Telegram-Scraper – A Powerful Python Script That Allows You To Scrape Messages And Media From Telegram Channels Using The Telethon Library
A powerful Python script that allows you to scrape messages and media from Telegram channels using the Telethon library. Features include real-time continuous scraping, media downloading, and data export capabilities.
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Features π
- Scrape messages from multiple Telegram channels
- Download media files (photos, documents)
- Real-time continuous scraping
- Export data to JSON and CSV formats
- SQLite database storage
- Resume capability (saves progress)
- Media reprocessing for failed downloads
- Progress tracking
- Interactive menu interface
Prerequisites π
Before running the script, you’ll need:
- Python 3.7 or higher
- Telegram account
- API credentials from Telegram
Required Python packages
pip install -r requirements.txt
Contents of requirements.txt
:
telethon
aiohttp
asyncio
Getting Telegram API Credentials π
- Visit https://my.telegram.org/auth
- Log in with your phone number
- Click on “API development tools”
- Fill in the form:
- App title: Your app name
- Short name: Your app short name
- Platform: Can be left as “Desktop”
- Description: Brief description of your app
- Click “Create application”
- You’ll receive:
api_id
: A numberapi_hash
: A string of letters and numbers
Keep these credentials safe, you’ll need them to run the script!
Setup and Running π§
- Clone the repository:
git clone https://github.com/unnohwn/telegram-scraper.git
cd telegram-scraper
- Install requirements:
pip install -r requirements.txt
- Run the script:
python telegram-scraper.py
- On first run, you’ll be prompted to enter:
- Your API ID
- Your API Hash
- Your phone number (with country code)
- Your phone number (with country code) or bot, but use the phone number option when prompted second time.
- Verification code (sent to your Telegram)
Initial Scraping Behavior π
When scraping a channel for the first time, please note:
- The script will attempt to retrieve the entire channel history, starting from the oldest messages
- Initial scraping can take several minutes or even hours, depending on:
- The total number of messages in the channel
- Whether media downloading is enabled
- The size and number of media files
- Your internet connection speed
- Telegram’s rate limiting
- The script uses pagination and maintains state, so if interrupted, it can resume from where it left off
- Progress percentage is displayed in real-time to track the scraping status
- Messages are stored in the database as they are scraped, so you can start analyzing available data even before the scraping is complete
Usage π
The script provides an interactive menu with the following options:
- [A] Add new channel
- Enter the channel ID or channelname
- [R] Remove channel
- Remove a channel from scraping list
- [S] Scrape all channels
- One-time scraping of all configured channels
- [M] Toggle media scraping
- Enable/disable downloading of media files
- [C] Continuous scraping
- Real-time monitoring of channels for new messages
- [E] Export data
- Export to JSON and CSV formats
- [V] View saved channels
- List all saved channels
- [L] List account channels
- List all channels with ID:s for account
- [Q] Quit
Channel IDs π’
You can use either: – Channel username (e.g., channelname
) – Channel ID (e.g., -1001234567890
)
Data Storage πΎ
Database Structure
Data is stored in SQLite databases, one per channel: – Location: ./channelname/channelname.db
– Table: messages
– id
: Primary key – message_id
: Telegram message ID – date
: Message timestamp – sender_id
: Sender’s Telegram ID – first_name
: Sender’s first name – last_name
: Sender’s last name – username
: Sender’s username – message
: Message text – media_type
: Type of media (if any) – media_path
: Local path to downloaded media – reply_to
: ID of replied message (if any)
Media Storage π
Media files are stored in: – Location: ./channelname/media/
– Files are named using message ID or original filename
Exported Data π
Data can be exported in two formats: 1. CSV: ./channelname/channelname.csv
– Human-readable spreadsheet format – Easy to import into Excel/Google Sheets
- JSON:
./channelname/channelname.json
- Structured data format
- Ideal for programmatic processing
Features in Detail π
Continuous Scraping
The continuous scraping feature ([C]
option) allows you to: – Monitor channels in real-time – Automatically download new messages – Download media as it’s posted – Run indefinitely until interrupted (Ctrl+C) – Maintains state between runs
Media Handling
The script can download: – Photos – Documents – Other media types supported by Telegram – Automatically retries failed downloads – Skips existing files to avoid duplicates
Error Handling π οΈ
The script includes: – Automatic retry mechanism for failed media downloads – State preservation in case of interruption – Flood control compliance – Error logging for failed operations
Limitations β οΈ
- Respects Telegram’s rate limits
- Can only access public channels or channels you’re a member of
- Media download size limits apply as per Telegram’s restrictions
Contributing π€
Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.
License π
This project is licensed under the MIT License – see the LICENSE file for details.
Disclaimer βοΈ
This tool is for educational purposes only. Make sure to: – Respect Telegram’s Terms of Service – Obtain necessary permissions before scraping – Use responsibly and ethically – Comply with data protection regulations
Original Source: kitploit.com
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