tg

A dead-simple Telegram CLI. One file, no frameworks, just works.

tg send "John" "hey, what's up?"
tg read "John" 20
tg chats
tg search "dev group"
tg file "John" ./photo.jpg

Setup

1. Get api_id and api_hash from my.telegram.org

2. Install dependency:

   pip install telethon
   

3. Create config file ~/.tg.conf:

   TG_API_ID=12345
   TG_API_HASH=your_hash_here
   

   Or set environment variables TG_API_ID and TG_API_HASH.

4. Login:

   python3 tg login
   

   Enter your phone number and the verification code Telegram sends you. Done.

Usage

Command	Description
tg send <chat> <message>	Send a text message
tg read <chat> [n]	Read last n messages (default 10)
tg chats [n]	List recent chats (default 20)
tg search <query>	Search contacts/chats by name
tg file <chat> <path>	Send a file, image, or video
tg unread	Show all unread messages
tg watch [interval]	Poll for new messages (default 30s)
tg login	Login or verify your session

<chat> can be:

• A display name: "John Doe" (exact or partial match)
• A username: @johndoe
• A phone number: +1234567890

Install globally

chmod +x tg
sudo cp tg /usr/local/bin/

Requirements

• Python 3.8+
• Telethon

License

MIT