Search Telegram Messages

Search messages globally across all chats or within a specific chat.

Self-Evolving Skill: This skill improves through use. If instructions are wrong, parameters drifted, or a workaround was needed — fix this file immediately, don't defer. Only update for real, reproducible issues.

Preflight

1. Session must exist: ~/.local/share/telethon/<profile>.session
   • If missing, run /tlg:setup first

Usage

/usr/bin/env bash << 'EOF'
SCRIPT="${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT:-$HOME/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/cc-skills/plugins/tlg}/scripts/tg-cli.py"

# Global search (all chats)
uv run --python 3.13 "$SCRIPT" search "search term" -n 20

# Search in specific chat
uv run --python 3.13 "$SCRIPT" search "keyword" --chat 2124832490

# Filter by sender
uv run --python 3.13 "$SCRIPT" search "topic" --from @username

# Combined: search in chat from specific sender
uv run --python 3.13 "$SCRIPT" search "query" --chat @groupname --from @sender -n 10
EOF

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
query	string	Search text (required)
--chat	string/int	Limit to specific chat (omit for global)
--from	string/int	Filter by sender
-n/--limit	int	Max results (default: 20)

Output Format

[YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM] [Chat Name] (id:12345) Sender: Message text...

Anti-Patterns

• Flood risk: Global search with common terms may hit rate limits (~30s wait per 10 requests)
• Empty results: Global search requires non-empty query string

Post-Execution Reflection

After this skill completes, check before closing:

1. Did the command succeed? — If not, fix the instruction or error table that caused the failure.
2. Did parameters or output change? — If tg-cli.py's interface drifted, update Usage examples and Parameters table to match.
3. Was a workaround needed? — If you had to improvise (different flags, extra steps), update this SKILL.md so the next invocation doesn't need the same workaround.

Only update if the issue is real and reproducible — not speculative.