claude-telegram-bridge 0.10.3

Control an existing interactive Claude Code session from Telegram.

Claude Telegram Bridge

Control an already-running interactive Claude Code session from Telegram.

This bridge polls Telegram, pastes incoming messages into a visible tmux Claude Code pane, tails Claude transcript JSONL, and sends only the matching final answer back to Telegram.

The bridge is Claude-specific. It is not a general multi-AI bridge and it does not share runtime code with the Codex Telegram Bridge.

5-Minute Quick Start

Already have Claude Code installed and logged in on your computer? You are three steps from controlling it from your phone. (Never made a Telegram bot before? The unhurried, click-by-click version is in Quick Start below — start there instead.)

1. Install the bridge (Linux, macOS, or WSL on Windows):

pipx install claude-telegram-bridge

2. Create your private bot and copy its token. In Telegram, open a chat with @BotFather, send /newbot, pick any name, and copy the token it hands back — it looks like 1234567890:AbCd.... Keep it private: paste it only into the setup prompt below, never into a chat or a public repo.

3. Run setup and say hello:

claude-telegram-bridge setup

The wizard asks for that token, then tells you to send /start to your new bot from your own Telegram account — that one message teaches the bridge which chat is yours. It writes the config, installs the hook and watchdog, and sends a test message. Now text your bot: whatever you type lands in your live Claude Code session, and Claude's finished answer comes back to your phone.

That is the whole happy path. Everything below is reference — the full guided walkthrough, what each feature does, optional switches, and manual setup.

Features At A Glance

Everything in the first table works out of the box. Everything in the second table is optional: each feature stays off (or on, where noted) until you flip one switch, and each links to a section that explains it in plain words.

Always on, no configuration needed:

Feature	What it gives you
Phone control of a live session	Text your private bot; the message lands in your real Claude Code terminal
Final-answer relay	Only Claude's finished answer comes back — no tool noise, no partial output
One-chat lockdown	The bridge answers exactly one Telegram chat id: yours (Safety Defaults)
Safe slash commands	/context, /model and a curated safe set, mirrored back to your phone (Slash Commands)
Setup wizard, doctor, uninstall	setup walks you through everything; doctor checks health; uninstall cleans up
Update check with one-tap upgrade	On startup the bridge checks PyPI and offers an upgrade button in Telegram

Optional — flip one switch when you want more:

Feature	Default	Turn it on with	Details
Flow mirror — live card showing each tool step of the current turn	off	CLB_FLOW_MIRROR=1	Optional Settings
Suggested-reply bubble — copy-ready follow-up you can tap and send	off	SUGGESTED_REPLY_BUBBLE=1	Optional Settings
Suggested-reply auto-send loop — the bridge sends the follow-up for you, inside strict guardrails	off	CLB_SUGGESTED_LOOP=1	Suggested-reply auto-send — read this first
Silent auto-update (upgrade without the button)	off	CLB_AUTO_UPDATE=1	config.example.env
Update check opt-out	check is on	CLB_NO_UPDATE_CHECK=1	config.example.env
Native Windows ConPTY transport (experimental)	off	claude-telegram-bridge setup --transport conpty	Quick Start
~20 tuning knobs — retry policy, queue paths, session TTLs, watchdog hook	safe defaults	edit bridge.env	Advanced settings and config.example.env

Quick Start (No Prior Bot Experience Needed)

In plain words: Claude Code runs on your computer, and this bridge lets you talk to that session from the Telegram app on your phone. You text your own private Telegram bot, the bridge types your message into the live Claude Code terminal, and when Claude finishes answering, the final answer is sent back to your phone.

Private-chat replies omit node prefixes and leading decorative emoji. Group chats keep node emoji so senders remain clear; reply quoting works the same on both surfaces.

What you need

• A computer where Claude Code is installed and logged in. Linux and macOS use the stable tmux transport; native Windows has an experimental opt-in ConPTY transport.
• Python 3, plus tmux for the default Linux/macOS transport.
• The Telegram app on your phone, plus curl on the computer for one setup step below.

Recommended - run the setup wizard

Install the package, then run the six-step wizard:

pipx install claude-telegram-bridge
claude-telegram-bridge setup

The wizard validates the hidden BotFather token, waits for /start to detect your chat id, writes token.json and token-registry.json, installs the SessionStart hook, backs up and merges ~/.claude/settings.json, installs the local service/watchdog, and sends one test message. It preserves unrelated Claude settings and does not replace an existing hook chain. In interactive tmux setup, a missing CLB_TMUX_SOCKET/CLB_TMUX_SESSION target prompts Start the Claude tmux session now? [Y/n] and defaults to yes. For non-interactive setup, opt in with --create-session; without that flag the wizard keeps the manual start guidance. A ready session prints its attach command, for example tmux -L default attach -t claude.

Native Windows remains fail-closed by default: tmux mode must run inside WSL. When the bridge runs inside WSL, you can still watch the live Claude session from a plain PowerShell window:

WSL.exe -- tmux -L default attach -t claude

Detach with Ctrl+B then D — the session keeps running.

Experimental owned-host mode is enabled explicitly with claude-telegram-bridge setup --transport conpty. It skips the .sh SessionStart hook and settings merge, then prints two commands: a visible host that launches Claude itself and a separate bridge process. It cannot attach to an already-running Claude window, and the watchdog never starts the host. If a --user install is not on PATH, run py -m bridge_setup setup (or doctor) instead.

After native setup, keep the first PowerShell window visible:

claude-telegram-bridge host --workdir C:\path\to\project
claude-telegram-bridge run

Check or remove the installation later with:

claude-telegram-bridge doctor
claude-telegram-bridge uninstall
claude-telegram-bridge uninstall --purge

The numbered steps below remain as the manual fallback and explain each file the wizard manages.

Step 1 - Create your own bot with BotFather

1. In Telegram, search for @BotFather (the official bot with a blue check) and open a chat with it.
2. Send /newbot.
3. BotFather asks for a display name. Type anything, for example My Claude Bridge.
4. BotFather asks for a username. It must be unique and end in bot, for example my_claude_bridge_bot.
5. BotFather replies with an HTTP API token that looks like 1234567890:AbCd... (digits, a colon, then a long letter string). Copy it. This token is a secret: paste it only into local files on your computer, never into a Telegram chat and never into a public repository.

Step 2 - Find your chat id

The bridge only answers one Telegram chat: yours. To learn your chat id:

1. Open a chat with your new bot in Telegram and send it any message, for example hello. (Bots cannot message you first; this step is required.)
2. On your computer, run the following with your token substituted:

curl -s "https://api.telegram.org/bot<YOUR_TOKEN>/getUpdates"

3. In the JSON response, find "chat":{"id":123456789,...}. That number is your chat id. If the response is empty, send the bot another message and run the command again.

Step 3 - Install the bridge

pipx install claude-telegram-bridge

If pipx is not installed yet (pipx: command not found), install it once and reopen your terminal so it lands on PATH:

python3 -m pip install --user pipx
python3 -m pipx ensurepath

On Windows PowerShell there is usually no python3 command — use the py launcher instead:

py -m pip install --user pipx
py -m pipx ensurepath

or skip pipx entirely:

pip install --user claude-telegram-bridge

(Windows PowerShell: py -m pip install --user claude-telegram-bridge.)

On Debian/Ubuntu (including the default WSL distro) a bare pip install may stop with error: externally-managed-environment (PEP 668). Prefer pipx above, or append --break-system-packages to the pip command if you accept managing the package yourself.

Step 4 - Save the token and registry (one paste)

This writes the two small local files the bridge requires: the token file and the token ownership registry. The read -r -s prompt keeps the token out of your shell history.

mkdir -p "$HOME/.config/claude-telegram-bridge"
read -r -s -p "Paste your bot token, then press Enter: " CLB_BOT_TOKEN; echo
CLB_BOT_TOKEN="$CLB_BOT_TOKEN" python3 - <<'PY'
import hashlib, json, os, pathlib
token = os.environ["CLB_BOT_TOKEN"].strip()
root = pathlib.Path.home() / ".config/claude-telegram-bridge"
(root / "token.json").write_text(json.dumps({"token": token}))
(root / "token.json").chmod(0o600)
token_id = hashlib.sha256(token.encode()).hexdigest()[:16]
(root / "token-registry.json").write_text(json.dumps({
    "tokens": {
        "default": {
            "token_id": token_id,
            "mode": "polling",
            "owner": "claude-telegram-bridge",
            "expected_consumer": "claude",
            "allow_delete_webhook": False
        }
    }
}, indent=2))
print("wrote token.json and token-registry.json")
PY

Step 5 - Start Claude Code in tmux and register the hook

Start (or keep) a Claude Code session inside tmux:

tmux -L default new -s claude
claude --dangerously-skip-permissions

About --dangerously-skip-permissions: this flag lets Claude Code run its tools (file edits, shell commands) without stopping to ask you for per-action approval. It is suggested here because an unattended remote session cannot click an approval dialog — a pending permission prompt would leave your Telegram turn hanging until you return to the keyboard. Understand the tradeoff before using it: Claude can then act on your machine without asking. If you prefer to keep the permission prompts, start plain claude instead; the bridge still works, and Telegram turns simply wait whenever Claude is blocked on an approval dialog that you must answer at the terminal.

Then download the SessionStart hook and register it, so the bridge can find Claude's transcript and capture final answers:

curl -fsSL -o "$HOME/.config/claude-telegram-bridge/session-start.sh" \
  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ssamssae/claude-telegram-bridge/main/hooks/claude-telegram-bridge-session-start.sh
chmod +x "$HOME/.config/claude-telegram-bridge/session-start.sh"

Register the hook in ~/.claude/settings.json — the user-level Claude Code settings file. Create the file with exactly this content if it does not exist yet:

{
  "hooks": {
    "SessionStart": [
      {
        "hooks": [
          {
            "type": "command",
            "command": "/home/YOU/.config/claude-telegram-bridge/session-start.sh"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Replace /home/YOU/... with the absolute path of the file you downloaded above (echo "$HOME/.config/claude-telegram-bridge/session-start.sh" prints it; ~ is not expanded inside settings.json, so use the full path).

If ~/.claude/settings.json already has content, merge instead of overwriting: keep your existing keys and add the "SessionStart" entry inside your existing "hooks" object (or add the whole "hooks" object alongside your other top-level keys). Then run /clear in the Claude session (or start a new one) so the hook fires at least once.

Step 6 - First run

Only three environment variables are needed; everything else has safe defaults:

export CLB_TOKEN_FILE="$HOME/.config/claude-telegram-bridge/token.json"
export CLB_TOKEN_REGISTRY="$HOME/.config/claude-telegram-bridge/token-registry.json"
export CLB_CHAT_ID="123456789"   # your chat id from Step 2
claude-telegram-bridge

Step 7 - Say hello

1. Send /ping to your bot. The bridge itself answers immediately; this proves token and chat id are correct.
2. Send a real prompt, for example What directory are you in?. You should see the message appear inside the tmux Claude pane, and Claude's final answer arrive back in Telegram.

If /ping works but a real prompt gets no reply, the usual cause is the SessionStart hook from Step 5 not being registered or the Claude session not having been restarted after registering it. The bridge's terminal log says what it is waiting for.

Done. For running from a clone, all environment variables, slash command behavior, and safety notes, keep reading below.

What It Supports

• Text prompts from Telegram into a live Claude Code tmux session.
• Telegram photos and image documents saved locally, then injected as local_path prompts for Claude to inspect.
• Telegram voice, audio, video, animation, and document uploads saved locally with caption and metadata preserved.
• Optional audio transcription through a local command configured with CLB_AUDIO_TRANSCRIBE_CMD.
• Transcript-based final-answer extraction instead of screen scraping.
• Optional flow mirror: live "work in progress" card that mirrors each tool-use step of the current turn to Telegram so you can follow long runs.
• Single Telegram chat allowlist and token ownership registry.
• Duplicate-egress guard hooks for users who also have Telegram MCP reply tools or terminal mirror hooks installed.

This is not MCP. It is a local bridge daemon for one visible Claude Code session.

Public Export Model

This public repository is maintained from a private operator source through a sanitized export step. The export keeps the reusable Claude bridge behavior, hook templates, config examples, and documentation, while stripping private chat ids, token paths, hostnames, node labels, and local automation paths before release.

Claude Telegram Bridge and Codex Telegram Bridge remain separate programs because they drive different interactive CLIs and transcript formats. The shared maintenance rule is the same: keep one internal source for each bridge, generate the public copy through an export script, and never publish private wrappers or operator-specific trigger paths.

Billing And Terms

This project does not use claude -p and does not create hidden one-shot Claude sessions. It drives an interactive Claude Code session that you already started.

The subscription billing classification of a 24/7 daemon that automatically injects prompts into an interactive Claude Code session is unverified. This project does not claim that this usage is subscription-safe. You are responsible for deciding whether to run it under your account, plan, and applicable terms.

Verified Backend

• Claude Code interactive tmux session: experimental, locally verified by the maintainers.
• Other AI CLIs: not supported.

How It Works

Telegram user message/media
  -> getUpdates polling
  -> single chat id allowlist
  -> media download to local state directory when present
  -> paste prompt envelope into tmux Claude pane
  -> SessionStart sidecar binds tmux pane to Claude transcript JSONL
  -> transcript tail finds the final answer for the injected nonce
  -> Telegram sendMessage

The bridge uses one Bot API egress path. The included hooks prevent Claude's Telegram MCP reply tool and terminal mirror hooks from sending duplicate answers while the bridge owns a turn.

Slash Commands

Slash commands sent from Telegram are classified before anything is injected into the Claude pane. Commands that would open an interactive picker or dialog are never pasted raw, because a blocking dialog can freeze the one visible session. Each command falls into one of these groups.

Command	Behavior
/context	Read-only context screen. The bridge widens the tmux capture window, runs /context, captures the pane with ANSI color, renders it locally to PNG, and replies with sendPhoto to the same Telegram chat.
/usage, /cost	Read-only info commands. The bridge widens the tmux capture window, waits for the render to finish, trims terminal chrome to a clean text view, and mirrors that text back to Telegram.
/model	Intercepted. Pasting /model raw opens an interactive picker that can freeze the session, so the bridge shows an inline keyboard of model choices instead and applies the pick non-interactively as /model <alias>.
/clear, /exit, /quit	Passed through unchanged; these do not open a dialog. /exit and /quit end the session, so the bridge triggers watchdog recovery for a graceful restart afterward. /clear only resets context.
/ping, /start, /status	Bridge health and status, answered by the bridge itself.
Anything else	Blocked from injection as a freeze-guard fail-safe. The bridge replies with the supported list instead of risking a stuck session.

To bypass the freeze guard and inject a slash command raw, prefix the Telegram message with ! (for example !/theme).

Capture tuning for /context, /usage, and /cost:

• CLB_CONTEXT_SETTLE_SEC - floor delay before the first capture attempt. Defaults to 1.2 seconds.
• CLB_CONTEXT_CAPTURE_TIMEOUT_SEC - how long to keep polling for a finished render before sending the last captured frame. Defaults to 8.0 seconds.
• CLB_CONTEXT_IMAGE_FONT - optional local monospace font path used when rendering /context PNG output. Defaults to common system monospace fonts.
• CLB_CONTEXT_IMAGE_FONT_SIZE - /context PNG font size. Defaults to 17.
• CLB_MODEL_CHOICES - optional comma-separated list of model aliases shown in the /model inline keyboard.

Files

• bridge_setup.py - six-step setup wizard, doctor, native host entry point, and uninstall CLI.
• bridge_watchdog.py - local service recovery helper installed by the wizard.
• claude_telegram_bridge.py - bridge daemon.
• claude_repl_host_windows.py - Claude-owned native Windows ConPTY host.
• codex_repl_host_windows.py - shared ConPTY and authenticated pipe primitives.
• hooks/claude-telegram-bridge-session-start.sh - records transcript and tmux pane binding for the daemon.
• hooks/claude-telegram-bridge-pretool-block.sh - blocks Telegram MCP replies during bridge-owned turns.
• config.example.env - local environment template.

Install

Install from PyPI with pipx (recommended) or pip:

pipx install claude-telegram-bridge

pip install --user claude-telegram-bridge

This provides the claude-telegram-bridge command and its setup, doctor, host, run, and uninstall subcommands. With no subcommand it starts the daemon as before. Installed copies also get the startup version check with a one-tap Telegram update button. Running from a clone works too: use python3 claude_telegram_bridge.py in place of the installed command.

Native Windows ConPTY autostart (survives logout)

On native Windows the ConPTY transport can run as a headless operational stack so the bridge keeps working after a WSL/Ubuntu logout, independent of any tmux session. scripts/windows/install-claude-conpty-autostart.ps1 registers three hidden Scheduled Tasks at logon:

• powershell-claude-conpty-host — the owned ConPTY host (python -m claude_repl_host_windows) that launches Claude and owns its terminal for the session's lifetime.
• powershell-claude-conpty-bridge — waits for the host, then runs the bridge (python -m claude_telegram_bridge) with CLB_REPL_TRANSPORT=conpty pinned to the host's descriptor.
• powershell-claude-conpty-watchdog — the shared recovery watchdog, restarts a stale bridge (orphan child purge first) without touching the host session.

# from PowerShell (needs the conpty transport and a configured token)
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File install-claude-conpty-autostart.ps1 -Mode Install -Start
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File install-claude-conpty-autostart.ps1   # Check

Because the host runs hidden, two visible surfaces are provided: claude-conpty-view.ps1 is a read-only live view of the conversation, and claude-conpty-client.ps1 is an interactive attach client that both shows the live session and forwards local keyboard input into it — the Windows equivalent of tmux attach (open and close it without ending the session). Manual restart steps are in runbooks/claude-conpty-bridge-restart.md.

Minimal Manual Setup

1. Start Claude Code in tmux:

tmux -L default new -s claude
claude --dangerously-skip-permissions

2. Create a Telegram bot with BotFather. Paste the bot token only into your local terminal or local config file. Never send it in Telegram.

3. Copy the example config:

cp config.example.env .env
chmod 600 .env

4. Edit .env and set:

CLB_TOKEN_FILE="$HOME/.config/claude-telegram-bridge/token.json"
CLB_CHAT_ID="123456789"
CLB_TOKEN_REGISTRY="$HOME/.config/claude-telegram-bridge/token-registry.json"
CLB_STATE_DIR="$HOME/.local/state/claude-telegram-bridge"

5. Store the token locally:

mkdir -p "$HOME/.config/claude-telegram-bridge"
printf '{"token":"%s"}\n' 'PASTE_BOTFATHER_TOKEN_HERE' \
  > "$HOME/.config/claude-telegram-bridge/token.json"
chmod 600 "$HOME/.config/claude-telegram-bridge/token.json"

6. Create a token registry entry. The token_id is the first 16 hex chars of the SHA-256 of the token.

python3 - <<'PY'
import hashlib, json, pathlib
root = pathlib.Path.home() / ".config/claude-telegram-bridge"
token = json.loads((root / "token.json").read_text())["token"]
token_id = hashlib.sha256(token.encode()).hexdigest()[:16]
(root / "token-registry.json").write_text(json.dumps({
    "tokens": {
        "default": {
            "token_id": token_id,
            "mode": "polling",
            "owner": "claude-telegram-bridge",
            "expected_consumer": "claude",
            "allow_delete_webhook": False
        }
    }
}, indent=2) + "\n")
PY

7. Register the SessionStart hook in Claude Code settings. The user-level settings file is ~/.claude/settings.json (project-level .claude/settings.json inside a repository also works). Create it if missing; if it already exists, merge the hooks block below into your existing JSON instead of replacing the file.

{
  "hooks": {
    "SessionStart": [
      {
        "hooks": [
          {
            "type": "command",
            "command": "/absolute/path/to/hooks/claude-telegram-bridge-session-start.sh"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

8. Run the daemon:

set -a
. ./.env
set +a
python3 claude_telegram_bridge.py

Send /ping to the bot, then send a normal prompt.

Safety Defaults

• Polling only; no public webhook is required.
• One allowed Telegram chat id.
• Token ownership registry must match the local token before polling starts.
• Interactive slash commands that could open a blocking dialog are held back by a freeze guard rather than pasted raw; a set of read-only and safe commands is supported and mirrored. See Slash Commands for the full set and the ! escape hatch.
• The PreToolUse egress guard is included for users who also have Telegram MCP reply tools installed.
• Outgoing media is limited to bridge-owned local outputs such as /context PNG replies; assistant answer attachment auto-discovery is not part of this minimal export.

Optional Settings

• CLB_FLOW_MIRROR - set 1 or 0 in bridge.env to enable or disable the flow mirror explicitly. It mirrors each tool-use step of the current turn to Telegram as one live-updating card and is off by default.
• CLB_FLOW_MIRROR_FLAG - path to the optional live-toggle flag used only when CLB_FLOW_MIRROR is unset. Enable with touch "$HOME/.config/claude-telegram-bridge/flow-mirror.on" and disable by removing the file.
• CLB_ACTIVE_TURN_STALE_SECONDS - releases a previously observed Telegram turn when Claude is idle but no final reply was captured, so later queued messages can continue instead of being blocked behind a stale active turn. Defaults to 900 seconds.
• SUGGESTED_REPLY_BUBBLE - set 1 to split a final-line <추천답변>...</추천답변> (suggested reply) marker out of the answer into a separate copy-ready Telegram bubble you can tap and send back. Off by default; markers that declare a class attribute (for example <추천답변 class="auto-ok">) are always split so the marker text never leaks into the answer body.
• CLB_SUGGESTED_LOOP - set 1 to let the bridge send the suggested reply for you instead of only displaying it. Off by default, private chats only. When a marker declares class="auto-ok" the bridge posts a cancel window and then submits that reply as your next turn unless you tap Cancel. A class="hold" marker, a missing class, or an unknown class waits for you to tap the confirm button instead. Every candidate is appended to a JSONL ledger; if that ledger cannot be written the candidate fails closed to HOLD. Read "Suggested-reply auto-send" below before enabling.

Suggested-reply auto-send (CLB_SUGGESTED_LOOP)

This is the only setting that lets the bridge act without you typing anything. It is off by default. With it on, an answer can start the next turn on its own, so read the guardrails before setting CLB_SUGGESTED_LOOP=1.

How a suggestion is classified

Marker in the answer	What happens
class="auto-ok"	cancel window (default 20s), then auto-sent
class="hold"	waits for your confirm tap
no class / unknown class	waits (fails closed)

Caps - tripping any one forces HOLD

Variable	Default	Meaning
CLB_SUGGESTED_LOOP_VETO_SECONDS	20	cancel window, clamped to 15-30
CLB_SUGGESTED_LOOP_MAX_ITERATIONS	3	consecutive auto-sends
CLB_SUGGESTED_LOOP_MAX_SECONDS	900	wall-clock budget per loop
CLB_SUGGESTED_LOOP_MAX_COST_UNITS	100000	rough output-size budget

Content exclusions. Even when an answer claims auto-ok, the bridge re-reads the suggestion text and forces HOLD when it looks like a main merge, an app-store submission, credentials/login/OTP, a payment, an external send (email/DM/publish), or physical-device control. Treat this as a second opinion on the model's own label, not as a replacement for reading the suggestion.

Language caveat. These exclusion patterns were written for a Korean-language operator and match Korean phrasing far more thoroughly than English. payment and account_auth match common English wording, and external_send partially does, but physical_device is almost entirely Korean - "turn on the air conditioner" will not trip it. If you operate the bridge in English, treat the exclusion net as partial and rely on the caps and the cancel window instead.

Turning it off

• Immediately, without a restart: touch ~/.claude/state/claude-suggested-loop.off (path configurable with CLB_SUGGESTED_LOOP_KILL). The "off" button on any suggestion card does the same thing.
• Permanently: unset CLB_SUGGESTED_LOOP and restart the bridge.

The loop never arms in group chats.

Advanced settings

The bridge reads ~20 more tuning knobs (self-update via CLB_AUTO_UPDATE / CLB_NO_UPDATE_CHECK, send-retry policy, durable queue/outbox paths, session binding TTLs, an optional CLB_WATCHDOG_SCRIPT lifecycle hook, and more). All of them ship with safe defaults; the full annotated list lives at the bottom of config.example.env.

Release Checklist

See RELEASE_CHECKLIST.md before publishing a fork or release.