How to track new members in a Telegram channel using a bot?

Other Questions Telegram bot
1

Hey everyone,

I’m working on a Telegram bot project and I’ve got it set up as an admin in my channel. Now I’m trying to figure out two things:

  1. Is there a way to get a list of all the members in the channel?
  2. Can the bot detect when a new user joins the channel?

I’ve looked through the Telegram Bot API docs, but I’m not sure if I’m missing something. Has anyone done this before? Any tips or code snippets would be super helpful!

Thanks in advance for your help!

2

I’ve dealt with similar challenges in my Telegram bot projects. Unfortunately, bots can’t directly access a full member list for privacy reasons. However, you can track new joins if your bot has the right permissions.

For detecting new members, use the ‘chat_member_updated’ event. Set up a webhook or use long polling to catch these updates. When a user joins, you’ll receive an event with their info.

Keep in mind, this only works for new joins after you set it up. You won’t get retroactive data on existing members. Also, users can opt out of being visible to bots, so it’s not 100% foolproof.

If you need more detailed tracking, consider using MTProto API instead of the Bot API, but that’s more complex to implement.

3

hey grace, i’ve messed with telegram bots before. sadly, getting all members isn’t possible for bots. but new joins? that’s doable!

use the ‘chat_member_updated’ event to catch newbies. just make sure ur bot has the right permissions set up. it won’t catch old members tho, only new ones after u set it up.

hope that helps!

4

As someone who’s been deep in the Telegram bot game for a while, I can share a bit of insight on this. The member list issue is tricky - bots can’t grab that data directly due to Telegram’s privacy rules. It’s frustrating, but it’s there to protect users.

For tracking new joins, you’ll want to leverage the ‘chat_member_updated’ event. It’s pretty reliable, but remember it only catches new members from the point you implement it. You’ll need to set up a webhook or use long polling to catch these events effectively.

One thing to keep in mind: some users might have their privacy settings cranked up, which can make them invisible to bots. It’s not perfect, but it’s the best we’ve got within the Bot API constraints.

If you’re dead set on getting more comprehensive member data, you might need to look into using the MTProto API. Fair warning though, it’s a whole different beast in terms of complexity.