View source for Telegram

{{Infobox project
| title = Telegram
| logo = Telegram-icon.png
| image = Telegram - 7-3-22.png
| URL = http://telegram.org
| project_status = {{online}}
| archiving_status = {{inprogress}}
| archiving_type = DPoS
| source = [https://github.com/ArchiveTeam/telegram-grab telegram-grab], [https://github.com/ArchiveTeam/telegram-items telegram-items]
| tracker = [https://tracker.archiveteam.org/telegram telegram]
| irc = telegrab
| data = {{IA id|archiveteam_telegram}}
}}

'''Telegram''' is a mostly open source chat system (web and app-based) which acts as a social network due to features like group chats and channels, originally intended as a drop-in replacement for [[WhatsApp]].

Like [[Facebook]] pages/groups and [[Twitter]], Telegram chats can contain a significant amount of history (text, audio/video and images) of various online communities, as well as personal digital history.

== Structure ==

Channels on Telegram are essentially public streams of posts, similar to Twitter or RSS.

Since 2019-06-01 ([https://telegram.org/blog/privacy-discussions-web-bots update blog post]), it is possible to "preview" channels on the web (e.g. @Telegram at [https://telegram.me/s/Telegram] or [https://t.me/s/Telegram]).

{{CTA URL lists |regex = <nowiki>(telegram\.me|//([^/]*\.)?t\.me)(:\d+)?/(?!share/)\S+</nowiki> |broad = true}}

== Discovery ==
Since November 2023 Telegram offers a [https://telegram.org/blog/similar-channels similar channels] function. This function can be used to discover relevant channels on a specific subject. The 'Similar channels' function can be accessed through the telegram client.

The Python script [https://github.com/MargotP/telegram_similar_channels_finder Telegram Similar Channels Finder] uses the Telegram API to discover similar channels.

== Export methods ==

=== Web data only ===

These tools archive Telegram channels through their web view. Only public channels can be saved this way, and certain attachments (including PDFs and some very long videos) are not available.

ArchiveTeam's [https://github.com/ArchiveTeam/telegram-grab telegram project] archives as WARC, supporting all available web data (and including outlinks). Suggestions are welcome! A bot in the project IRC channel accepts archival requests for eventual upload into the Wayback Machine; it understands the following commands:
* <code>!help</code> prints a help message listing available commands.
* <code>!a</code> archives Telegram data once.
** <code>!a <url></code> archives the given [https://t.me/ t.me] url (autodetecting the page type).
** <code>!a channel:<channel name></code> archives the given channel.
** <code>!a post:<channel name>:<post id></code> archives the given post, including any discussions.
* <code>!p</code> archives a Telegram channel once immediately, then queues it for periodic re-archiving. (This is preferred for active, significant channels.)
**<code>!p <channel> <interval> <time-to-live></code> archives the given channel (as <code><url></code> or <code>channel:<name></code>) once every <code>interval</code> seconds for the next <code>time-to-live</code> seconds (optional, default 1 year).
* <code>!pget</code>, <code>!prenew</code>, or <code>!pdelete</code> <code><channel></code> gets info for, renews, or deletes a periodic item, respectively.
* <code>!pdump</code> dumps info for all periodic items.

[https://github.com/JustAnotherArchivist/snscrape snscrape] exports textual channel data as JSONL (media support is pending).

==== Deprecated ====

* [[Chromebot]] was once used, but has been shut down due to data integrity issues. (Old jobs can be found via [[ArchiveBot/Telegram_channels|this wiki]].)
* [[ArchiveBot]] was once used, but due to its lack of Javascript support, its results are inferior to those of the special-purpose Telegram project. Use the Telegram bot instead. (Old jobs can be found via [https://archive.fart.website/archivebot/viewer/domain/telegram.me the] [https://archive.fart.website/archivebot/viewer/domain/t.me viewer].)

=== All data ===

* The official Telegram Desktop app exports as HTML or JSON.
* [https://github.com/expectocode/telegram-export telegram-export] (no longer maintained)
* [https://github.com/tvdstaaij/telegram-history-dump#usage telegram-history-dump] (no longer maintained); [https://www.haykranen.nl/2014/12/02/howto-backup-your-telegram-chats/ introduction]
* [https://www.reddit.com/r/Telegram/comments/443pav/qa_exporting_telegram_messages_search_no_help/czu4n05 Pidgin sync]

See also [https://www.bellingcat.com/resources/how-tos/2022/03/08/how-to-archive-telegram-content-to-document-russias-invasion-of-ukraine/ Bellingcat's guide].

== See also ==
* [https://pad.notkiska.pw/p/telegram-channel-lists etherpad of third-party channel lists]
* [[ArchiveBot/Telegram]] (some sites related to Telegram)

{{Template:Instant messengers}}

[[Category:Social networks]]