telegram-list-topics

THE RISK

Low Risk

Why telegram-list-topics needs a policy

This is a Read operation as it only queries and retrieves data from Telegram forums. However, severity is elevated to 'medium' rather than 'low' because the MCP server operates as a userbot with full access to the user's personal Telegram account, including private chats and message history.

From the tool's definition The tool 'telegram-list-topics' retrieves forum topics in a Telegram group, showing 'topic names, unread counts, and status' — descriptive queries with no modification or side effects.

Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access telegram-list-topics gives an agent:

POLICY

How to control telegram-list-topics

PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and MCP-Telegram, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for telegram-list-topics:

policy.json

{
  "version": "1",
  "default": "deny",
  "tools": {
    "telegram-list-topics": {}
  }
}

telegram-list-topics is read-only, so it stays allowed — but everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.

Create a free account and register MCP-Telegram — nothing to install.
Add this policy — paste it, or build it visually.
Point your MCP client (Claude, Cursor, anything) at your gateway URL.

CAP THIS TOOL →

Free to start. No card required.

EXPLORE

Related tools and policies

More MCP-Telegram tools

Financial telegram-change-stars-subscription Cancel or restore a Telegram Stars subscription (payments.ChangeStarsSubscription). Pass c Financial telegram-convert-star-gift Convert a received Star Gift into Stars (non-reversible). The gift is removed from your pr Financial telegram-send-paid-reaction Send a paid reaction (★ Stars) on a channel post. Stars are spent from your balance. Optio Destructive telegram-clear-drafts Delete saved message drafts. Pass chatId to clear the draft for a single chat. Without cha Destructive telegram-clear-recent-emoji-statuses Clear your recently-used emoji status list (the Destructive telegram-close-poll Close a poll permanently. This is a one-way operation — closed polls cannot be reopened. Destructive telegram-delete-business-chat-link Delete a Telegram Business chat link by its slug. Requires Telegram Business subscription. Destructive telegram-delete-fact-check Remove a fact-check annotation. Requires fact-checker privileges.

All 181 MCP-Telegram tools →

Read tools on other servers

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Go deeper

The MCP Attack Database → Documented attack patterns against MCP deployments — and the policies that stop them.
Data exfiltration → How read access becomes an exfiltration channel when chained with untrusted content.
MCP token cost → What connecting this server costs in context-window tokens on every request.
Rate Limiting MCP Tool Calls: A Practical Guide →
MCP Security: Why Prompt Guardrails Aren't Enough →

FAQ

Questions about telegram-list-topics

What does the telegram-list-topics tool do? +

List forum topics in a Telegram group with Topics enabled. Shows topic names, unread counts, and status. It is categorised as a Read tool in the MCP-Telegram MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.

How do I enforce a policy on telegram-list-topics? +

Register the MCP-Telegram MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for telegram-list-topics: allow, deny, rate-limit, or require approval. Point your MCP client at the PolicyLayer proxy URL and the rule is enforced on every call, before it reaches MCP-Telegram. Nothing to install.

What risk level is telegram-list-topics? +

telegram-list-topics is a Read tool with low risk. Read-only tools are generally safe to allow by default.

Can I rate-limit telegram-list-topics? +

Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the telegram-list-topics rule in your PolicyLayer policy. For example, setting max: 10 and window: 60 limits the tool to 10 calls per minute. Rate limits are tracked per agent session and reset automatically.

How do I block telegram-list-topics completely? +

Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for telegram-list-topics. The AI agent will receive a policy violation error and cannot call the tool. You can also include a reason field to explain why the tool is blocked.

What MCP server provides telegram-list-topics? +

telegram-list-topics is provided by the MCP-Telegram MCP server (mcp-telegram/mcp-telegram). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.

Enforce policy on every MCP-Telegram tool call.

Start from MCP-Telegram, add the rest of your stack, and see everything your agents can call. Then put policy on all of it.

CHECK YOUR STACK →