Telegram Search API
Returns the public Telegram channels a web search index has seen for your keywords, one row per channel, with the pages that matched and, on request, exact subscriber counts.
GET /v1/telegram/searchLast updated November 2026Maintained by the SocialCrawl team
When to use the Telegram Search API
Use it to find channels selling or discussing a product or brand, then read them with profile/posts. The index lags behind Telegram, so treat it as discovery, not a live feed.
From the API reference
Finds public Telegram channels by keyword, so you can pick the channels to read with /v1/telegram/profile and /v1/telegram/profile/posts. Channels are discovered through a public web search index limited to t.me pages, so this finds what that index has already seen: it is not real time, a channel or message from the last few days may not appear yet, and private channels and invite-only groups never appear. Returns one row per channel, in the order the search found them, on the same Author shape /v1/telegram/profile returns: author.username is the public handle (pass it as handle), author.url is https://t.me/<handle>, and author.display_name is the channel's title when the search result carried it (null when the result showed only the handle). author.ext.search_hit says how the channel was found: match is channel_page (the channel's own page) or post_in_channel (a message or the message preview), title and snippet are the hit as the index showed it, evidence_url is the first page that matched, and matched_urls lists every t.me page the search matched for that channel, so you can open the exact messages. The snippet is the index's text, not the channel's description, so author.bio stays null on a plain call, as do author.followers, author.avatar_url and author.verified. Send include=details and every channel is joined, in the same call, to the profile lookup: the exact subscriber count (author.followers), the description (author.bio), the avatar, the verified flag and, where it was null, the title land on each row. Words in query match loosely; put a phrase in double quotes to require it, and add -word to exclude a word. Cost: 2 credits for the page, plus 1 credit per channel filled from a fresh lookup with include=details (at most 10 a page, so 12 credits at most); channels already in cache are free, channels that could not be filled are refunded, and a search that finds no public channel is a 404 at 0 credits. Time: a plain page takes about 2 to 12 seconds; include=details adds a few seconds on a fresh page (the lookups run in parallel and the call waits for the slowest, never more than 10 seconds) and nothing when the channels are already cached. The response carries a hydration block itemising rows, lookups, cache hits, credits and milliseconds. A page holds up to 10 channels, fewer when several hits belong to one channel. Forward pagination.next_cursor as cursor for the next page; the same channel can appear again on a later page. Keyword hits include coupon and reseller channels that merely contain your words: send relevance=filter to drop the channels that are not about your query, or add relevant_to= with a sentence describing the channels you want (for example shops selling cheap or replica watches) to judge them against that instead; each channel is judged on its title and the search snippet.
Searching 69 platforms in parallel
What can you do with the Search API?
The Search endpoint gives you structured Telegram data with computed fields in a single request. No scraping infrastructure to build or maintain.
Example Request
# GET /v1/telegram/search: Metered: holds 2 credits per page up front and refunds what the call does not use. Cache hits are free and failed calls are refunded.
# Check the price first for 0 credits: add dry_run=1 to the query. Nothing is fetched or charged.
# --max-time 20: this endpoint's measured p99 latency x 1.5.
# --retry 3: retries timeouts, 429 and 5xx, honoring Retry-After.
# -o response.json keeps only the final attempt's body.
# One Idempotency-Key per request, reused on every retry, so a retried call is never charged twice.
# Next page: send pagination.next_cursor back as cursor until pagination.has_more is false.
IDEMPOTENCY_KEY=$(od -An -N16 -tx1 /dev/urandom | tr -d ' \n')
curl -sS --max-time 20 --retry 3 -o response.json \
-H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Idempotency-Key: $IDEMPOTENCY_KEY" \
"https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/telegram/search?query=byd+spare+parts&relevance=filter&date_posted=last-hour" && cat response.json# GET /v1/telegram/search: Metered: holds 2 credits per page up front and refunds what the call does not use. Cache hits are free and failed calls are refunded.
# Check the price first for 0 credits: add dry_run=1 to the query. Nothing is fetched or charged.
import os
import random
import time
import uuid
import requests
API_KEY = os.environ.get("SOCIALCRAWL_API_KEY", "YOUR_API_KEY")
TIMEOUT_S = 20 # this endpoint's measured p99 latency x 1.5.
MAX_RETRIES = 3
URL = "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/telegram/search"
def backoff(attempt):
# Exponential backoff with jitter: about 1 s, 2 s, then 4 s.
return 2 ** attempt * (0.5 + random.random() / 2)
def socialcrawl(params):
# One Idempotency-Key per request, reused on every retry, so a retried call is never charged twice.
idempotency_key = str(uuid.uuid4())
for attempt in range(MAX_RETRIES + 1):
try:
res = requests.get(
URL,
params=params,
headers={"x-api-key": API_KEY, "Idempotency-Key": idempotency_key},
timeout=TIMEOUT_S,
)
body = res.json()
except (requests.RequestException, ValueError):
# A timeout, a dropped connection or a non-JSON gateway page: retry with the same key.
if attempt == MAX_RETRIES:
raise
time.sleep(backoff(attempt))
continue
if body["success"]:
return body
error = body["error"]
# Branch on error["type"], never on the message text.
if error["type"] == "RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND":
return None # refunded: nothing to read
retry_after = res.headers.get("Retry-After")
# SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE without Retry-After is a withdrawn endpoint: permanent.
permanent = error["type"] == "SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE" and retry_after is None
if not error.get("retryable") or permanent or attempt == MAX_RETRIES:
raise RuntimeError(f"{error['type']}: {error['message']} (request_id {body['request_id']})")
# Retry-After (seconds) wins; otherwise back off.
time.sleep(float(retry_after) if retry_after else backoff(attempt))
params = {
"query": "byd spare parts",
"relevance": "filter",
"date_posted": "last-hour",
}
# Walk the list: send pagination.next_cursor back as cursor until has_more is false.
MAX_PAGES = 10 # each page is one call
items = []
for _ in range(MAX_PAGES):
body = socialcrawl(params)
if body is None:
break
items.extend(body["data"]["items"])
page = body.get("pagination") or {}
if not page.get("has_more") or not page.get("next_cursor"):
break
params["cursor"] = page["next_cursor"]
print(f"{len(items)} items")// GET /v1/telegram/search: Metered: holds 2 credits per page up front and refunds what the call does not use. Cache hits are free and failed calls are refunded.
// Check the price first for 0 credits: add dry_run=1 to the query. Nothing is fetched or charged.
const API_KEY = process.env.SOCIALCRAWL_API_KEY ?? "YOUR_API_KEY";
const TIMEOUT_MS = 20_000; // this endpoint's measured p99 latency x 1.5.
const MAX_RETRIES = 3;
type Page = { next_cursor: string | null; has_more: boolean };
type SocialCrawlResponse =
| { success: true; data: any; pagination?: Page; credits_used: number; request_id: string }
| { success: false; error: { type: string; message: string; retryable: boolean }; request_id: string };
const sleep = (ms: number) => new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
// Exponential backoff with jitter: about 1 s, 2 s, then 4 s.
const backoffMs = (attempt: number) => 2 ** attempt * 1000 * (0.5 + Math.random() / 2);
async function socialcrawl(url: URL) {
// One Idempotency-Key per request, reused on every retry, so a retried call is never charged twice.
const idempotencyKey = crypto.randomUUID();
for (let attempt = 0; ; attempt++) {
let res: Response;
let body: SocialCrawlResponse;
try {
res = await fetch(url, {
headers: {
"x-api-key": API_KEY,
"Idempotency-Key": idempotencyKey,
},
signal: AbortSignal.timeout(TIMEOUT_MS),
});
body = (await res.json()) as SocialCrawlResponse;
} catch (error) {
// A timeout, a dropped connection or a non-JSON gateway page: retry with the same key.
if (attempt >= MAX_RETRIES) throw error;
await sleep(backoffMs(attempt));
continue;
}
if (body.success) return body;
// Branch on error.type, never on the message text.
if (body.error.type === "RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND") return null; // refunded: nothing to read
const retryAfter = res.headers.get("Retry-After");
// SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE without Retry-After is a withdrawn endpoint: permanent.
const permanent = body.error.type === "SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE" && retryAfter === null;
if (!body.error.retryable || permanent || attempt >= MAX_RETRIES) {
throw new Error(`${body.error.type}: ${body.error.message} (request_id ${body.request_id})`);
}
// Retry-After (seconds) wins; otherwise back off.
await sleep(retryAfter ? Number(retryAfter) * 1000 : backoffMs(attempt));
}
}
const url = new URL("https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/telegram/search");
url.searchParams.set("query", "byd spare parts");
url.searchParams.set("relevance", "filter");
url.searchParams.set("date_posted", "last-hour");
// Walk the list: send pagination.next_cursor back as cursor until has_more is false.
const MAX_PAGES = 10; // each page is one call
const items: unknown[] = [];
for (let page = 0; page < MAX_PAGES; page++) {
const body = await socialcrawl(url);
if (!body) break;
items.push(...body.data.items);
const next = body.pagination?.next_cursor;
if (!body.pagination?.has_more || !next) break;
url.searchParams.set("cursor", next);
}
console.log(`${items.length} items`);Parameters worth sending
relevance=filterDrops rows that are not about your query, at no extra credits; relevance=score keeps them and adds a score.date_posted=last-hourOnly posts from this time window.
Parameters
| Parameter | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| query | Yes | Keywords describing the channels or messages to find, for example `byd spare parts`. Put a phrase in double quotes to require it. Keywords only: the search is already limited to public Telegram pages, so a `site:` operator is refused before billing. |
| page | No | Page number, starting at 1. Forwarding `pagination.next_cursor` as `cursor` does the same. |
| date_posted | No | Only pages the search index dates within this window: last-hour, last-day, last-week, last-month or last-year. Useful for monitoring new activity. (last-hour | last-day | last-week | last-month | last-year) |
| region | No | Two-letter country code (US, AE, IN, KR) whose results to prefer. |
| limit | No | Return at most this many channels from the page (1 to 10). With `include=details` it also lowers the credits held, one per channel. |
| include | No | Set to `details` (one token only) to fill, on every channel in this one call, `author.followers` (the exact subscriber count), `author.bio` (the description), `author.avatar_url`, `author.verified`, and the title where it was null. Holds 1 credit per channel (at most 10 a page) and keeps only the channels filled from a fresh lookup; channels already in cache and channels the lookup cannot fill are refunded, so a page is never more than 12 credits. Read `data.hydration` for the rows, the credits held and kept, and the time. Without it the call is unchanged. (details) |
| relevance | No | Optional. Without this param every row already carries computed.relevance against your query, free ({ p, sense, depth, spam }: is this row about what your query means, or a different thing that shares its words?), and nothing is dropped or reordered. score asks for it explicitly and waits for every row; filter also drops the rows that are not about your query, and lists their ids in data.relevance.dropped_ids. Your query is the topic; nothing to configure. A row that could not be judged is never dropped and carries relevance: null. Pagination is unchanged, so a filtered page can hold fewer rows. Free with your query as the topic; with relevant_to it adds 1 credit per started 25 newly judged rows (rows already judged for the same topic are free, and so is a cached page). (score | filter) |
| relevance_threshold | No | Optional, only with relevance. The probability (0 to 1) a row must reach to be kept by relevance=filter. Default 0.5. Lower keeps more rows, higher keeps fewer. |
| relevant_to | No | Optional, only with relevance. Up to 200 characters describing what you mean, used as the topic instead of the query. Use it when the query is ambiguous, for example query=cleopatra with relevant_to=Cleopatra, the IGT slot game. |
| judgments | No | Optional, on (the default) or off. By default every row gains free SocialCrawl judgments (computed.labels, and computed.relevance on search endpoints), reported in data.labels (mode default) and data.relevance (origin default), each with a status (complete, partial or skipped) and pending: the rows still being judged when the page was sent, which carry null now and are filled on your next call or cached read. Default judgments never add credits, never change an existing field, and never drop or reorder a row. off returns the page exactly as before, with none of those keys. label=none does the same. (on | off) |
| dry_run | No | Optional. When 1, return a cost preview for this labelled or relevance-filtered request without fetching the page or judging any row. data.estimate reports rows_expected, rows_cached, label_credits_min, label_credits_max and base_credits. 0 credits charged. (1) |
| fit | No | Optional. When goal, keep the rows and fields needed for the goal you pass in goal= (plus any that are uncertain, and the first and last), and replace the rest with a stub. data.held_back lists the held ids and a recall id that re-reads the full page from cache at no extra charge. Without this param the page is unchanged. (goal) |
| goal | No | Required by fit=goal. What you are trying to do, in your own words, up to 300 characters. |
| fit_tokens | No | Optional, only with fit=goal. Soft cap on how much of the page to keep, in tokens. Uncertain blocks and the first and last block are kept even if they exceed it. |
| max_pages | No | 1 to 50 (default 1, or 50 when `max_items` or `max_credits` is sent). Walk up to this many pages in one call and return the rows from all of them. Each page walked is billed exactly as one call to this endpoint (a cached page is free) and counts against your rate limit; its charge and any refund are recorded under the page's own request id, listed in `data.walk.request_ids`. The walk stops early at the last page, or when the request's time budget runs low; `data.walk.stopped` says why (`end`, `max_pages`, `max_items`, `max_credits`, `time_budget`, `page_error`) and `pagination.next_cursor` continues from where it stopped. |
| max_items | No | 1 to 5000. Get more in one call: keep walking pages until the response holds at least this many rows, then stop with `data.walk.stopped: "max_items"`. The last page is returned whole (it was billed), so `data.items` can hold up to one page more than this, and `pagination.next_cursor` resumes right after it without skipping a row. Walks up to 50 pages unless `max_pages` says fewer; each page is billed as one call (a cached page is free). Add `max_credits` to cap the spend. A long walk can stop on the time budget first (`"time_budget"`): send the returned cursor with the same params to continue. |
| max_credits | No | 1 to 100000. The most this call may spend, across every page it walks. A page starts only while the credits already spent plus that page's price (or, when higher, the most any page of this walk has cost) still fit, so the call never goes past it; the walk then stops with `data.walk.stopped: "max_credits"` and the cursor to resume. Sent alone, it walks as far as the budget goes (up to 50 pages). A value below the price of one page is a free 400 whose `error.details.page_credits` names that price. Credits a row join (`include=`) adds are known only once a page has run, so page 1 is checked against its own price. |
What does the Telegram Search API return?
Every response follows one unified schema. Here is a real, unmodified response body, so you can see the exact fields you get back before spending a credit.
Example response
{
"success": true,
"platform": "tiktok",
"endpoint": "/v1/tiktok/search/users",
"data": {
"items": [
{
"author": {
"id": "user_0e9522",
"username": "user_759369",
"display_name": "user_f0b019",
"avatar_url": "https://example.com/avatars/user_0ab01c.png",
"bio": null,
"verified": null,
"followers": 4214875,
"following": 1,
"posts_count": 2341,
"likes_count": 62731828,
"url": null,
"location": null
}
},
{
"author": {
"id": "user_d26411",
"username": "user_1f51ed",
"display_name": "user_1f51ed",
"avatar_url": "https://example.com/avatars/user_a81e65.png",
"bio": null,
"verified": null,
"followers": 1780390,
"following": 1,
"posts_count": 995,
"likes_count": 10060260,
"url": null,
"location": null
}
},
{
"author": {
"id": "user_679d13",
"username": "user_c5d687",
"display_name": "user_8803ea",
"avatar_url": "https://example.com/avatars/user_67de4c.png",
"bio": null,
"verified": null,
"followers": 338243,
"following": 374,
"posts_count": 464,
"likes_count": 2140124,
"url": null,
"location": null
}
}
],
"next_cursor": "30",
"total": 30,
"dropped": 0
},
"credits_used": 1,
"credits_remaining": 9999,
"request_id": "req-8Kq2ZmR4vT9xLb3P",
"cached": false,
"pagination": {
"next_cursor": "sc.eyJ2IjoyLCJjIjoiMzAiLCJwIjoiY3Vyc29yIn0",
"has_more": true,
"page_size": 30
},
"redacted": true
}Example captured from the TikTok API. Every SocialCrawl endpoint returns this same unified schema, so your Telegram Search response has the same fields.
How does the Telegram Search API work?
Send a GET request with your API key and get back clean, structured JSON in our unified schema. Supported computed fields are populated when the source provides the required inputs.
Method
GET
Response
JSON
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import requests
response = requests.get(
'https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/tiktok/profile',
params={'handle': 'charlidamelio'},
headers={'x-api-key': 'sc_YOUR_API_KEY'}
)
data = response.json(){
"success": true,
"platform": "tiktok",
"data": {
"author": {
"username": "charlidamelio",
"followers": 152400000
},
"engagement": {
"likes": 12400000000,
"engagement_rate": 0.087
},
"metadata": {
"language": "en",
"content_category": "lifestyle"
}
}
}Have a question? We got answers
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