Advanced Usage#

Pyrogram’s API – which consists of well documented methods and types – exists to provide an easier interface to the more complex Telegram API.

In this section, you’ll be shown the alternative way of communicating with Telegram using Pyrogram: the main “raw” Telegram API with its functions and types.

Telegram Raw API#

If you can’t find a high-level method for your needs or if you want complete, low-level access to the whole Telegram API, you have to use the raw functions and types.

As already hinted, raw functions and types can be less convenient. This section will therefore explain some pitfalls to take into consideration when working with the raw API.

Tip

Every available high-level method in Pyrogram is built on top of these raw functions.

Invoking Functions#

Unlike the methods found in Pyrogram’s API, which can be called in the usual simple way, functions to be invoked from the raw Telegram API have a different way of usage.

First of all, both raw functions and raw types live in their respective packages (and sub-packages): pyrogram.raw.functions, pyrogram.raw.types. They all exist as Python classes, meaning you need to create an instance of each every time you need them and fill them in with the correct values using named arguments.

Next, to actually invoke the raw function you have to use the invoke() method provided by the Client class and pass the function object you created.

Here’s some examples:

  • Update first name, last name and bio:

    from pyrogram import Client
from pyrogram.raw import functions

async with Client("my_account") as app:
    await app.invoke(
        functions.account.UpdateProfile(
            first_name="First Name", last_name="Last Name",
            about="New bio text"
        )
    )

  • Set online/offline status:

    from pyrogram import Client
from pyrogram.raw import functions, types

async with Client("my_account") as app:
    # Set online status
    await app.invoke(functions.account.UpdateStatus(offline=False))

    # Set offline status
    await app.invoke(functions.account.UpdateStatus(offline=True))

  • Get chat info:

    from pyrogram import Client
from pyrogram.raw import functions, types

async with Client("my_account") as app:
    r = await app.invoke(
        functions.channels.GetFullChannel(
            channel=app.resolve_peer("username")
        )
    )

    print(r)

Chat IDs#

The way Telegram works makes it not possible to directly send a message to a user or a chat by using their IDs only. Instead, a pair of id and access_hash wrapped in a so called InputPeer is always needed. Pyrogram allows sending messages with IDs only thanks to cached access hashes.

There are three different InputPeer types, one for each kind of Telegram entity. Whenever an InputPeer is needed you must pass one of these:

But you don’t necessarily have to manually instantiate each object because Pyrogram already provides resolve_peer() as a convenience utility method that returns the correct InputPeer by accepting a peer ID only.

Another thing to take into consideration about chat IDs is the way they are represented: they are all integers and all positive within their respective raw types.

Things are different when working with Pyrogram’s API because having them in the same space could lead to collisions, and that’s why Pyrogram uses a slightly different representation for each kind of ID.

For example, given the ID 123456789, here’s how Pyrogram can tell entities apart:

  • +ID User: 123456789

  • -ID Chat: -123456789

  • -100ID Channel or Supergroup: -100123456789

So, every time you take a raw ID, make sure to translate it into the correct ID when you want to use it with an high-level method.