RPC Errors

RPC stands for Remote Procedure Call, and when the library raises a RPCError, it’s because you have invoked some of the API methods incorrectly (wrong parameters, wrong permissions, or even something went wrong on Telegram’s server). All the errors are available in telethon.errors package, but some examples are:

  • FloodWaitError (420), the same request was repeated many times. Must wait .seconds (you can access this attribute). For example:

    ...
from telethon import errors

try:
    print(client.get_messages(chat)[0].text)
except errors.FloodWaitError as e:
    print('Have to sleep', e.seconds, 'seconds')
    time.sleep(e.seconds)

  • SessionPasswordNeededError, if you have setup two-steps verification on Telegram.

  • CdnFileTamperedError, if the media you were trying to download from a CDN has been altered.

  • ChatAdminRequiredError, you don’t have permissions to perform said operation on a chat or channel. Try avoiding filters, i.e. when searching messages.

The generic classes for different error codes are:

  • InvalidDCError (303), the request must be repeated on another DC.
  • BadRequestError (400), the request contained errors.
  • UnauthorizedError (401), the user is not authorized yet.
  • ForbiddenError (403), privacy violation error.
  • NotFoundError (404), make sure you’re invoking Request’s!

If the error is not recognised, it will only be an RPCError.

You can refer to all errors from Python through the telethon.errors module. If you don’t know what attributes they have, try printing their dir (like print(dir(e))).