading number and colon.
2. Install the plugin.
These are Claude Code commands — run claude to start a session first.
Install the plugin:
/plugin install telegram@claude-plugins-official
/reload-plugins
3. Give the server the token.
/telegram:configure 123456789:AAHfiqksKZ8...
Writes TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=... to ~/.claude/channels/telegram/.env. You can also write that file by hand, or set the variable in your shell environment — shell takes precedence.
To run multiple bots on one machine (different tokens, separate allowlists), point TELEGRAM_STATE_DIR at a different directory per instance.
4. Relaunch with the channel flag.
The server won't connect without this — exit your session and start a new one:
claude --channels plugin:telegram@claude-plugins-official
5. Pair.
With Claude Code running from the previous step, DM your bot on Telegram — it replies with a 6-character pairing code. If the bot doesn't respond, make sure your session is running with --channels. In your Claude Code session:
/telegram:access pair <code>
Your next DM reaches the assistant.
Unlike Discord, there's no server invite step — Telegram bots accept DMs immediately. Pairing handles the user-ID lookup so you never touch numeric IDs.
6. Lock it down.
Pairing is for capturing IDs. Once you're in, switch to allowlist so strangers don't get pairing-code replies. Ask Claude to do it, or /telegram:access policy allowlist directly.
Access control
See ACCESS.md for DM policies, groups, mention detection, delivery config, skill commands, and the access.json schema.
Quick reference: IDs are numeric user IDs (get yours from @userinfobot). Default policy is pairing. ackReaction only accepts Telegram's fixed emoji whitelist.
Tools exposed to the assistant
| Tool | Purpose |
|---|
reply | Send to a chat. Takes chat_id + text, optionally reply_to (message ID) for native threading, thread_id (forum topic) so the reply lands in the same topic, and files (absolute paths) for attachments. Images (.jpg/.png/.gif/.webp) send as photos with inline preview; other types send as documents. Max 50MB each. Auto-chunks text; files send as separate messages after the text. Returns the sent message ID(s). |
react | Add an emoji reaction to a message by ID. Only Telegram's fixed whitelist is accepted (👍 👎 ❤ 🔥 👀 etc). Reactions are thread-agnostic. |
edit_message | Edit a message the bot previously sent. Useful for "working…" → result progress updates. Only works on the bot's own messages. |
Inbound messages trigger a typing indicator automatically — Telegram shows
"botname is typing…" while the assistant works on a response.
Photos
