---
title: "Find groups and potential customers"
locale: en
url: https://tlg.builera.app/en/docs/guides/discover
verified: 2026-10-24
app_version: "2.0"
---

# Find groups and potential customers

Find Telegram groups, select accounts to join them, and scan for relevant people within Telegram's permitted scope.


Find groups or channels, select Telegram accounts to join them, and collect lists of relevant people. Adding a group to the list does not mean an account has joined it.

## Who can do this

**Owner** and **Manager** can search, add groups, join, scan, and enable keyword following. Other roles can only read data they are allowed to access.

## Before you start

- An account that is logged in, has a proxy, and has an online machine.
- Keywords, an @username, or a group link.
- Permission to view the group's content or members on Telegram.

Searching, joining, and scanning still go through the account's safety gate, limits, and running hours.

## Where to start

Open **Discover → Groups & channels**.

![Group list and search field in Discover](https://tlg.builera.app/docs-media/en/discover.webp "Find groups")

## Steps

1. Enter keywords, an @username, or a t.me link in **Keyword, @username, or t.me/… link**.
2. Select an account under **Search with** or **Read group with**. Keywords search for public groups/channels; links and usernames read a specific group.
3. Select **Add** for a result you want to keep.
4. Open the group you just added.
5. Select an account under **Join group with account**.
6. Click **Join group**. If approval is required, wait at **Join request sent — waiting for admin approval**.
7. Select an account under **Scan with account**.
8. Select **Scan active senders** or **Scan members**.

![Group details with account selection and scanning methods](https://tlg.builera.app/docs-media/en/discover-group.webp "Choose a scanning method")

The two scanning methods have different scopes:

| Scanning method | Scope |
|---|---|
| Active senders | Reads up to 500 messages or up to 7 days back; collects senders found in the messages it can read |
| Members | Up to 200 people per scan, if Telegram allows access to the list |

Each account has a hard cap of **2,000 people/day** from scans. This cap still applies in **Free** mode. The number of scans is also subject to the account's effective limit.

A group must wait **24 hours** after a scan before the next normal scan. You can confirm **Scan again** sooner; this uses another scan and does not override the daily cap. Existing people are updated, not duplicated.

9. Enable **Follow keywords** using an account that is already in the group.
10. Open **Edit keywords · view signals** to configure keywords using the [signals guide](https://tlg.builera.app/en/docs/guides/signals).

## Result

The group appears in the discovery list. Open scan results with **View results**; saving people to **People** is a separate step.

## Check

Check that the account has joined, review scan progress, and check **Last scan**. For channels, active senders usually include only post authors; do not treat this as a subscriber list.

## If something goes wrong

- Private group: have the account join first.
- Hidden member list: use active senders if you have permission to read messages.
- Job has not run: check the machine, running schedule, and limits in [Logs](https://tlg.builera.app/en/docs/guides/logs).
- Expired link or account removed from the group: check again on Telegram.

## Do it with the API or MCP

Use [groups.search](https://tlg.builera.app/en/docs/reference/rest/groups.search), [groups.join](https://tlg.builera.app/en/docs/reference/rest/groups.join), [scans.start](https://tlg.builera.app/en/docs/reference/rest/scans.start), and [groups.set_watch](https://tlg.builera.app/en/docs/reference/rest/groups.set_watch).

Corresponding tool names: `groups_search`, `groups_join`, `scans_start`, `groups_set_watch`. The connection needs the correct scopes and account permissions; the API does not override scanning limits.