Read chats and members; send, edit and delete messages with a bot in Telegram. For teams that run a Telegram bot for a group, channel or customers. Hosted by usefulapi — connect from Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, or any MCP client.
Team and Enterprise: an Owner adds the connector for the organization first.
Run this command, then run /mcp in Claude Code to log in:
Add to Cursor or add this to ~/.cursor/mcp.json:
{
"mcpServers": {
"telegram": {
"url": "https://telegram.usefulapi.io/mcp"
}
}
}Add to VS Code or add this to .vscode/mcp.json:
{
"servers": {
"telegram": {
"type": "http",
"url": "https://telegram.usefulapi.io/mcp"
}
}
}No Add custom MCP server option? It depends on your account or workspace settings: see OpenAI's guide.
Run these commands. The second one opens the login page:
Other MCP clients (Windsurf, Cline, Zed and more): add the URL as a remote MCP server (Streamable HTTP). The client then opens the login page in your browser. Do not add an Authorization header: see Before you connect.
Read the chat details, the member count and the administrators.
telegram_get_chat telegram_get_chat_member_count telegram_get_chat_administrators
Read the status of a person in a chat.
telegram_get_chat telegram_get_chat_member
Read the pending updates that users sent to the bot. This can remove old updates in Telegram.
Changes data · telegram_get_me telegram_get_updates
Send a text message from the bot to a chat.
Changes data · telegram_get_chat telegram_send_message
Edit the text of a message that the bot sent, or delete a message.
Changes data · telegram_edit_message_text telegram_delete_message
The login page asks for your Telegram bot token.
Open @BotFather in Telegram, send /newbot (or /mybots, then API Token). The token looks like 123456789:AA... It is used only to call the Bot API for your bot and to derive a private account id.
Add only the URL. Do not add an Authorization header or an API key to the client config. The server signs you in with OAuth: the login page asks for your Telegram bot token. If the config has such a header, remove it: some clients then send that header instead of the login token, and every call fails with 401.
Turn on the Telegram connector, then ask in plain words. The AI picks the tools.
| Tool | Type | What it does |
|---|---|---|
telegram_get_me | read | Get the bot Return the bot's own profile (id, name, username, group-join and inline settings). Use it to confirm the token works. Bot API: getMe. |
telegram_get_chat | read | Get a chat Get the details of a chat the bot belongs to: type, title, username, description, pinned message, permissions. Bot API: getChat. |
telegram_get_chat_member_count | read | Count chat members Get the number of members in a chat. Bot API: getChatMemberCount. |
telegram_get_chat_member | read | Get a chat member Get one member of a chat: status (creator, administrator, member, restricted, left, kicked) and rights. Bot API: getChatMember. |
telegram_get_chat_administrators | read | List chat administrators List the administrators of a group or channel (not other bots' hidden admins). Bot API: getChatAdministrators. |
telegram_get_updates | write | Get pending updates Read the messages and events that users sent to the bot and that wait in Telegram's queue (short poll, no wait). Without offset the same updates return again. A positive offset above an update_id, or a negative offset, deletes older updates in Telegram (this cannot be undone). allowed_updates changes the bot's saved update filter. Fails with HTTP 409 if the bot has a webhook. Bot API: getUpdates. |
telegram_send_message | write | Send a message WRITE: send a text message from the bot to a chat. The message is visible to real people and cannot be unsent except with telegram_delete_message. Bot API: sendMessage. |
telegram_edit_message_text | write | Edit a message WRITE: change the text of a message that the bot sent. This replaces the old text. Bot API: editMessageText. |
telegram_delete_message | write | Delete a message WRITE: delete a message. This cannot be undone. A bot can delete its own messages and incoming private-chat messages. In groups it needs the delete-messages admin right for other messages. Telegram allows deletion only for messages up to 48 hours old in most cases. Bot API: deleteMessage. |
telegram_usage_status | Usage status (free-tier meter) Report the caller's current usage: the plan, calls used this month, the limit of the plan (the free monthly cap or the Pro fair use limit), remaining, and whether the limit is reached. Read-only; does not count against the meter. | |
telegram_request_feature | Request a missing feature Tell usefulapi that the user needs something the Telegram tools cannot do yet (a missing tool, field or filter). Call it only when the user asks for something none of the tools can do, and tell the user that you send the request. Do not call it for errors or for normal requests. Do not include personal data, credentials or customer records. Stored with the product name and the client type (for example Claude or Cursor), without the user's account. At most 5 requests per day. Does not count against the meter. | |
telegram_upgrade | Upgrade to Pro (unlimited*) Get Pro: unlimited tool calls (fair use limit: 10,000 a month) on Telegram (the free tier caps monthly usage). Plans: "monthly" — $9/month; "yearly" — $90/year (2 months free). Cancel any time: Pro then runs to the end of the paid period, so it also suits a one-time job. *A fair use limit applies. For heavy use (near Pro's limit): "plus" or "plus_yearly" — Pro+, $39/month or $390/year, unlimited tool calls (fair use limit: 100,000 a month); an existing Pro subscription changes to Pro+ in place (needs confirm: true; the price difference for the rest of the period is charged at once). Otherwise returns a short link to open in your browser (it opens Stripe Checkout); after payment the account upgrades automatically. Does not count against the meter. | |
telegram_cancel_subscription | Cancel the Pro subscription Cancel the caller's Telegram Pro subscription at the end of the paid period (no refund for the current period; Pro continues until then, then the free tier applies). Requires confirm: true. Run telegram_upgrade later to undo the cancel before the period ends. Does not count against the meter. |
| Plan | Price | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 50 tool calls / month |
| Proper user | $9/mo · $90/yr | Unlimited* |
*Pro fair use limit: 10,000 tool calls a month on this server. For more, write to [email protected].
Pro covers this Telegram server only. Subscribe with telegram_upgrade (it returns a Stripe Checkout link). Cancel any time with telegram_cancel_subscription: Pro continues to the end of the paid period, with no refund for the current period, and running telegram_upgrade before then undoes the cancel. Or write to [email protected].
Check a group or channel. Look up one chat member. Read the messages that wait for the bot. Send an announcement. Correct or remove a message. See what you can do for the details.
No. usefulapi is an independent service. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Telegram. The server calls the Telegram API with your own Telegram access, so it sees only the data that your account can see.
Yes. In Claude, add this server's URL as a custom connector. In ChatGPT, add it as a custom MCP server in Plugins. Then log in once. Cursor, VS Code, Claude Code and Codex work too. See the setup steps.
The login page asks for your Telegram bot token. See Before you connect for where to find it.
No. Add only the URL. Do not add an Authorization header or an API key to the client config. The server signs you in with OAuth: the login page asks for your Telegram bot token. If the config has such a header, remove it: some clients then send that header instead of the login token, and every call fails with 401.
The login stores them encrypted in the authorization grant of your connection. The server uses them to call the Telegram API for you and to derive a private account id for usage metering. usefulapi does not show them on any page or in any reply. To stop all access, remove the connector and change or delete these credentials in Telegram.
Yes, if you approve it. 4 of the 9 Telegram tools can create or change data. The other 5 are marked read-only. Most MCP clients ask you to approve a tool call before it runs.
The Free plan gives 50 tool calls / month. Pro costs $9/mo or $90/yr, with unlimited tool calls (fair use limit: 10,000 tool calls a month), for this Telegram server only. Cancel any time: Pro then runs to the end of the paid period. Run telegram_usage_status to see how many calls you used.
Ask the AI to run telegram_upgrade: it returns a Stripe Checkout link. To cancel, run telegram_cancel_subscription. Pro continues to the end of the paid period.
Tell the AI what you wanted to do. It can send the request with telegram_request_feature. We store the text with the server name, the type of AI client and the tool you tried, not with your account, and read every request when we plan new tools. You can send up to 5 requests per day.
Any client that supports remote MCP servers (Streamable HTTP) with OAuth login: Claude (web and desktop), Claude Code, ChatGPT, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf and others.
This is a Model Context Protocol endpoint — meant to be connected from an AI client, not opened in a browser. An invalid_token response at the URL is the auth gate working as designed; clients authenticate automatically.
Need a tool this server does not have, or a connection to another system? We build custom integrations and MCP servers.