Claude Code Channels: Control Your AI Agent from Telegram (Complete Setup Guide)

Control Claude Code from Your Phone via Telegram

What if you could message your AI coding agent from your phone and have it build things on your computer — even when you're not at your desk? That's exactly what Claude Code Channels does with Telegram.

In this guide, I'll walk you through setting up a Telegram bot that connects directly to Claude Code. You send a message, Claude does the work, and sends the result right back to your Telegram — including screenshots of what it built.

If you saw my Discord version of this setup, this is the Telegram companion. Same concept, different messaging platform.

Prerequisites

Claude Code installed and working on your computer
A Telegram account
Terminal/command line access

Step 1: Create a Telegram Bot with BotFather

Open Telegram and search for @BotFather — this is Telegram's official tool for creating bots.

Click Start on BotFather
Type /newbot
Enter a display name for your bot (e.g., "Claude Code")
Enter a username ending in "bot" (e.g., "claude_code_bot")
BotFather will give you a bot token — copy this, you'll need it next

Step 2: Install the Telegram Plugin

Before installing, make sure Claude Code is up to date:

claude update

Then install the Telegram plugin:

claude plugin install @anthropic/channel-telegram

Choose global scope when prompted — this makes the plugin available across all your projects.

Troubleshooting: Plugin Not Found

If you get a "plugin not found" error, your marketplace may be missing or outdated:

# Refresh the marketplace
claude marketplace refresh

# Or install it for the first time
claude marketplace install @anthropic/official

After installing, reload plugins:

claude plugin reload

Important: If the plugin-specific commands still don't work after reloading, stop your Claude Code session and restart it. This is a common gotcha.

Step 3: Configure Your Bot Token

Run the Telegram configuration command and paste your bot token when prompted:

/telegram:configure

Once saved, you'll see a status showing:

Token: Set
DM Policy: Pairing (default — anyone can request to pair)
Allowed Senders: 0

Step 4: Pair Your Telegram Account

Start Claude Code with the Telegram listener:

claude --channel telegram

Now go to Telegram:

Search for your bot by username
Click Start
Send any message — the bot replies with a 6-character pairing code
Go back to your terminal and enter the pairing code
Approve the pairing when prompted

You'll see a confirmation in both the terminal and Telegram: "Paired. Say hi to Claude."

Sharing with Others

You can pair multiple people to the same bot — family members, friends, or teammates working on the same project. Just have them message the bot and approve each pairing code.

Step 5: Lock Down Access (Critical)

This is the most important security step. By default, anyone who finds your bot can request pairing. Lock it down to allow-list mode:

/telegram:access

Change the DM policy from pairing to allow-list. Now only approved senders can interact with your bot.

Live Demo: Building a Landing Page from Telegram

Here's where it gets interesting. I sent this message from Telegram:

"Can you please create a modern landing page for a digital product?"

Claude Code started working immediately. It:

Created an index.html file with a full landing page
Opened it in my browser automatically
Took a screenshot of the result
Sent the screenshot back to my Telegram

All while I was away from my desk. I could see the progress updates and the final result right on my phone.

Unattended Mode (Use with Caution)

By default, Claude Code asks for permission before creating files or running certain commands. This means you may need to go back to your terminal to approve actions — which defeats the purpose of remote control.

For truly unattended use, you can start Claude Code with:

claude --channel telegram --dangerously-skip-permissions

This bypasses all permission prompts. Only use this in environments you trust. It gives Claude Code full access to your system, which carries security risks including prompt injection attacks.

To resume a previous session with these flags:

claude --channel telegram --dangerously-skip-permissions --continue

Use Cases

Once you have Telegram connected to Claude Code, the possibilities include:

Build web pages and apps — get screenshots sent to your phone
Organize files — clean up your desktop, create folder structures
Get YouTube transcripts — paste a URL, get key takeaways
Manage your development environment — install packages, run scripts
Quick tasks while away — anything Claude Code can do on your machine

Discord vs Telegram

Between Discord and Telegram, you can control Claude Code from wherever you are without touching your terminal. Both setups work the same way — pick whichever messaging platform you prefer.