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Claude Channels + Telegram — Control Claude Code From Your Phone, No SSH Required
AI WorkflowMarch 21, 20264 min read

Claude Channels + Telegram — Control Claude Code From Your Phone, No SSH Required

Anthropic released Claude Channels — an MCP plugin that connects Telegram to your Claude Code session. Deploy, fix code, transcribe voice messages, view images — all from your phone. No Tailscale, no tmux.

Tor Supakit

Tor Supakit

AI × Digital Marketing Agency

Why I'm So Excited About This Feature

If you've read my earlier post on Remote Dev Setup, you know I've been using Tailscale + Termius + tmux to control Claude Code from my phone for a while now.

It works well, but the setup is a pain — you need a VPN on both machines, SSH keys configured, and you have to learn tmux. For most people, that's way too much friction.

March 20, 2026 — Anthropic released Claude Channels.

It's an MCP-based plugin that connects messaging apps (Telegram, Discord) directly to a Claude Code session. No VPN. No SSH. No tmux.

All you need is Telegram and Claude Code.

What Is Claude Channels?

In simple terms — it lets you DM a Telegram bot and have Claude Code execute real work on your machine.

This isn't a chatbot that just answers questions. It's full terminal access that works with real files on your computer.

Here's the architecture:

Phone (Telegram) → Telegram Bot API → Claude Code (Mac at home)
                                        ↓
                                   Works with real files
                                   Reads DB, deploys, edits code
                                        ↓
                                   Replies back in Telegram

The clever part is that Telegram uses long-polling — your machine polls outbound to Telegram's API. No inbound connections. No exposed ports. No ngrok. No Cloudflare Tunnel. Very secure — your machine is just pulling data from the Telegram API, nobody can reach in.

Messages appear as <channel source="telegram"> events in the Claude Code session, and Claude responds via MCP tools — reply, react, edit_message.

What You Can Actually Do (Tested)

Here's what I've tested and confirmed works:

Send via TelegramWhat Claude Does
"deploy the dopelab site to production"Runs build + deploy
Voice messageDownloads → ffmpeg → whisper transcribe → replies with text
PhotoReads the image directly (Claude is multimodal)
"Add a meeting at 2pm today with client"Creates a Google Calendar event
"What's the status on NNTN tasks?"Queries Supabase and replies
"Fix the bug in file X, line Y"Edits the actual code on the machine
File attachmentDownloads and saves to workspace

My Real Use Case

I run a restaurant (Nuea Nai Tamnan) and a marketing agency at the same time. Some days I'm at the restaurant all day and never sit down at my Mac.

Now I just open Telegram on my phone — deploy deliverables for clients, check project status, query sales from the database — all without going home.

Setup — 4 Steps (Easier Than You'd Think)

Step 1: Create a Bot With BotFather

Open Telegram → search for @BotFather → send /newbot

1. Set a name (e.g., "My Claude Bot")
2. Set a username (e.g., "my_claude_bot")
3. BotFather gives you a token — save it somewhere safe

Store the token:

mkdir -p ~/.claude/channels/telegram
echo "TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=your_token_here" > ~/.claude/channels/telegram/.env
chmod 600 ~/.claude/channels/telegram/.env

Step 2: Install the Plugin

claude plugin install telegram@claude-plugins-official

If you don't have Bun installed yet:

curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash

Step 3: Start Claude Code With the --channels Flag

claude --channels plugin:telegram@claude-plugins-official

Step 4: Pair With Your Bot

Open Telegram → DM the bot you created → type anything.

Claude Code will display a 6-digit pairing code → type that code in Telegram → Done!

After the first pairing, you won't need to pair again — the credentials are stored in ~/.claude/channels/telegram/access.json.

Group Chat Support

It's not just DM — it works in group chats too. Claude only responds when @mentioned.

Create a Telegram group → add the bot → type @your_bot_name summarize today's tasks → Claude replies in the group.

You can even run multiple bots on the same machine by setting separate TELEGRAM_STATE_DIR paths.

Limitations You Should Know

Before you get too excited, there are some real limitations:

LimitationDetails
Session must be runningNo queue or offline mode — if Claude Code is closed, the bot won't respond
Research previewNot GA yet — syntax may change
Telegram/Discord onlyNo Slack, WhatsApp, or LINE support yet (though people are requesting it heavily)
Permission promptsYou still need to approve actions at the terminal (unless you use --dangerously-skip-permissions)
Requires claude.ai loginAPI keys not supported yet

How It Compares to My Old Remote Dev Setup

Tailscale + tmux still has advantages — it's persistent, so you can close Claude Code and come back to the same session. But Channels is dramatically easier to set up for people who don't want to deal with SSH/VPN.

I use both — Channels for quick commands from my phone, Tailscale for long sessions that need monitoring.

Architecture — Why It's Secure

A lot of people worry about security — "You're letting random Telegram messages control your machine?"

The answer is no.

  1. Long-polling — Your machine polls outbound to Telegram's API. No inbound connections, no open ports, no exposed URLs.
  2. Pairing system — You must pair with a 6-digit code first. Messages from unpaired users are ignored.
  3. Allowlist — After pairing, only your specific Telegram ID can issue commands.
  4. Permission prompts — Claude Code still asks for approval before sensitive actions (unless you've explicitly disabled this).

It's arguably more secure than opening an SSH port on your home network.

Community Reaction

The response has been massive:

  • Hacker News: 391 points, 240+ comments
  • Reddit r/ClaudeCode: 921 upvotes
  • People are calling it a "messaging-native coding agent"
  • Direct comparisons to OpenClaw — Anthropic's official counter-move
  • WhatsApp + Slack support is the most requested feature (Telegram was chosen first because the Bot API is the simplest to implement)

Boris Cherny from Anthropic even posted a video demo on Threads.

Who Should Try This?

  • Already using Claude Code? → Install it now, takes 10 minutes
  • Want to control AI from your phone but don't want to set up SSH/VPN? → This is your answer
  • Developer who works from multiple locations? → Deploy, fix bugs, check status from anywhere
  • Business owner who's not at a desk all day? → Like me, run commands from your restaurant, your car, wherever

This is still a research preview, so things may change. But the direction is clear — the future of coding agents is being able to command them from anywhere, not just sitting in front of a screen.

Resources

claude-codetelegramchannelsremote-worktutorial
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