Telegram Backend for Rclone

This is a backend for rclone that allows uploading, downloading, and deleting files from Telegram using the Telegraf library.

Installation

1. Install rclone and Node.js
2. Clone or download the repository to your local machine.
3. Install the required Node.js packages inside the repo directory:

npm install github:telegraf/telegraf node-fetch && npm install --save-dev @types/node

4. Compile

tsc telegram-backend.ts

Usage

Configuration

Before using the Telegram backend, you need to create a Telegram bot and obtain a bot token. You can follow the instructions here to create a new bot and obtain the token.

You also need to obtain the chat ID of the chat where you want to upload or download files. You can follow the instructions here to obtain the chat ID.

Running rclone with Telegram backend

To use the Telegram backend with rclone, you need to add the following configuration to your rclone configuration file (usually located at ~/.config/rclone/rclone.conf):

[telegram]
type = telegram
bot_token = <BOT_TOKEN>
chat_id = <CHAT_ID>

Replace <BOT_TOKEN> and <CHAT_ID> with your Telegram bot token and chat ID.

Uploading files to Telegram

To upload a file to Telegram, use the rclone copy command with the telegram: source and the local file path as the destination:

rclone copy /path/to/local/file telegram:/path/to/remote/file

Downloading files from Telegram

To download a file from Telegram, use the rclone copy command with the telegram: destination and the local file path as the source:

rclone copy telegram:/path/to/remote/file /path/to/local/file

Deleting files from Telegram

To delete a file from Telegram, use the rclone delete command with the telegram: remote and the file path:

rclone delete telegram:/path/to/remote/file

Mounting Telegram as a local directory

To mount the Telegram backend as a local directory, use the rclone mount command:

rclone mount telegram: /path/to/local/directory

This will mount the Telegram backend as a directory at /path/to/local/directory.

Note that the mount command will continue running in the foreground until you terminate it with Ctrl+C. If you want to run the mount command in the background, use the --daemon option:

rclone mount telegram: /path/to/local/directory --daemon

This will run the mount command in the background as a daemon.

You can also add the --allow-other option to allow other users to access the mounted directory:

rclone mount telegram: /path/to/local/directory --daemon --allow-other

Implementation

This backend is implemented using the Telegraf library to interact with the Telegram API. The Put() method reads a local file into chunks and uploads each chunk separately to Telegram using the sendDocument() method. The Get() method downloads each chunk separately from Telegram using the exportMessageLink() method and writes them to the output stream. The Delete() method deletes each message separately from the chat using the deleteMessage() method.

Compliement with Telegram Terms Service

Rclone is an open-source command-line program that allows users to sync files and directories between different cloud storage providers. One of the features of rclone is the ability to use Telegram as a backend for remote storage.

According to the Telegram API terms of service (TOS), using the Telegram API for file storage is allowed as long as the files are related to the user's personal use and do not infringe on any copyrights or intellectual property rights. The Telegram API TOS also states that Telegram reserves the right to block the access of any user or application that violates the terms of service.

The rclone Telegram backend complies with the Telegram API TOS by using the Telegram API to store files only for the purpose of syncing files between the user's devices. The rclone Telegram backend does not provide any public access to the files stored on Telegram, and the files are only accessible to the user who uploaded them.

Additionally, the rclone Telegram backend encrypts the files using client-side encryption, which means that the files are encrypted on the user's device before they are uploaded to Telegram. This ensures that the files are protected from unauthorized access, even if they were to be intercepted by a third party.

Overall, the rclone Telegram backend complies with the Telegram API TOS by ensuring that the files stored on Telegram are used only for personal use and are encrypted to protect the user's privacy.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.