knadh/tg-archive

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

1. tg-archive --new --path=mysite (creates a new site. cd into mysite and edit config.yaml).
2. 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.
3. 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.