Telegram Search CLI

Telegram Search CLI

Use the CLI as a local-first data tool. Let the agent compose atomic commands; do not require the web UI or a daemon.

Contracts

• Treat stdout as exactly one JSON envelope. Read diagnostics, prompts, migration output, and progress from stderr.
• Use chats list and messages list for bounded remote reads without persistence.
• Use local messages query, search, context, stats, and export without connecting to Telegram.
• Use sync --takeout for message persistence and bulk history. Add --takeout only after the user explicitly approves the selected chats, time range, and data scope.
• Stop when consent is missing or Telegram delays/rejects Takeout. Never fall back to ordinary history reads for bulk synchronization.
• Treat TAKEOUT_AUTHORIZATION_REQUIRED as a blocking user action, not a retryable delay. Ask the user to review and authorize the pending data export request on one of their Telegram devices. Resume sync --takeout only after the user confirms and Telegram allows it; never sleep and retry automatically.
• Never request or expose API hashes, login codes, 2FA passwords, StringSessions, private chat names, or message text in reports.
• Never send messages or modify Telegram data.

Common workflow

Work from the checkout containing the CLI or use an installed tg-search executable. Build the workspace CLI when packages/cli/dist/index.mjs is absent or stale:

pnpm -F @tg-search/cli build

List profiles and discover chats:

pnpm cli profile list
pnpm cli --profile=<profile> chats list --limit 200

Read a bounded remote range without persistence:

pnpm cli --profile=<profile> messages list \
  --chat <chat-id> --from <ISO-time> --to <ISO-time> --limit 100

After explicit user approval, persist the approved range through Takeout:

pnpm cli --profile=<profile> sync --takeout \
  --chat <chat-id> --from <ISO-time> --to <ISO-time> --limit 100000

Analyze the local database:

pnpm cli --profile=<profile> messages query --chat <chat-id> --sender <user-id> --from <ISO-time> --to <ISO-time>
pnpm cli --profile=<profile> search '<query>' --chat <chat-id>
pnpm cli --profile=<profile> context --chat <chat-id> --message <message-id> --before 20 --after 20
pnpm cli --profile=<profile> stats --group-by month --timezone Asia/Singapore --chat <chat-id>
pnpm cli --profile=<profile> export --timezone Asia/Singapore --chat <chat-id> --output <directory>

Treat a remote total field as informational. Telegram does not guarantee it reflects sender and date filters; calculate exact filtered counts from the authorized local dataset.

Login gate

If credentials or authorization are missing, ask the user to complete login locally:

pnpm cli --profile=<profile> profile configure --apiId <id> --apiHash <hash>
pnpm cli --profile=<profile> auth login --phone <phone>

Do not ask the user to paste authentication secrets into chat. Resume only after the user confirms login.

Optional real E2E canary

Use the bundled canary only when validating the real CLI boundary. Mocks, offline smoke tests, and in-process handlers are not E2E.

Discover candidate chats without persistence:

node .agents/skills/telegram-search-cli/scripts/run-canary.mjs \
  --profile <profile> --discover

After selecting the smallest practical chat/time range and obtaining explicit Takeout approval, run:

node .agents/skills/telegram-search-cli/scripts/run-canary.mjs \
  --profile <profile> \
  --chat <chat-id> \
  --from <ISO-time> \
  --to <ISO-time> \
  --takeout

The canary must prove remote discovery/read, approved Takeout sync, local query/context/search/stats, and deterministic export. Inspect summary.json and report only stage counts and the local evidence directory. Keep evidence private with directory mode 0700 and file mode 0600.

Report blocked when authorization, explicit Takeout approval, or a non-empty bounded range is unavailable. Report failed only when an attempted stage violates its contract or produces inconsistent evidence.