/tdl

📥 Telegram Downloader, but more than a downloader

Primary LanguageGoGNU Affero General Public License v3.0AGPL-3.0

tdl

📥 Telegram Downloader, but more than a downloader 🚀

Contents

Features

  • Single file start-up
  • Low resource usage
  • Take up all your bandwidth
  • Faster than official clients
  • Download files from (protected) chats
  • Upload files to Telegram

Preview

It reaches my proxy's speed limit, and the speed depends on whether you are a premium

Install

Go to GitHub Releases to download the latest version

(optional) Use it everywhere:

# Should run as root(Administrator)
# Linux & macOS
sudo mv tdl /usr/bin
# Windows (PowerShell)
Move-Item tdl.exe C:\Windows\System32

Install with a package manager:

# Scoop (Windows) https://scoop.sh/#/apps?s=2&d=1&o=true&p=1&q=telegram+downloader
scoop bucket add extras
scoop install telegram-downloader

Quick Start

# login with existing official desktop clients (recommended)
tdl login -n quickstart -d /path/to/Desktop-Telegram-Client
# if you set a local passcode
tdl login -n quickstart -d /path/to/Desktop-Telegram-Client -p YOUR_PASSCODE
# or login with phone & code
tdl login -n quickstart

tdl dl -n quickstart -u https://t.me/telegram/193

Usage

  • Get help
tdl -h
  • Check the version
tdl version

Basic Configs

The following command documents will not write basic configs. Please add the basic configs you need.

Each namespace represents a Telegram account

You should set the namespace when each command is executed:

tdl -n iyear
# or
export TDL_NS=iyear # recommended
  • (optional) Set the proxy. Only support socks now:
tdl --proxy socks5://localhost:1080
# or
export TDL_PROXY=socks5://localhost:1080 # recommended
  • (optional) Set ntp server host. If is empty, use system time:
tdl --ntp pool.ntp.org
# or
export TDL_NTP=pool.ntp.org # recommended

Login

When you first use tdl, you need to login to get a Telegram session

This may reduce the risk of blocking, but is unproven:

tdl login -d /path/to/Telegram
# if you set a local passcode
tdl login -d /path/to/Telegram -p YOUR_PASSCODE
  • Login to Telegram with phone & code:
tdl login

Download

Please do not arbitrarily set too large threads and size.

The default value of options is consistent with official clients to reduce the risk of blocking.

If you need higher speed, set higher threads and size

For details: iyear#30

  • Download (protected) chat files from message urls:
tdl dl -u https://t.me/tdl/1 -u https://t.me/tdl/2
tdl dl -f result1.json -f result2.json
  • You can combine sources:
tdl dl \
-u https://t.me/tdl/1 -u https://t.me/tdl/2 \
-f result1.json -f result2.json
  • Download with 8 threads, 512KiB(MAX) part size, 4 concurrent tasks:
tdl dl -u https://t.me/tdl/1 -t 8 -s 524288 -l 4
  • Download with real extension according to MIME type:

Note If the file extension is not matched with the MIME type, tdl will rename the file with the correct extension.

Side effect: like .apk file, it will be renamed to .zip.

tdl dl -u https://t.me/tdl/1 --rewrite-ext
  • Skip the same files when downloading:

Note IF: file name(without extension) and size is the same

tdl dl -u https://t.me/tdl/1 --skip-same
  • Download files to custom directory:
tdl dl -u https://t.me/tdl/1 -d /path/to/dir
  • Download files with custom order:

Note Different order will affect resuming download

# download files in descending order(from newest to oldest)
tdl dl -f result.json --desc
# Default is ascending order
tdl dl -f result.json
  • Download files with extension filters:

Note The extension is only matched with the file name, not the MIME type. So it may not work as expected.

Whitelist and blacklist can not be used at the same time.

# whitelist filter, only download files with `.jpg` `.png` extension
tdl dl -u https://t.me/tdl/1 -i jpg,png

# blacklist filter, download all files except `.mp4` `.flv` extension
tdl dl -u https://t.me/tdl/1 -e mp4,flv
  • Download with custom file name template:

Following the go template syntax, you can use the variables:

Var Desc
DialogID Telegram dialog id
MessageID Telegram message id
MessageDate Telegram message date(ts)
FileName Telegram file name
FileSize Human-readable file size, like 1GB
DownloadDate Download date(ts) 
tdl dl -u https://t.me/tdl/1 \
--template "{{ .DialogID }}_{{ .MessageID }}_{{ .DownloadDate }}_{{ .FileName }}"
  • Full example:
tdl dl --debug --ntp pool.ntp.org \
-n iyear --proxy socks5://localhost:1080 \
-u https://t.me/tdl/1 -u https://t.me/tdl/2 \
-f result1.json -f result2.json \
--rewrite-ext --skip-same -i jpg,png \
-d /path/to/dir --desc \
-t 8 -s 262144 -l 4

Upload

Same instructions and advanced options as Download

  • Upload files to Saved Messages, exclude the specified file extensions:
tdl up -p /path/to/file -p /path/to/dir -e .so -e .tmp
  • Upload with 8 threads, 512KiB(MAX) part size, 4 concurrent tasks:
tdl up -p /path/to/file -t 8 -s 524288 -l 4
  • Upload to custom chat:
# chat input examples: `@iyear`, `iyear`, `123456789`(chat id), `https://t.me/iyear`, `+1 123456789`

# empty chat means `Saved Messages`
tdl up -p /path/to/file -c CHAT_INPUT
  • Full example:
tdl up --debug --ntp pool.ntp.org \
-n iyear --proxy socks5://localhost:1080 \
-p /path/to/file -p /path/to/dir \
-e .so -e .tmp \
-t 8 -s 262144 -l 4
-c @iyear

Backup

Backup or recover your data

  • Backup (Default: tdl-backup-<time>.zip):
tdl backup
# or specify the backup file path
tdl backup -d /path/to/backup.zip
  • Recover:
tdl recover -f /path/to/backup.zip

Chat Utilities

Some useful utils

  • List all your chats:
tdl chat ls
  • Export minimal JSON for tdl download (NOT for backup):
# will export all media files in the chat.
# chat input examples: `@iyear`, `iyear`, `123456789`(chat id), `https://t.me/iyear`, `+1 123456789`

# export all messages
tdl chat export -c CHAT_INPUT

# specify the time period with timestamp format, default is start from 1970-01-01, end to now
tdl chat export -c CHAT_INPUT --from 1665700000 --to 1665761624
# or (timestamp is default format)
tdl chat export -c CHAT_INPUT --from 1665700000 --to 1665761624 --time

# specify with message id format, default is start from 0, end to latest message
tdl chat export -c CHAT_INPUT --from 100 --to 500 --msg

# specify the output file path, default is `tdl-export.json`
tdl chat export -c CHAT_INPUT -o /path/to/output.json

Env

Avoid typing the same flag values repeatedly every time by setting environment variables.

Note: The values of all environment variables have a lower priority than flags.

What flags mean: flags

NAME FLAG
TDL_NS -n/--ns
TDL_PROXY --proxy
TDL_DEBUG --debug
TDL_SIZE -s/--size
TDL_THREADS -t/--threads
TDL_LIMIT -l/--limit
TDL_NTP --ntp
TDL_TEMPLATE dl --template

Data

Your account information will be stored in the ~/.tdl directory.

Log files will be stored in the ~/.tdl/log directory.

Commands

Go to docs for full command docs.

Best Practice

How to minimize the risk of blocking?

  • Login with the official client session.
  • Use the default download and upload options as possible. Do not set too large threads and size.
  • Do not use the same account to login on multiple devices at the same time.
  • Don't download or upload too many files at once.
  • Become a Telegram premium user. 😅

FAQ

Q: Is this a form of abuse?

A: No. The download and upload speed is limited by the server side. Since the speed of official clients usually does not reach the account limit, this tool was developed to download files at the highest possible speed.

Q: Will this result in a ban?

A: I am not sure. All operations do not involve dangerous actions such as actively sending messages to other people. But it's safer to use an unused account for download and upload operations.

Q: No response after entering the command?

A: Check if you need to use a proxy (use proxy flag); Check if your system's local time is correct (use ntp flag or calibrate system time)

If that doesn't work, run again with debug flag. Then file a new issue and paste your log in the issue.

LICENSE

AGPL-3.0 License