Independent Witness

Independent witness

03 · INDEPENDENT CHECKS · All guides · Get help

On this page

• Keep a boundary you can compare
• Set up a witness
• Interpret the result

Component	Purpose
Collector	Records what its Telegram account observes
Witness	Fetches a signed journal boundary, signs its observation and can publish a channel post
Controlled delivery test	Compares known send/edit/delete actions with captured evidence

A witness has its own key and a read-only token. That token cannot read messages, control the collector or obtain its Telegram session.

Keep a boundary you can compare

An export may grow beyond a checkpoint. After verifying the checkpoint signature, compare the hash at its saved record count. A shorter export cannot satisfy a checkpoint beyond its end; matching the boundary does not replace checking every event.

Open the full-size animation · Static diagram · Exact checkpoint formula

Set up a witness

1. Open Extras → A bot in your channel → Set up a bot.
2. Create a read-only token and save it as witness-token.txt.
3. Configure your channel, polling interval and reachable collector address. Download witness.json; it pins the workspace's collector key.
4. On the witness host, place the JSON and token together. Save your Telegram bot token in bot-token.txt. Give your bot permission to post in your channel.
5. In the installed project environment, check and launch:

python -m tgwitness.witness run --config witness.json --check-config
python -m tgwitness.witness run --config witness.json

The configuration check makes no network requests. Starting the witness may publish messages according to your configuration; downloading the JSON alone does not start it.

Retain its fingerprint separately:

python -m tgwitness.witness fingerprint --config witness.json

Check the witness log and actual channel posts. A last-poll time in the collector only confirms a request.

Interpret the result

A witness on the same server provides a separate process and key, but not independent operator custody. A growing counter does not prove every message was captured. Compare downloaded proof receipts with the matching signed evidence archive, and use a controlled delivery test for specific events.

Next: Witness reference · Evidence limits