tg-archive 0.3.2 on PyPI

tg-archive is a tool for exporting Telegram group chats into static websites, preserving chat history like mailing list archives.

Preview

The @fossunited Telegram group archive.

How it works

tg-archive uses the Telethon Telegram API client to periodically sync messages from a group to a local SQLite database (file), downloading only new messages since the last sync. It then generates a static archive website of messages to be published anywhere.

Features

Periodically sync Telegram group messages to a local DB.
Download user avatars locally.
Download and embed media (files, documents, photos).
Renders poll results.
Use emoji alternatives in place of stickers.
Single file Jinja HTML template for generating the static site.
Year / Month / Day indexes with deep linking across pages.
"In reply to" on replies with links to parent messages across pages.
RSS / Atom feed of recent messages.

Install

Get Telegram API credentials. Normal user account API and not the Bot API.
- If this page produces an alert stating only "ERROR", disconnect from any proxy/vpn and try again in a different browser.
Install with pip3 install tg-archive (tested with Python 3.8.6).

Usage

tg-archive --new --path=mysite (creates a new site. cd into mysite and edit config.yaml).
tg-archive --sync (syncs data into data.sqlite). Note: First time connection will prompt for your phone number + a Telegram auth code sent to the app. On successful auth, a session.session file is created. DO NOT SHARE this session file publicly as it contains the API autorization for your account.
tg-archive --build (builds the static site into the site directory, which can be published)

Customization

Edit the generated template.html and static assets in the ./static directory to customize the site.

Note

The sync can be stopped (Ctrl+C) any time to be resumed later.
Setup a cron job to periodically sync messages and re-publish the archive.
Downloading large media files and long message history from large groups continuously may run into Telegram API's rate limits. Watch the debug output.

Licensed under the MIT license.