===============================
Working with Chats and Channels
===============================


.. note::

    These examples assume you have read :ref:`accessing-the-full-api`.


Joining a chat or channel
*************************

Note that :tl:`Chat` are normal groups, and :tl:`Channel` are a
special form of :tl:`Chat`, which can also be super-groups if
their ``megagroup`` member is ``True``.


Joining a public channel
************************

Once you have the :ref:`entity <entities>` of the channel you want to join
to, you can make use of the :tl:`JoinChannelRequest` to join such channel:

.. code-block:: python

    from telethon.tl.functions.channels import JoinChannelRequest
    loop.run_until_complete(client(JoinChannelRequest(channel)))

    # In the same way, you can also leave such channel
    from telethon.tl.functions.channels import LeaveChannelRequest
    loop.run_until_complete(client(LeaveChannelRequest(input_channel)))


For more on channels, check the `channels namespace`__.


__ https://lonamiwebs.github.io/Telethon/methods/channels/index.html


Joining a private chat or channel
*********************************

If all you have is a link like this one:
``https://t.me/joinchat/AAAAAFFszQPyPEZ7wgxLtd``, you already have
enough information to join! The part after the
``https://t.me/joinchat/``, this is, ``AAAAAFFszQPyPEZ7wgxLtd`` on this
example, is the ``hash`` of the chat or channel. Now you can use
:tl:`ImportChatInviteRequest` as follows:

.. code-block:: python

    from telethon.tl.functions.messages import ImportChatInviteRequest
    updates = loop.run_until_complete(
        client(ImportChatInviteRequest('AAAAAEHbEkejzxUjAUCfYg'))
    )


Adding someone else to such chat or channel
*******************************************

If you don't want to add yourself, maybe because you're already in,
you can always add someone else with the :tl:`AddChatUserRequest`, which
use is very straightforward, or :tl:`InviteToChannelRequest` for channels:

.. code-block:: python

    # For normal chats
    from telethon.tl.functions.messages import AddChatUserRequest

    # Note that ``user_to_add`` is NOT the name of the parameter.
    # It's the user you want to add (``user_id=user_to_add``).
    loop.run_until_complete(client(AddChatUserRequest(
        chat_id,
        user_to_add,
        fwd_limit=10  # Allow the user to see the 10 last messages
    )))

    # For channels (which includes megagroups)
    from telethon.tl.functions.channels import InviteToChannelRequest

    loop.run_until_complete(client(InviteToChannelRequest(
        channel,
        [users_to_add]
    )))


Checking a link without joining
*******************************

If you don't need to join but rather check whether it's a group or a
channel, you can use the :tl:`CheckChatInviteRequest`, which takes in
the hash of said channel or group.


Retrieving all chat members (channels too)
******************************************

.. note::

    Use the `telethon.telegram_client.TelegramClient.iter_participants`
    friendly method instead unless you have a better reason not to!

    This method will handle different chat types for you automatically.


Here is the easy way to do it:

.. code-block:: python

    participants = loop.run_until_complete(client.get_participants(group))

Now we will show how the method works internally.

In order to get all the members from a mega-group or channel, you need
to use :tl:`GetParticipantsRequest`. As we can see it needs an
:tl:`InputChannel`, (passing the mega-group or channel you're going to
use will work), and a mandatory :tl:`ChannelParticipantsFilter`. The
closest thing to "no filter" is to simply use
:tl:`ChannelParticipantsSearch` with an empty ``'q'`` string.

If we want to get *all* the members, we need to use a moving offset and
a fixed limit:

.. code-block:: python

    from telethon.tl.functions.channels import GetParticipantsRequest
    from telethon.tl.types import ChannelParticipantsSearch
    from time import sleep

    offset = 0
    limit = 100
    all_participants = []

    while True:
        participants = loop.run_until_complete(client(GetParticipantsRequest(
            channel, ChannelParticipantsSearch(''), offset, limit, hash=0
        )))
        if not participants.users:
            break
        all_participants.extend(participants.users)
        offset += len(participants.users)


.. note::

    If you need more than 10,000 members from a group you should use the
    mentioned ``client.get_participants(..., aggressive=True)``. It will
    do some tricks behind the scenes to get as many entities as possible.
    Refer to `issue 573`__ for more on this.


Note that :tl:`GetParticipantsRequest` returns :tl:`ChannelParticipants`,
which may have more information you need (like the role of the
participants, total count of members, etc.)

__ https://github.com/LonamiWebs/Telethon/issues/573


Recent Actions
**************

"Recent actions" is simply the name official applications have given to
the "admin log". Simply use :tl:`GetAdminLogRequest` for that, and
you'll get AdminLogResults.events in return which in turn has the final
`.action`__.

__ https://lonamiwebs.github.io/Telethon/types/channel_admin_log_event_action.html


Admin Permissions
*****************

Giving or revoking admin permissions can be done with the :tl:`EditAdminRequest`:

.. code-block:: python

    from telethon.tl.functions.channels import EditAdminRequest
    from telethon.tl.types import ChannelAdminRights

    # You need both the channel and who to grant permissions
    # They can either be channel/user or input channel/input user.
    #
    # ChannelAdminRights is a list of granted permissions.
    # Set to True those you want to give.
    rights = ChannelAdminRights(
        post_messages=None,
        add_admins=None,
        invite_users=None,
        change_info=True,
        ban_users=None,
        delete_messages=True,
        pin_messages=True,
        invite_link=None,
        edit_messages=None
    )
    # Equivalent to:
    #     rights = ChannelAdminRights(
    #         change_info=True,
    #         delete_messages=True,
    #         pin_messages=True
    #     )

    # Once you have a ChannelAdminRights, invoke it
    loop.run_until_complete(client(EditAdminRequest(channel, user, rights)))

    # User will now be able to change group info, delete other people's
    # messages and pin messages.


.. note::

    Thanks to `@Kyle2142`__ for `pointing out`__ that you **cannot** set all
    parameters to ``True`` to give a user full permissions, as not all
    permissions are related to both broadcast channels/megagroups.

    E.g. trying to set ``post_messages=True`` in a megagroup will raise an
    error. It is recommended to always use keyword arguments, and to set only
    the permissions the user needs. If you don't need to change a permission,
    it can be omitted (full list `here`__).


Restricting Users
*****************

Similar to how you give or revoke admin permissions, you can edit the
banned rights of an user through :tl:`EditBannedRequest` and its parameter
:tl:`ChannelBannedRights`:

.. code-block:: python

    from telethon.tl.functions.channels import EditBannedRequest
    from telethon.tl.types import ChannelBannedRights

    from datetime import datetime, timedelta

    # Restricting an user for 7 days, only allowing view/send messages.
    #
    # Note that it's "reversed". You must set to ``True`` the permissions
    # you want to REMOVE, and leave as ``None`` those you want to KEEP.
    rights = ChannelBannedRights(
        until_date=datetime.now() + timedelta(days=7),
        view_messages=None,
        send_messages=None,
        send_media=True,
        send_stickers=True,
        send_gifs=True,
        send_games=True,
        send_inline=True,
        embed_links=True
    )

    # The above is equivalent to
    rights = ChannelBannedRights(
        until_date=datetime.now() + timedelta(days=7),
        send_media=True,
        send_stickers=True,
        send_gifs=True,
        send_games=True,
        send_inline=True,
        embed_links=True
    )

    loop.run_until_complete(client(EditBannedRequest(channel, user, rights)))


Kicking a member
****************

Telegram doesn't actually have a request to kick an user from a group.
Instead, you need to restrict them so they can't see messages. Any date
is enough:

.. code-block:: python

    from telethon.tl.functions.channels import EditBannedRequest
    from telethon.tl.types import ChannelBannedRights

    loop.run_until_complete(client(EditBannedRequest(
        channel, user, ChannelBannedRights(
            until_date=None,
            view_messages=True
        )
    )))


__ https://github.com/Kyle2142
__ https://github.com/LonamiWebs/Telethon/issues/490
__ https://lonamiwebs.github.io/Telethon/constructors/channel_admin_rights.html


Increasing View Count in a Channel
**********************************

It has been asked `quite`__ `a few`__ `times`__ (really, `many`__), and
while I don't understand why so many people ask this, the solution is to
use :tl:`GetMessagesViewsRequest`, setting ``increment=True``:

.. code-block:: python


    # Obtain `channel' through dialogs or through client.get_entity() or anyhow.
    # Obtain `msg_ids' through `.get_messages()` or anyhow. Must be a list.

    loop.run_until_complete(client(GetMessagesViewsRequest(
        peer=channel,
        id=msg_ids,
        increment=True
    )))


Note that you can only do this **once or twice a day** per account,
running this in a loop will obviously not increase the views forever
unless you wait a day between each iteration. If you run it any sooner
than that, the views simply won't be increased.

__ https://github.com/LonamiWebs/Telethon/issues/233
__ https://github.com/LonamiWebs/Telethon/issues/305
__ https://github.com/LonamiWebs/Telethon/issues/409
__ https://github.com/LonamiWebs/Telethon/issues/447