A few questions.
Clear answers.

What does Telepath do?

Telepath connects the Telegram conversations you share to ChatGPT, Claude and other compatible AI assistants. Ask your assistant to search messages, summarize a conversation, inspect shared files and photos, work with voice transcripts, or draft a reply. The Telepath bot handles setup and settings; it is not a general-purpose AI chat.

Why do I need to connect both my assistant and Telegram?

Signing in connects your assistant to your Telepath account. To save new private messages, you also need to add @lemma_telepath_bot in Telegram’s Chat Automation settings, choose your chats and save. Telegram Premium is not required; the setup guide shows the path for each Telegram app.

I approved Telegram sign-in. Why is my assistant still not connected?

Telegram approval is one step; your assistant still needs to finish the connection. Return to the original sign-in window and then to your assistant. If the return link has expired, start a new Telepath connection from your assistant; if it fails again, contact support with the error text and hide the address bar in screenshots.

Can my assistant read my Telegram group?

Yes. Add @lemma_telepath_bot to the group from the same Telegram account you connected to Telepath, and keep group archiving enabled in the bot’s /settings. If someone else added the bot, send a normal message in the group from your connected account so Telepath can associate it with you. New messages available to the bot will be archived; older history needs a separate import.

Does the bot need to be a group administrator?

For ordinary group archiving and replies requested through your assistant, no: our shared bot has Privacy Mode disabled and can receive ordinary group messages as a member. There is no separate “read messages” permission to enable. Sending replies requires permission to send messages in the group; optional group Auto-reply additionally requires administrator status so Telepath can verify the group owner, but delete, ban and promote-member permissions are not needed.

Who sends replies: me or the bot?

In connected private Business chats, replies are sent as you. In groups, replies are sent as the bot. Ask your assistant to draft the message first and confirm the recipient and exact text before sending.

Why can my assistant read a private chat but not reply?

Reading and sending have separate permissions. Allow Reply to Messages in Telegram’s Chat Automation settings and enable sending in Telepath’s /settings. Telegram also requires an incoming message from that person within the previous 24 hours; after that window, they need to write again before the bot can reply.

How do I connect a channel?

In @lemma_telepath_bot, open More → My channels or send /channels. Choose a channel you own and add the shared Telepath bot as an administrator. Telepath checks ownership and starts saving new posts and edits. You can search and summarize them through your assistant. Older history needs a Telegram Desktop JSON import. This does not give access to all channels you subscribe to.

Can my assistant publish, edit, delete or pin posts?

Channel tools can publish text or one photo/document with HTTPS link buttons, or an album of 2–10 photos/videos or documents. Albums use one caption on the first item and cannot have buttons; documents cannot be mixed with photos/videos. You can edit, delete, pin or unpin a specific message; these actions target one album item, not the whole album. Your assistant must show the exact action, destination and content for your confirmation first. Grant Post messages to publish, Edit messages to edit or pin, and Delete messages to delete. Rights are checked again for each action. Tool availability depends on your assistant provider’s approval of the new tools. Scheduling and custom action buttons are not included.

Telegram normally permits deletion only within 48 hours. Telepath marks posts it successfully deletes, but Telegram does not notify bots when another administrator manually deletes a channel post. The archive is not a guaranteed live mirror. If a send has uncertain delivery, check the channel before requesting another publication.

What about comments and reactions?

Comments live in the channel’s linked discussion group. If no group is linked, open the channel in Telegram → Edit / Manage channel → Discussion, create or select a group, and save. Join that group using the same Telegram account connected to Telepath. Add @lemma_telepath_bot as an administrator in the discussion group as well as in the channel: open the group → Edit / Manage group → Administrators → Add administrator. Telegram only guarantees membership checks when the bot is a group administrator; otherwise a member may appear absent. Delete, ban and invite permissions can stay off. Return to the bot and open My channels → Comments to verify access. New automatic forwards link posts to their discussion threads; older posts without a known link may need a new discussion message before Telepath can resolve the thread. Comment replies are sent as the bot, in the group. Reactions on channel posts are aggregate snapshots and can arrive a few minutes late; anonymous voters are not identified. Channel Direct Messages inboxes are not supported in this release.

How do I stop channel archiving?

Open My channels → Disconnect, or remove the bot from the channel. Existing archived data stays until you delete it. /deletedata removes your stored Telepath archive and channel configuration; it does not delete posts from Telegram.

Can I save notes, tasks and reminders?

Yes. Telepath Notes is a free workspace for notes, projects, people and tasks, shared between your assistant and the Notes Mini App. One-time reminders go to your own Telegram chat: Free includes three new reminders per day (UTC), shared by task and standalone reminders; Plus and Unlimited remove that daily creation limit. You can always list or cancel reminders, and scheduled reminders are kept when a plan ends.

Will Telepath automatically answer new messages?

Connecting your assistant does not turn on automatic replies. Auto-reply is a separate feature you explicitly configure and enable in the bot, using your own OpenAI API key and instructions. You choose permitted private chats or a group you own, set limits, save and test the settings, then enable replies; a one-time 14-day trial starts on first successful enable, and continued use after the trial requires Unlimited.

How do automatic replies work in a group?

The group owner selects and verifies the group in Auto-reply → Groups, adds the bot as an administrator, and configures the API key and instructions. The bot replies in the same group only when explicitly @mentioned; follow-ups also need a mention. Context is separate per participant and group topic, with a selectable depth of 1–30 addressed messages and bot replies; responses are visible to everyone in the group. Group Auto-reply currently handles text, not the contents of photos.

Do I need an OpenAI API key or a separate bot?

You do not need your own API key or a separate Telegram bot to use Telepath through ChatGPT or Claude. Optional Auto-reply requires your own OpenAI API key, and API usage is billed separately from Telepath and your ChatGPT subscription. Enter that key only in Telepath’s Auto-reply settings, not in a chat with an assistant or support.

Why can’t I see older messages? How do I import them?

Telepath starts saving new messages after you connect; adding the bot does not fetch your old Telegram history. On Telegram Desktop, export a chat in JSON format, then send /import to the Telepath bot and upload the export through your personal link. You can export a single chat or group instead of your whole account.

What happens if my import is larger than my allowance?

Free includes 600 MB of total imported history, shared across uploads. Telepath imports the newest messages that fit your remaining allowance and reports what was imported or left out; existing archived history stays safe. The upload page shows your remaining space and options to increase it. This allowance applies to imported history, not new messages arriving from connected chats.

Why does a search return nothing?

An empty result does not always mean setup failed: your archive may be new, the chat may not be shared, or the messages may predate connection. Send /setup to the bot to check your connection, then ask your assistant to list your saved chats. Import older history if that is what you need; contact support if a new message from a shared chat still does not appear.

What is free, and what needs a paid plan?

Private chat and group archiving, search, manual assistant replies and Notes are available on Free, with allowances for imports, transcription and reminder creation. Plus adds transcription and other benefits; Unlimited includes Auto-reply after its trial and larger allowances. Your AI assistant’s access rules and any OpenAI API charges are separate from Telepath.

Where are my messages stored? Can Telepath access them?

Shared messages are stored on Telepath’s server in a separate database for your account so they can be searched. Data is encrypted in transit and at rest, but this is not end-to-end encryption: the running service must process readable data, and server operators can technically access it. Data you request through your assistant is also shared with that assistant under its provider’s terms.

How do I stop access or delete my stored data?

To stop new private-chat archiving, remove Telepath from Telegram’s Chat Automation settings and save; for a group, remove the bot. Disconnect Telepath in your assistant to stop that assistant’s access. Disconnecting alone does not delete the archive: send /deletedata to the Telepath bot and follow the confirmation to permanently remove your stored Telepath data; this does not delete messages from Telegram itself.