=============================== Working with Chats and Channels =============================== .. note:: These examples assume you have read :ref:`full-api`. .. contents:: 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 ` 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 client(JoinChannelRequest(channel)) # In the same way, you can also leave such channel from telethon.tl.functions.channels import LeaveChannelRequest client(LeaveChannelRequest(input_channel)) For more on channels, check the `channels namespace`__. __ https://tl.telethon.dev/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 = 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``). 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 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. 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 ChatAdminRights # You need both the channel and who to grant permissions # They can either be channel/user or input channel/input user. # # ChatAdminRights is a list of granted permissions. # Set to True those you want to give. rights = ChatAdminRights( 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 = ChatAdminRights( # change_info=True, # delete_messages=True, # pin_messages=True # ) # Once you have a ChatAdminRights, invoke it client(EditAdminRequest(channel, user, rights)) # User will now be able to change group info, delete other people's # messages and pin messages. # # In a normal chat, you should do this instead: from telethon.tl.functions.messages import EditChatAdminRequest client(EditChatAdminRequest(chat_id, user, is_admin=True)) .. 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 a user through :tl:`EditBannedRequest` and its parameter :tl:`ChatBannedRights`: .. code-block:: python from telethon.tl.functions.channels import EditBannedRequest from telethon.tl.types import ChatBannedRights from datetime import datetime, timedelta # Restricting a 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 = ChatBannedRights( until_date=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 = ChatBannedRights( 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 ) client(EditBannedRequest(channel, user, rights)) You can use a `datetime.datetime` object for ``until_date=``, a `datetime.timedelta` or even a Unix timestamp. Note that if you ban someone for less than 30 seconds or for more than 366 days, Telegram will consider the ban to actually last forever. This is officially documented under https://core.telegram.org/bots/api#restrictchatmember. Kicking a member ================ Telegram doesn't actually have a request to kick a 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 ChatBannedRights client(EditBannedRequest( channel, user, ChatBannedRights( until_date=None, view_messages=True ) )) __ https://github.com/Kyle2142 __ https://github.com/LonamiWebs/Telethon/issues/490 __ https://tl.telethon.dev/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. 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