AZeC4/TelegramGroup: a README-only index of 10,000+ Telegram groups, channels and bots

What AZeC4/TelegramGroup actually is: a README, not a program

The repository has two top-level entries: .gitignore and README.md. There is no source directory, no package manifest, no build file and no configuration. The README opens by describing itself as a recommendation list of more than 10,000 Telegram groups and channels, with the tagline that it is a Telegram navigation site, and it points to a homepage at dianbaodaohang.com plus a Telegram channel at @tgcn_wiki and a discussion group at @tgcn_chat.

So the artifact you adopt is a document. That matters for how you evaluate it. There is nothing to compile, nothing to import, and no version to pin. The README is written in Chinese and is aimed at Chinese-speaking Telegram users who want to find groups, channels and bots, and who need help with client settings that are not obvious on first use. The README also carries a prominent warning that users in mainland China are forbidden from using it and that legal responsibility rests with the user, which tells you the maintainers treat the audience as outside that jurisdiction.

The repository is not archived, and the last push was on 2026-09-11. That is recent, so the list is being touched, but there are no releases, so there is no changelog to read and no way to tell which entries were added or removed between two points in time.

How the directory is organised: search bots, setup notes, management bots

The README is divided into numbered parts. Part one covers search bots, split into general search bots and a Chinese group index category. Each entry is a table row with a name, a t.me link and a short description of what the bot does. The general search bots include @soso, @haisou, @jiso, @jisou, @smss, @kuai, @CJSY and @sousou20w, and the descriptions say they take a keyword and return matching groups, channels, videos, music, images, files or posts. Several entries also advertise referral or advertising arrangements, and one mentions a check-in reward of 3 USDT after a week of consecutive sign-ins.

The index category lists bots such as @TeleTop123Bot, @TonCnBot, @zh_secretary_bot, @PolarisseekBot, @SuperIndexCNBot, @hao1234bot, @zh_groups_bot, @So1234Bot, @groups_cnbot, @TGSoBot, @GroupHub_bot, @SearcheeBot, @BotListBot, @ExploreTelegramBot, @storebot and @tchannelsbot. Mixed into the same list are non-Telegram utilities: @zlibrarybot, @libgen_scihub_bot and @bookdownbot for books, @wiki for Wikipedia, @imdb for film data, @gif for GIFs and @Cctv365bot for films.

Part two is setup material rather than a directory: how to view restricted media from an iOS client, privacy settings, switching the interface to Chinese through @go2cn, and the +86 verification-code problem with carrier SMS instructions and a list of workarounds. Part three begins the tool bots, opening with group-management bots such as @nmnmfunbot, @GroupHelpBot, @MissRose_bot, @KinhRoBot, @policr_mini_bot, @KeDuckBot, @fangzhang_bot, @afoolrobot and @WeGroupRobot. The README also links to a separate bot collection at github.com/itgoyo/TelegramBot. The structure is flat and manual: no tags, no categories beyond the headings, no search across the file.

Installing AZeC4/TelegramGroup: there is nothing to install

There is no install step because there is no software. The README does not document a package, a binary or a service. What you can do is clone the repository to read it locally, or open it on the web.

To keep a local copy of the list:

git clone https://github.com/AZeC4/TelegramGroup.git
cd TelegramGroup

You should end up with a directory holding README.md and .gitignore. Opening README.md is the entire workflow.

The first real use is to take one bot from the search table and try it. For example, the README lists 海搜 at the link below with the description that you send a keyword and it returns channels, groups, videos, music, images, files and posts:

https://t.me/haisou?start=a_7202424896

Open that link in a Telegram client, start the bot, and send a keyword. What you should see is a set of results in the chat. The README does not document result limits, ranking rules, or whether the start parameter changes what you get, so treat the output as a starting point rather than a complete index.

For the client-side setup notes, the README gives a concrete path for Windows: open the left-hand menu, go to Settings, then Privacy and Security, and enable the option to show media that may contain sensitive content. It gives the macOS equivalent as Settings, Privacy and Security, and the web client as Settings, then Show Sensitive Content. The README states the iOS client must be version 5.13 or later, and that the setting is done on desktop or web rather than in the iOS app.

The API credential block is the most consequential thing in the file

Part two includes a section on applying for Telegram API credentials, with a filled-in example table showing an api_id, an api_hash, an app title and a short name, followed by a fenced block of what the README calls free and usable API keys and hashes for clients including nagram, telegram-android, telegram-desktop, telegram-swift, telegram-x, telegram-web, Nicegram and others.

This is worth pausing on. The README presents these as a convenience for people who cannot complete the application flow, and it notes that a VPN was used to get an application through. Publishing working application credentials in a public repository is a different proposition from publishing a list of group links. Those credentials identify an application to Telegram, and the README gives no information about who registered them, what rate limits apply, whether they will be revoked, or what happens to a project that depends on them. The README also does not document any terms under which they are offered.

The practical consequence is that anything you build on those values has an unknown lifetime and an unknown owner. The repository states no licence, so there is no grant covering the contents either. If you are evaluating this repository for anything beyond personal reading, this block is the part to think hardest about, and the README gives you nothing to think with.

Where the list breaks down: staleness, referral links and no verification

A manually maintained directory of Telegram entities has a specific failure mode: the entries rot. Bots get rate-limited, renamed or shut down; groups get set to private, deleted or flooded; channels stop posting. The README offers no status column, no last-checked date per row and no way to report a dead entry except through the discussion group. The last push on 2026-09-11 tells you the file was edited, not that any particular row was tested.

A second issue is that many rows are not neutral. The general search bots carry start parameters and several link to advertising discounts or referral codes, and one describes a USDT reward for signing in. That does not make the entries wrong, but it means the ordering and inclusion of rows is not purely editorial, and the README does not label which links are referrals.

A third is jurisdiction and content. The README forbids use from mainland China and disclaims legal responsibility, and the search-bot category exists partly because Telegram's own search is weak for Chinese text, which is stated in the description of @TGSoBot. If you need an auditable, policy-compliant directory of communities, this is the wrong tool: nothing here is verified, categorised by topic, or screened for content. It is a starting point for a human browsing Telegram, and it should be treated as one.

Alternatives: the linked bot collection and Telegram's own search

The README itself names the closest alternative: github.com/itgoyo/TelegramBot, described as a dedicated collection of Telegram bots. The difference in approach is scope. AZeC4/TelegramGroup mixes group and channel links, setup tutorials, API notes and bots in one file, so it is broader but shallower per entry, and much of its bulk is community links rather than software. A bot-only collection is narrower and easier to scan if bots are all you want, but it will not tell you how to enable sensitive-media display or what to do about a missing +86 verification code.

The other alternative is Telegram's built-in search, which the README implicitly positions against by listing so many search bots. The README's own description of @TGSoBot states it exists mainly to support Chinese search that the official client handles poorly. So the trade-off is: official search is always available and needs no third party, while the bots in this list index content the official search does not surface, at the cost of depending on an operator you know nothing about.

For the setup material specifically, the alternative is Telegram's own settings screens, which the README is effectively documenting. Nothing here replaces them; the README just tells you where they are.

Maintenance, licence and what the repository leaves open

The repository is not archived and the last push was on 2026-09-11, so edits are happening. There are no releases, so upgrade cost is not a concept that applies: you re-read the file. If you clone it, pulling again gets you the current list. There is no versioning to reason about and no migration path, because there is no code.

The licence is not stated. The repository metadata gives no licence identifier, and the README contains no licence section. That means there is no explicit grant to copy, redistribute or reuse the list, and no statement about the status of the third-party links, the API credentials or the images the README embeds from external hosts. If you plan to republish any part of the list, that is the gap to resolve first, and it is a question for the maintainers rather than something the repository answers. Nothing here is legal advice.

The homepage at dianbaodaohang.com is the other surface to watch. The README points there as the official site, and it is plausible that the site carries entries the README does not, but the repository gives no description of how the two stay in sync, so you cannot assume the file is complete relative to the site.

Editorial conclusion

Adopt this repository as a reference list if you are looking for Chinese-language Telegram search bots, group-management bots or client setup notes, and treat the homepage dianbaodaohang.com as the maintained surface. Do not adopt it if you need an installable library, an API, or a package with a declared licence, because the repository contains only a README and a .gitignore and states no licence at all. Before relying on any entry, verify the bot still responds, check that its linked channel or group is reachable from your account, and confirm the terms of the data the README publishes, since it includes Telegram API credentials that the README itself presents as free to use.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

1. AZeC4/TelegramGroup on GitHub
2. Issues
3. Project website
4. README