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Overview

MadelineProto provides the getInfo method to retrieve comprehensive information about any peer (user, chat, channel, or supergroup). This method automatically handles username resolution, invite links, and various peer formats.

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Basic Usage

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Get Full Information

$info = $MadelineProto->getInfo($peer);
The $peer parameter can be:
  • Numeric ID: User ID, chat ID, or channel ID
  • Username: @username or username
  • Invite link: https://t.me/joinchat/...
  • Special strings: me (yourself), support (Telegram support)
  • Arrays: Update objects or message objects

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Information Types

You can request specific information by passing a type constant: 
use danog\MadelineProto\API;

// Get specific information types
$botApiId = $MadelineProto->getInfo($peer, API::INFO_TYPE_ID);
$type = $MadelineProto->getInfo($peer, API::INFO_TYPE_TYPE);
$constructor = $MadelineProto->getInfo($peer, API::INFO_TYPE_CONSTRUCTOR);
$inputPeer = $MadelineProto->getInfo($peer, API::INFO_TYPE_PEER);

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Available Info Types

  • API::INFO_TYPE_ALL - Returns complete information (default)
  • API::INFO_TYPE_ID - Returns the bot API ID as an integer
  • API::INFO_TYPE_TYPE - Returns peer type: user, chat, channel, or supergroup
  • API::INFO_TYPE_CONSTRUCTOR - Returns the InputPeer constructor
  • API::INFO_TYPE_PEER - Returns the InputPeer object
  • API::INFO_TYPE_USERNAMES - Returns array of usernames

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Return Values

When using API::INFO_TYPE_ALL, the method returns an array containing: 
[
    'bot_api_id' => 12345678,           // Bot API format ID
    'type' => 'user',                   // Peer type
    'User' => [...],                    // Full user/chat object
    'InputPeer' => [...],               // InputPeer constructor
    'Peer' => [...],                    // Peer constructor  
    'usernames' => ['username'],        // Array of usernames
    'min' => false,                     // Whether this is min info
    // Additional fields depending on peer type
]

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Examples

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Check if Peer is a Bot

if ($MadelineProto->isBot($peer)) {
    echo "This peer is a bot";
}

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Check if Peer is a Forum

if ($MadelineProto->isForum($peer)) {
    echo "This is a forum/topic group";
}

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Get User by Username

$info = $MadelineProto->getInfo('@username');
echo "User ID: " . $info['bot_api_id'];
echo "Type: " . $info['type'];

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Get Channel Information

$channelInfo = $MadelineProto->getInfo(-1001234567890);

if ($channelInfo['type'] === 'channel') {
    echo "Channel title: " . $channelInfo['Chat']['title'];
    echo "Subscribers: " . $channelInfo['full']['participants_count'];
}

try {
    $info = $MadelineProto->getInfo('https://t.me/joinchat/AAAAAEkk2WdoDrB4-Q');
    echo "Chat ID: " . $info['bot_api_id'];
} catch (\danog\MadelineProto\Exception $e) {
    echo "You have not joined this chat: " . $e->getMessage();
}

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Special Peers

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Get Your Own Information

$myInfo = $MadelineProto->getInfo('me');
echo "My ID: " . $myInfo['bot_api_id'];

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Get Telegram Support

$supportInfo = $MadelineProto->getInfo('support');
// Returns Telegram's support account

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ID Conversion

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Convert to Bot API Format

$botApiId = $MadelineProto->getId($peer);

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Get InputPeer Constructor

$inputPeer = $MadelineProto->getInputPeer($peer);
// Returns inputPeerUser, inputPeerChat, or inputPeerChannel

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Full Information

For complete peer details including description, photo, and statistics: 
$fullInfo = $MadelineProto->getFullInfo($peer);

// Access full details
echo "Description: " . ($fullInfo['full']['about'] ?? 'N/A');
echo "Participant count: " . ($fullInfo['full']['participants_count'] ?? 'N/A');

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Error Handling

use danog\MadelineProto\PeerNotInDbException;
use danog\MadelineProto\RPCErrorException;

try {
    $info = $MadelineProto->getInfo($peer);
} catch (PeerNotInDbException $e) {
    // Peer not found in database
    echo "Peer not found: " . $e->getMessage();
} catch (RPCErrorException $e) {
    // Telegram API error
    echo "RPC Error: " . $e->getMessage();
}

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Performance Considerations

The getInfo method automatically caches peer information. If you have a large number of dialogs, consider using getDialogIds() for bots instead of fetching full information for each peer.

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For Bots: Get Dialog IDs

// Efficient way to get all dialog IDs (bot accounts only)
$dialogIds = $MadelineProto->getDialogIds();

foreach ($dialogIds as $id) {
    echo "Dialog ID: $id\n";
}

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For Users: Get Full Dialogs

// Get all dialogs with full information (user accounts)
$dialogs = $MadelineProto->getFullDialogs();

foreach ($dialogs as $id => $dialog) {
    echo "Chat: " . $dialog['Peer']['_'] . " (ID: $id)\n";
}

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See Also

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