Telegram CLI for AI Agents

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Introduction

CLIs are eating MCPs. The industry is converging on the very same idea. MCPs for all their merit can be token hungry, slow, and unreliable for complex tool chaining. However, coding agents have become incredibly good at working with CLIs, and in fact they are far more comfortable working with CLI tools than MCP.

With Composio's Universal CLI, your coding agents can talk to over 850+ SaaS applications. With Telegram, agents can send a welcome message to new group members, forward latest announcement to all admins, get total member count of your group, and more — all without worrying about authentication.

This guide walks you through Composio Universal CLI and explains how you can connect it with coding agents like Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, etc, for end-to-end Telegram automation.

Also integrate Telegram with

What is Universal CLI and why use it?

The idea behind building the universal CLI is to give agents a single command interface to interact with all your external applications. Here's what you'll get with it:

  • Agent-friendly: Coding agents like Claude Code, Codex, and OpenCode can use CLI tools natively — no MCP setup required.
  • Authentication handled: Connect once via OAuth or API Key, and all CLI commands work with your credentials automatically.
  • Tool discovery: Search, inspect, and execute 20,000+ tools across 850+ apps from one interface.
  • Trigger support: Use triggers to listen for events across your apps, powered by real-time webhooks or polling under the hood.
  • Type generation: Generate typed schemas for autocomplete and type safety in your projects.

Prerequisites

Install the Composio CLI, authenticate, and initialize your project:

bash
# Install the Composio CLI
curl -fsSL https://composio.dev/install | bash

# Authenticate with Composio
composio login

During login you'll be redirected to sign in page, finish the complete flow and you're all set.

Composio CLI authentication flow

Connecting Telegram to Coding Agents via Universal CLI

Once it is installed, it's essentially done. Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, OpenClaw, or any other agent will be able to access the CLI. A few steps to give agents access to your apps.

  1. Launch your Coding Agent — Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, anything you prefer.
  2. Prompt it to "Authenticate with Telegram"
  3. Complete the authentication and authorization flow and your Telegram integration is all set.
  4. Start asking anything you want.

Supported Tools & Triggers

Tools
Answer Callback QueryUse this method to send answers to callback queries sent from inline keyboards.
Delete MessageDelete a message, including service messages, with certain limitations.
Edit MessageEdit text messages sent by the bot.
Export Chat Invite LinkGenerate a new primary invite link for a chat; any previously generated primary link is revoked.
Forward MessageForward messages of any kind.
Get Chat InfoGet up to date information about the chat (current name of the user for one-on-one conversations, current username of a user, group or channel, etc.
Get Chat AdministratorsGet a list of administrators in a chat.
Get Chat HistoryGet chat history messages.
Get Chat Members CountGet the number of members in a chat.
Get Bot InfoGet basic information about the bot using the bot api getme method.
Get UpdatesUse this method to receive incoming updates using long polling.
Send DocumentSend general files (documents) to a telegram chat using the bot api.
Send LocationSend point on the map location to a telegram chat using the bot api.
Send MessageSend a text message to a telegram chat using the bot api.
Send PhotoSend photos to a telegram chat using the bot api.
Send PollSend a native poll to a telegram chat using the bot api.
Set Bot CommandsUse this method to change the list of the bot's commands.

Universal CLI Commands for Telegram

You can also manually execute CLI commands to interact with your Telegram.

Connect your Telegram account

Link your Telegram account and verify the connection:

bash
# Connect your Telegram account (opens OAuth flow)
composio connected-accounts link telegram

# Verify the connection
composio connected-accounts list --toolkits telegram

Discover Telegram tools

Search and inspect available Telegram tools:

bash
# List all available Telegram tools
composio tools list --toolkit telegram

# Search for Telegram tools by action
composio tools search "telegram"

# Inspect a tool's input schema
composio tools info TELEGRAM_ANSWER_CALLBACK_QUERY

Common Telegram Actions

Answer Callback Query — Use this method to send answers to callback queries sent from inline keyboards

bash
composio tools execute TELEGRAM_ANSWER_CALLBACK_QUERY \
  --callback_query_id "123456789012345678"

Delete Message — Delete a message, including service messages, with certain limitations

bash
composio tools execute TELEGRAM_DELETE_MESSAGE \
  --chat_id "123456789" \
  --message_id "123"

Edit Message — Edit text messages sent by the bot

bash
composio tools execute TELEGRAM_EDIT_MESSAGE \
  --text "Updated message text"

Export Chat Invite Link — Generate a new primary invite link for a chat; any previously generated primary link is revoked

bash
composio tools execute TELEGRAM_EXPORT_CHAT_INVITE_LINK \
  --chat_id "123456789"

Generate Type Definitions

Generate typed schemas for Telegram tools to get autocomplete and type safety in your project:

bash
# Auto-detect language
composio generate --toolkits telegram

# TypeScript
composio ts generate --toolkits telegram

# Python
composio py generate --toolkits telegram

Tips & Tricks

  • Always inspect a tool's input schema before executing: composio tools info <TOOL_NAME>
  • Pipe output with jq for better readability: composio tools execute TOOL_NAME -d '{}' | jq
  • Set COMPOSIO_API_KEY as an environment variable for CI/CD pipelines
  • Use composio dev logs tools to inspect execution logs and debug issues

Next Steps

  • Try asking your coding agent to perform various Telegram operations
  • Explore cross-app workflows by connecting more toolkits
  • Set up triggers for real-time automation
  • Use composio generate for typed schemas in your projects

How to build Telegram MCP Agent with another framework

OpenAI Agents SDK

OpenAI Agents SDK

Use Telegram MCP with OpenAI Agents SDK

Claude Agent SDK

Claude Agent SDK

Use Telegram MCP with Claude Agent SDK

Claude Code

Claude Code

Use Telegram MCP with Claude Code

Codex

Codex

Use Telegram MCP with Codex

OpenClaw

OpenClaw

Use Telegram MCP with OpenClaw

Google ADK

Google ADK

Use Telegram MCP with Google ADK

LangChain

LangChain

Use Telegram MCP with LangChain

Vercel AI SDK

Vercel AI SDK

Use Telegram MCP with Vercel AI SDK

Mastra AI

Mastra AI

Use Telegram MCP with Mastra AI

LlamaIndex

LlamaIndex

Use Telegram MCP with LlamaIndex

CrewAI

CrewAI

Use Telegram MCP with CrewAI

FAQ

What is the Composio Universal CLI?

The Composio Universal CLI is a single command-line interface that lets coding agents and developers interact with 850+ SaaS applications. It handles authentication, tool discovery, action execution, and trigger setup — all from the terminal, without needing to configure MCP servers.

Which coding agents work with the Composio CLI?

Any coding agent that can run shell commands works with the Composio CLI — including Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, OpenClaw, and others. Once the CLI is installed, agents automatically discover and use the composio commands to interact with Telegram and other connected apps.

How is the CLI different from using an MCP server for Telegram?

MCP servers require configuration and can be token-heavy for complex workflows. The CLI gives agents a direct, lightweight interface — no server setup needed. Agents simply call composio commands like any other shell tool. It's faster to set up, more reliable for multi-step tool chaining, and works natively with how coding agents already operate.

How safe is my Telegram data when using the Composio CLI?

All sensitive data such as tokens, keys, and configuration is fully encrypted at rest and in transit. Composio is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant and follows strict security practices so your Telegram data and credentials are handled as safely as possible. You can also bring your own OAuth credentials for full control.

Used by agents from

Context
Letta
glean
HubSpot
Agent.ai
Altera
DataStax
Entelligence
Rolai
Context
Letta
glean
HubSpot
Agent.ai
Altera
DataStax
Entelligence
Rolai
Context
Letta
glean
HubSpot
Agent.ai
Altera
DataStax
Entelligence
Rolai

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