telegram-markdown-v2

A lightweight TypeScript library for seamlessly transforming standard Markdown into Telegram's MarkdownV2 format. Built for developers who want reliable Markdown-to-Telegram conversion without the hassle.

Why This Library?

Working with Telegram's MarkdownV2 format can be frustrating - special characters need escaping, formatting rules are strict, and one wrong character breaks everything. This library handles all the complexity, letting you focus on your bot's functionality.

Installation

bun install telegram-markdown-v2

Or with npm:

npm install telegram-markdown-v2

Quick Start

import { convert } from 'telegram-markdown-v2';

const markdown = `
# Hello World
This is **bold text** and *italic text*.
- List item 1
- List item 2
`;

const telegramMarkdown = convert(markdown);
console.log(telegramMarkdown);

API Reference

convert(markdown: string, unsupportedTagsStrategy?: UnsupportedTagsStrategy): string

Transforms standard Markdown into Telegram MarkdownV2 format.

Parameters:

• markdown: The input Markdown string
• unsupportedTagsStrategy: Optional strategy for handling unsupported tags ('keep' | 'escape' | 'remove'). Default: 'keep'

Returns: Formatted string ready for Telegram's parse_mode: 'MarkdownV2'

Supported Markdown Elements

| Element | Input | Telegram Output | |---------|-------|----------------| | Bold | **text** | *text* | | Italic | *text* | _text_ | | Underline | <u>text</u> | __text__ | | ~~Strikethrough~~ | ~~text~~ | ~text~ | | Spoiler | <span class="tg-spoiler">text</span> | ||text|| | | Inline Code | `code` | `code` | | Links | [text](url) | [text](url) | | Block Quotes | > quote | Configurable (keep/escape/remove) | | Code Blocks | lang code | code | | Lists | - item | • item | | Headings | # Title | *Title* |

Configuration Options

type UnsupportedTagsStrategy = 'escape' | 'remove' | 'keep';

Strategy Options:

• 'keep' (default): Preserve unsupported elements as-is
• 'escape': Escape special characters in unsupported elements
• 'remove': Remove unsupported elements entirely

Examples

Basic Formatting

import { convert } from 'telegram-markdown-v2';

const input = "Check out this **amazing** library with *great* features!";
const output = convert(input);
// Result: "Check out this *amazing* library with _great_ features\\!"

Code Blocks

const codeExample = `
Here's some JavaScript code:
\`\`\`javascript
function hello() {
  console.log("Hello, world!");
}
\`\`\`
`;

const formatted = convert(codeExample);
// Ready to send via Telegram Bot API

Lists and Links

const listExample = `
## Todo List
- Create awesome library
- Write documentation  
- Publish to npm

Visit [our repo](https://github.com/example/telegram-markdown-v2)
`;

const telegramReady = convert(listExample);

Advanced Usage

Unsupported Tags Strategy

import { convert } from 'telegram-markdown-v2';

// Keep unsupported tags as-is (default)
const keepResult = convert('> This is a blockquote', 'keep');
// Result: "> This is a blockquote\n"

// Escape special characters in unsupported tags
const escapeResult = convert('> This is a blockquote', 'escape');
// Result: "\\> This is a blockquote\n"

// Remove unsupported tags entirely
const removeResult = convert('> This is a blockquote', 'remove');
// Result: ""

Telegram V2 Specific Features

// Underline support
const underline = convert('This is <u>underlined</u> text');
// Result: "This is __underlined__ text\n"

// Spoiler support
const spoiler = convert('This is <span class="tg-spoiler">hidden</span> text');
// Result: "This is ||hidden|| text\n"

// Custom emoji and user mentions
const mentions = convert('[John](tg://user?id=123) sent ![👍](tg://emoji?id=456)');
// Result: "[John](tg://user\\?id\\=123) sent [👍](tg://emoji\\?id\\=456)\n"

Common Issues & Solutions

Special Characters

The library automatically escapes Telegram's special characters: _*[]()~#+-=|{}.!`

Message Length

Telegram limits messages to 4096 characters. You'll need to implement message splitting in your application.

Formatting Conflicts

If your Markdown doesn't render correctly, check for unmatched formatting marks or nested styles.

Unsupported Elements

Elements like tables, blockquotes, and HTML tags can be handled using the unsupportedTagsStrategy parameter.

Development

# Install dependencies
bun install

# Run tests
bun test

# Build for production
bun run build

# Type checking
bun run typecheck

# Linting
bun run lint

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

License

MIT © 2025

Acknowledgments

Inspired by the Python telegramify-markdown library, reimagined for the TypeScript ecosystem with modern tooling and better performance.