Telegram MCP Server

Telegram MCP Server is a community project maintained by overpod that makes Telegram accessible to AI agents such as Claude or ChatGPT via the Model Context Protocol. It is not an official Telegram product; Telegram itself is not involved in its development or operation. The official product page is https://mcp-telegram.com, and the repository https://github.com/mcp-telegram/mcp-telegram contains source code, license, and README. Per the provider, it is the most feature-complete Telegram MCP server available, with 181 tools.

MTProto instead of the Bot API

Unlike many Telegram integrations, the server does not use the limited Bot API but the broader MTProto protocol via the GramJS library. That means it runs as a so-called userbot, acting on behalf of the personal Telegram account of whoever sets it up - not as a separate bot account, and not on behalf of Skill Road or any third party. As a result, an agent generally gains access to the same scope of chats, contacts, and message history that the account owner sees in the Telegram app.

Feature scope

Per the README, the server covers messages, media, reactions, polls, scheduled messages, stickers, contact and profile management, forum topics, chat folders, global search across all chats, inline bots and buttons, stories, read-receipt status, admin functions for channels and groups, and channel/group statistics. According to the provider, a shared background daemon can serve multiple MCP clients from a single Telegram session.

Setup: self-host or cloud version

For self-hosting, the server is started via npx and requires your own Telegram API credentials (API_ID and API_HASH) from my.telegram.org, plus a one-time QR-code login whose session is then stored locally. Alternatively, the provider offers a hosted cloud version at mcp-telegram.com, described as requiring no personal API keys and being ready via QR-code login in a short time. Skill Road only lists this catalog entry with links to both official routes; installation happens exclusively through the linked provider sources.

Permissions, data access, and security boundaries

Because the server runs as a userbot with the full account access of whoever sets it up, the intended scope should be clearly defined in advance. A compromised session token could potentially allow reading and writing across every chat, contact, and channel visible to that account. Credentials and session files belong only in secure, local storage or environment variables, never in prompts, commits, or publicly accessible configuration files. For sensitive business-related features such as Stars balances, the README requires a separate opt-in via environment variable, which helps prevent accidental activation.

License, GitHub stars, and fit

The repository is MIT licensed. The GitHub API reported exactly 42 stars on 2026-09-07; that number is a snapshot of repository popularity, not evidence of security, quality, or long-term maintenance. The server itself is open source and free to use; the cloud version's specific terms may vary by provider plan, so this public entry does not state fixed prices. Messaging & Communication is the right category because the server makes chat content, contacts, and messaging actions accessible to agents.

A sensible first test is a secondary account or a narrowly scoped use case, such as summarizing a single channel, before granting full account access for production automation.

Node.js 18 or newer, a personal Telegram account, and either Telegram API credentials (API_ID/API_HASH) for self-hosting or an account on the hosted cloud version.

For self-hosting, run npx @overpod/mcp-telegram login with your own API_ID/API_HASH and sign in via QR code, or alternatively use the hosted cloud version at mcp-telegram.com.

npx @overpod/mcp-telegram login

QR-code login with your own Telegram account; self-hosting additionally requires API_ID and API_HASH from my.telegram.org, with the session stored locally.

The server acts as a userbot with the full access scope of the connected personal Telegram account, including chats, contacts, and message history.

Tool calls access Telegram chats, media, and account data of the connected account via MTProto and return results to the MCP client.

As a community project unaffiliated with Telegram, a compromised session lets the server act with the account owner’s full access scope; session files and API credentials belong only in secure, local storage.