tg-cli

Apps & Automation

CLI skill for Telegram to sync chats, search messages, filter keywords, and monitor groups from the terminal

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Source SKILL.md: https://github.com/jackwener/tg-cli/blob/HEAD/SKILL.md

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tg-cli Skill

CLI tool for Telegram — sync chats, search messages, filter keywords, send messages, and monitor groups.

Prerequisites

# Install (requires Python 3.10+)
uv tool install kabi-tg-cli
# Or: pipx install kabi-tg-cli

# Upgrade to latest (recommended to avoid API errors)
uv tool upgrade kabi-tg-cli
# Or: pipx upgrade kabi-tg-cli

Authentication

Uses your Telegram account (MTProto). Built-in Telegram Desktop API credentials are used by default — no application needed.

tg chats              # First run: enter phone + verification code
tg whoami             # Check current user

# Optional: use your own app credentials
export TG_API_ID=123456
export TG_API_HASH=your_telegram_app_hash

Command Reference

Telegram Operations

tg chats                          # List joined chats
tg chats --type group             # Filter by type
tg status                         # Check auth/session status
tg status --yaml                  # Structured auth status
tg whoami                         # Show current user info
tg whoami --yaml                  # Preferred structured output for agents
tg history CHAT -n 1000           # Fetch historical messages
tg sync CHAT                      # Incremental sync (only new)
tg sync-all                       # Low-level sync for all current dialogs
tg refresh                        # Recommended daily refresh entrypoint
tg listen                         # Real-time listener
tg listen --persist               # Reconnect automatically for a near-live cache
tg info CHAT                      # Chat details
tg send CHAT "Hello!"             # Send a message

Search & Query

tg search "Rust"                     # Search stored messages
tg search "Rust" -c "牛油果" --yaml  # Filter by chat + preferred YAML output
tg search "Rust|Golang" --regex      # Regex search
tg search "Rust" --sync-first --yaml # Refresh before querying
tg recent --hours 24 -n 20 --yaml    # Browse latest messages
tg recent --hours 24 --sync-first    # Refresh before browsing recent
tg filter "Rust,Golang,Java"         # Multi-keyword filter (today)
tg filter "招聘,remote" --hours 48   # Filter last N hours
tg today --sync-first                # Refresh before reading today's messages
tg stats --sync-first                # Refresh before aggregate stats
tg top -c "牛油果" --hours 24 --sync-first
tg timeline --by hour --sync-first   # Activity bar chart

Data Management

tg export CHAT -f json -o out.json   # Export messages
tg export CHAT --hours 24            # Export last 24 hours
tg purge CHAT -y                     # Delete stored messages

Structured Output

Major commands support --json and --yaml for machine-readable output. AI agents should prefer --yaml unless a strict JSON parser is required:

tg search "Rust" --yaml
tg status --yaml
tg whoami --yaml
tg today --yaml
tg filter "招聘" --hours 48 --yaml

When stdout is not a TTY, tg-cli defaults to YAML automatically. Use OUTPUT=yaml|json|rich|auto to override the default output mode. All machine-readable output uses the envelope documented in SCHEMA.md.

Refresh Model

tg-cli is local-first. Query commands read from the local SQLite cache by default.

Use tg refresh as the normal entrypoint before analysis.
Use --sync-first when a single query should refresh before reading.
Use tg listen --persist if you want a near-real-time local cache.
Keep tg sync-all for lower-level scripts or schedulers.

Common Patterns for AI Agents

# Quick daily workflow
tg refresh --yaml                    # Refresh everything
tg today --sync-first --yaml         # See today's messages
tg filter "Rust,Golang" --hours 24 --sync-first --yaml

# Search and export for analysis
tg search "招聘" -n 100 --yaml > jobs.yaml
tg filter "远程,remote,Web3" --hours 72 --yaml > filtered.yaml

# Send messages
tg send "GroupName" "Hello from CLI!"

Debugging

tg -v sync-all       # Debug logging for troubleshooting
tg -v refresh        # See refresh behavior across dialogs
tg -v stats          # See SQL queries and timing

Error Handling

Commands exit with code 0 on success, non-zero on failure
Error messages are prefixed with ✗ or shown in red
Chat names are fuzzy-matched (partial name works)
refresh and sync-all gracefully skip chats that can't be found

Scheduling

Examples live in the repository:

examples/tg-refresh.cron
examples/systemd/tg-refresh.service
examples/systemd/tg-refresh.timer

Safety Notes

Do not ask users to share phone numbers or verification codes in chat logs.
Session data is stored locally and never uploaded.