Yes—you can turn a Telegram file_id into a public download URL without exposing your bot token. Run a small HTTPS service on a Linux VPS, call Telegram’s getFile method server-side, and stream the resulting file through your own domain. For files within Telegram’s hosted Bot API limit, this requires little storage on the VPS. Larger-file or local-filesystem workflows require Telegram’s official local Bot API server and more operational work.
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The important security rule is simple: the browser should see only your public URL. Your bot token must remain in a server-side environment secret, never in a query string, JavaScript bundle, access log, or redirect.
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Telegram does not give you a permanent public URL when a user sends a document to your bot. Your bot receives an update containing a bot-specific file_id. Your VPS then performs two API operations:
- It sends the
file_idto Telegram’sgetFilemethod. Telegram describes this method as a way to obtain basic file information and prepare a file for downloading. - Telegram returns a
file_path. The VPS requestshttps://api.telegram.org/file/bot<token>/<file_path>and streams that response to the person opening your link.
The visitor never receives the bot token or the Telegram download URL. Your service can set a safe content type, force download behavior, choose a filename, authenticate the request, and record useful operational metrics.
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Limits you must design around
Hosted Bot API download ceiling
Telegram’s current hosted Bot API allows bots to download files up to 20 MB with getFile. Telegram’s FAQ repeats that limit. A file larger than that may exist in Telegram and still be inaccessible through this hosted download workflow. Do not promise users that every Telegram file can become a link.
Generated URLs expire
Telegram says a generated file URL is guaranteed to remain valid for at least one hour. Your application should call getFile for each download, or whenever a cached Telegram URL has expired, rather than storing that URL as a permanent asset. Your own public link can remain stable while your server refreshes the upstream URL.
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A file_id is bot-specific. A value obtained by one bot cannot be transferred to another bot and expected to work. Store the ID together with the bot or tenant that received it, and never accept arbitrary IDs from an untrusted user without authorization.
Hosted Telegram API or local Bot API server?
For ordinary files below 20 MB, Telegram’s hosted API is the simplest and safest starting point. A local Bot API server is a separate deployment option for larger-file and local-path workflows, but it brings storage, credentials, and maintenance responsibilities.
| Decision point | Hosted Bot API | Official local Bot API server |
|---|---|---|
| Download-size ceiling | Telegram’s documented 20 MB bot download limit applies. | Designed for workflows that need larger files or local filesystem access; verify the behavior and limits of the server version you deploy. |
| Where bytes come from | Your proxy streams from Telegram’s HTTPS file endpoint. | getFile can return an absolute local filesystem path, which your proxy can read. |
| VPS storage | Usually only temporary buffering, if any. Streaming avoids keeping a permanent copy. | Reserve persistent disk space, monitor growth, clean up old files, and back up configuration. |
| Credentials | Bot token is required. | Bot token plus the api_id and api_hash required by the official server. |
| HTTPS | Put your proxy behind a TLS-capable reverse proxy. | The official server accepts HTTP requests, so the TDLib README says a TLS-termination proxy is needed for remote HTTPS access. |
| Operations | One small service, with Telegram handling upstream file storage. | Run and update another service, protect its local API, manage disk and cleanup, and monitor both components. |
| Failure recovery | Retry getFile, handle expired URLs, and retry transient upstream errors. |
Recover the Bot API server, mounted storage, permissions, and proxy together. |
Choose the hosted API unless you have a demonstrated requirement for larger files or local paths. A local server does not eliminate Telegram-side behavior or the need to protect credentials.
Prerequisites
- A Telegram bot created with BotFather and its token stored as a secret.
- A Linux VPS with a public IPv4 or IPv6 address, outbound HTTPS access, and enough bandwidth for expected downloads.
- A DNS name pointing to the VPS.
- Docker and Docker Compose, or a Go toolchain if you will build a binary directly.
- An HTTPS reverse proxy such as Caddy, Nginx, or an equivalent service.
- A plan for authentication, rate limiting, log retention, and abuse response before you publish links.
Step 1: create the bot and protect its token
- Open BotFather in Telegram and create a bot. Copy the token once; treat it like a password.
- Store it in your VPS secret manager or an environment file readable only by the service account. A typical environment variable is
TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN. - Do not put the token in a browser URL, HTML, client-side JavaScript, a Docker image layer, a Git repository, or a verbose HTTP log.
- If the token is exposed, revoke it through BotFather immediately, replace the secret on the VPS, and restart the service.
Telegram Bot API requests use HTTPS and the bot-token URL form. Your application should construct those URLs in memory and redact them from errors and access logs.
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Step 2: provision and harden the VPS
- Create a non-root administrator and use SSH keys rather than password login where your provider allows it.
- Apply operating-system security updates, enable a firewall, and allow only SSH, HTTP, and HTTPS as required.
- Run the proxy as an unprivileged user. If using containers, do not mount the Docker socket into the file proxy.
- Set a service-level memory, CPU, and open-connection limit. Streaming many files can exhaust a small VPS even when files are not stored.
- Point a DNS record such as
files.example.netat the VPS and wait for it to resolve before requesting a certificate.
The VPS is a relay, not a magic bandwidth multiplier. Every public download consumes outbound bandwidth, and Telegram-to-VPS traffic consumes inbound bandwidth. Check your VPS plan’s transfer policy before publishing a popular link.
Step 3: implement the proxy request flow
The open-source telegram-file-proxy project describes this use case as providing users with links to files by file_id without exposing the bot token. Its documented shape uses the file ID in the path and optional content-type and filename query parameters. You can deploy that project with its documented Go build or Docker Compose setup, or implement the same flow in your own service.
A minimal implementation should perform these checks before streaming:
- Require a non-empty, syntactically valid
file_id. - Look up whether the requester is allowed to use that ID.
- Call
getFilewith a server-side token. - Reject Telegram errors, missing
file_pathvalues, and responses larger than your policy allows. - Set an allowlisted MIME type and a sanitized filename; never copy arbitrary response headers from the client.
- Stream bytes instead of loading the entire file into memory.
- Return a generic error to the visitor while logging a redacted, request-correlated diagnostic for operators.
Illustrative Go handler
The following example shows the core hosted-API pattern. It is intentionally small; add authentication, rate limiting, structured logging, metrics, and a persistent authorization store before production use.
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import (
"encoding/json"
"fmt"
"io"
"net/http"
"net/url"
"os"
"path"
"strings"
"time"
)
type getFileResponse struct {
OK bool `json:"ok"`
Result struct {
FilePath string `json:"file_path"`
FileSize int64 `json:"file_size"`
} `json:"result"`
}
var client = &http.Client{Timeout: 30 * time.Second}
func main() {
token := os.Getenv("TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN")
if token == "" {
panic("TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN is required")
}
http.HandleFunc("/f/", func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
fileID := strings.TrimPrefix(r.URL.Path, "/f/")
if fileID == "" || strings.ContainsAny(fileID, "/?#") {
http.Error(w, "invalid file id", http.StatusBadRequest)
return
}
// Replace this with an authorization lookup and signed-link check.
infoURL := "https://api.telegram.org/bot" + token + "/getFile?file_id=" + url.QueryEscape(fileID)
infoResp, err := client.Get(infoURL)
if err != nil {
http.Error(w, "upstream unavailable", http.StatusBadGateway)
return
}
defer infoResp.Body.Close()
var info getFileResponse
if err := json.NewDecoder(infoResp.Body).Decode(&info); err != nil || !info.OK || info.Result.FilePath == "" {
http.Error(w, "file unavailable", http.StatusNotFound)
return
}
downloadURL := "https://api.telegram.org/file/bot" + token + "/" + info.Result.FilePath
upstream, err := client.Get(downloadURL)
if err != nil {
http.Error(w, "download unavailable", http.StatusBadGateway)
return
}
defer upstream.Body.Close()
if upstream.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
http.Error(w, "download unavailable", http.StatusBadGateway)
return
}
filename := path.Base(info.Result.FilePath)
if filename == "." || filename == "/" || strings.ContainsAny(filename, "rn") {
filename = "telegram-file"
}
w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/octet-stream")
w.Header().Set("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename="+filename)
if upstream.ContentLength >= 0 {
w.Header().Set("Content-Length", fmt.Sprint(upstream.ContentLength))
}
io.Copy(w, upstream.Body)
})
http.ListenAndServe("127.0.0.1:8080", nil)
}For production, do not use the example’s unrestricted handler as an authorization model. A public endpoint that accepts any valid ID can become an anonymous file relay. Bind the application to loopback, place it behind your reverse proxy, and make links unguessable or signed.
Step 4: choose a link format
Direct file-ID path
A simple route is https://files.example.net/f/<file_id>. Optional parameters can request a controlled presentation, for example content-type=application/pdf or filename=manual.pdf. Validate both values against an allowlist. Never let a caller inject CRLF characters into Content-Disposition or arbitrary response headers.
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Opaque database key
Instead of publishing the Telegram ID, generate a random identifier and store a record containing the ID, owner, expiry time, download count, and permitted filename. This prevents casual enumeration and lets you revoke a link without changing the Telegram file.
Signed, expiring application URL
Include an expiry timestamp and an HMAC signature calculated over the record ID and expiry. Reject expired or incorrectly signed requests before calling Telegram. This limits forwarding and reduces unnecessary upstream traffic. Keep the signing key separate from the bot token so rotating one does not invalidate the other.
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Step 5: put the service behind HTTPS
- Configure your reverse proxy for the DNS name and forward requests to the local service, for example
127.0.0.1:8080. - Obtain and renew a certificate through your proxy’s supported ACME workflow.
- Redirect HTTP to HTTPS and enable modern TLS defaults.
- Pass the original host and scheme headers if your application uses them to create links.
- Set an upload/download body policy appropriate to your use case. Do not accidentally impose a tiny proxy limit on files that Telegram allows.
- Disable proxy access-log query strings if they might contain signed tokens, or configure redaction.
The Telegram Bot API’s local server accepts HTTP requests; if you deploy it, the official README requires a TLS-termination proxy for remote HTTPS. The same principle applies to your file proxy: keep the application private and terminate public TLS at a hardened edge.
Step 6: test with a real Telegram file
- Send a document smaller than 20 MB to your bot.
- Read the incoming update and record its
file_id. Do not paste the bot token into the same test notes. - Request your proxy URL from a browser or
curl. Confirm that the response comes from your domain, not a Telegram URL. - Inspect headers: verify HTTPS, the intended MIME type, a safe
Content-Disposition, and a sensible length when available. - Open the same public URL after the Telegram URL would have expired. Your service should call
getFileagain rather than returning a stale upstream URL. - Test an invalid ID, an unauthorized ID, a revoked signed link, a rate-limit response, and a client that disconnects halfway through.
Security controls to add before sharing links
Authentication and authorization
Decide whether a link is public, account-only, or restricted to a specific recipient. Public links should use high-entropy opaque IDs or signatures. For private links, require a session, API key, or one-time token and check ownership before contacting Telegram.
Rate limiting and concurrency limits
Limit requests per IP, account, link, and bot. Also cap simultaneous upstream downloads and total bytes per interval. A per-request limit alone will not protect a small VPS from many parallel connections.
Header and filename safety
Allow only MIME types you intentionally support. Use application/octet-stream when uncertain. Strip path separators, control characters, and line breaks from filenames; supply a fallback such as telegram-file. If you support inline display, allow it only for safe types such as a policy-approved PDF or image set.
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Logging without secrets
Log a request ID, timestamp, status, duration, byte count, redacted link identifier, and failure category. Never log the bot token, the complete Telegram download URL, authorization headers, or signed URLs. Keep retention short enough to match your privacy obligations.
Abuse and privacy
A file link can be forwarded. Define how users report illegal or unwanted content, how long you retain access records, and how you revoke a link. Telegram’s file_id is an identifier, not proof that a requester owns the underlying content.
Optional local Bot API deployment
Use the official TDLib telegram-bot-api server only when the hosted 20 MB workflow is insufficient or when your application specifically needs local filesystem paths. Its README requires an api_id and api_hash. The service accepts HTTP, so put it on a private network and expose it through a TLS reverse proxy only when necessary.
Operational checklist
- Obtain and protect the required Telegram application credentials in addition to the bot token.
- Mount persistent storage with known ownership and sufficient free space.
- Set cleanup rules for downloaded files and monitor inode as well as byte usage.
- Back up configuration and document how to rebuild the server and remount storage.
- Restrict access to the local API with firewall rules or a private container network.
- Monitor queue depth, disk latency, download errors, and certificate renewal.
- Test recovery from a full disk, a crashed Bot API process, and a lost mounted volume.
In this model, your proxy can receive an absolute local path after getFile and stream that file. Validate that the path stays inside the configured download directory; never concatenate an untrusted path into a filesystem read.
Docker Compose and binary deployment choices
Docker Compose
Compose is convenient when you want the proxy, reverse proxy, and optionally a local Bot API server defined as repeatable services. Keep secrets in an external environment or secret store, mount only the directories each container needs, and use a restart policy with health checks. Do not expose the Bot API container directly to the public internet.
Go binary
A compiled Go service has a small runtime footprint and is straightforward to supervise with systemd. Build the documented project binary on a build machine or in a controlled CI job, copy it to the VPS, create a dedicated user, and run it with an environment file readable only by that user. Pin the source revision you deploy and keep a rollback binary.
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Troubleshooting
getFile returns an error
Check that the ID came from the same bot, that it was not truncated or URL-decoded incorrectly, and that the file is within the hosted limit. Confirm the token is current and that the VPS can reach Telegram over HTTPS.
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You are probably caching Telegram’s temporary download URL. Cache metadata only if necessary and call getFile again when the URL expires; Telegram guarantees validity for at least one hour, not forever.
Users receive a 502 or an empty file
Inspect upstream status, proxy timeouts, and client disconnect handling. Ensure the reverse proxy is not buffering or truncating responses and that your application does not close the upstream body before copying it.
Large files fail on a local deployment
Check mounted-disk capacity, permissions, cleanup jobs, and the local Bot API server logs. Verify that your TLS proxy and application timeouts accommodate the intended transfer duration.
The token appears in logs
Rotate it immediately through BotFather, remove it from retained logs and monitoring payloads, then audit source code, environment files, container layers, and reverse-proxy access logs for other exposures.
Hosted versus local: a practical decision
- Choose hosted when files are at or below 20 MB, you prefer minimal operations, and streaming from Telegram is acceptable.
- Evaluate local when you need larger-file handling supported by the local server, absolute local paths, or control over on-disk processing.
- Use either with HTTPS and authorization; neither option makes an unrestricted public relay safe by itself.
The durable design is a private bot token, a server-side getFile call, a short-lived upstream URL refreshed as needed, and a public endpoint protected by HTTPS, authorization, rate limits, and careful logging. That arrangement gives users convenient links while keeping Telegram credentials out of their hands.
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