Links, regular expressions and the rest of the rule blocks

Phrases cover text, but junk does not arrive only as words: a link to a channel, a tricky pattern no word list can describe, a service "user joined the group" every two minutes. This release adds the rest of the rule blocks.

Links#

The Links block works in several modes, from "everything is forbidden except an allowlist of domains" to "only the domains on the blocklist are forbidden". The key difference from the usual solutions: each mode has its own punishment. A link to a competitor and a link to a porn site no longer have to cost a member the same.

A separate switch handles subdomains: a rule for example.com can be extended to promo.example.com or kept to an exact match only.

Regular expressions#

For the cases where the phrase builder is not enough, there is now a Regex block: card numbers, invite-link patterns, mutating spellings of the same word.

You can run an expression against your own test strings right as you save it — you see at once what it catches and what it lets through.

Member allowlist#

The Member allowlist block is the list of those who bypass every moderation rule: your own moderators, helper bots, partners. You can add someone who has never written in the chat yet, by username.

Service messages#

Telegram pours service notifications into the chat on its own: who joined, who left, who removed whom, who changed the group photo. In an active chat that is half the feed. The new Service messages block removes them for everyone, by type, so you can keep what matters and clear out the rest.