CAPTCHA
Optional picture puzzles for new members. Choose the puzzles, set the time limit, and see how a member who failed engaged.
On this page
CAPTCHA is an optional gate for new joins. When it is on, Lucy mutes the member until they solve a short picture puzzle. It is off by default. Failure never bans on its own. What happens next is the group’s On fail policy.
Choose the puzzles
Your group chooses which puzzles are on. All six are on by default. For each join, Lucy picks one of the puzzles you left on, at random.
| Puzzle | What the member does |
|---|---|
| Category | A grid of 9 numbered pictures. Tap every picture in one group (for example, animals), then tap Done. |
| Upright | 6 numbered pictures of the same scene. Tap the one that is the right way up. |
| Picture match | One big picture and 6 emoji buttons. Tap the emoji that matches the picture. |
| Twin pictures | 6 numbered pictures. Two are the same. Tap both, then tap Done. |
| Arrows | Two arrows. Tap the direction of the first arrow, then the direction of the second. |
| Biggest | 6 numbered pictures at different sizes. Tap the biggest one. |
The puzzles test attention. They have no small targets, no color matching, and no words in the image, so members who do not read the group’s language can still pass. The instruction under the picture uses the member’s own Telegram language when Lucy supports it.
Keep at least one puzzle on. To stop asking, turn CAPTCHA off.
Older puzzle styles (sequence, odd one out, and count) no longer exist. A member who still has one open gets a new puzzle from your set.
Spam or not?
The “Spam or not?” puzzle is unavailable while dataset collection is paused. It does not show in your list of puzzles, and Lucy never sends it. See Datasets are paused.
Where to change it
Open CAPTCHA in /settings. In the app, open Settings, then Protection, then CAPTCHA. Both change the same settings. In a guild member group, the CAPTCHA category can be guild-managed. See Guilds.
How a puzzle is graded
- Three tries per join.
- A wrong answer brings a new puzzle of the same type. Each puzzle has its own time limit.
- Category allows one slip. One missed picture or one extra tap is still a pass.
- Every other puzzle needs the exact answer.
- Arrows needs both directions, in order.
- When time runs out, the challenge ends at once. The member does not get more tries.
Time limit
Choose Time to solve: 1, 2, 5, 10, 15, or 30 minutes. The default is 10 minutes. The puzzle message tells the member the limit. A new limit applies to challenges made after the change. A challenge that is already open keeps its own time.
Delivery
| Delivery | Behavior |
|---|---|
| inline (default) | Private-in-group challenge only the member sees |
| dm | Challenge in Lucy’s DMs, with a button in the group if Lucy cannot message the member first |
When Lucy cannot start a private chat, she posts a message in the group that only the member sees. It has an Open private verification button, which opens /start verify_<token> in Lucy’s DMs. Lucy calls this the private check.
When a member fails
A member fails by using all three tries or by running out of time. Both follow the same On fail policy.
| On fail | Behavior |
|---|---|
| hold for review (default) | Mute, quarantine at full score with signal captcha_failed (visual) or location_failed (location gate), and offer a button so the member can send one message to the admins. An open hold survives leave and rejoin. |
| retry after removal | Remove them for one minute. They may rejoin for a new puzzle. No admin card. |
Failure never bans. Ban on the card is still a human verdict.
While a challenge is open, the member stays muted. Passing admits them, or keeps an existing moderation hold if one already applies. Direct-message delivery is the more reliable private surface if they need to contact admins after a hold. The location gate uses the same On fail policy.
What admins see
A hold opened by a failed CAPTCHA shows the evidence on the hold card in Telegram and on the same hold in the app:
- The puzzle the member got, with the picture they saw.
- Each try, with the pictures they picked and how long it took.
- The right answer to the last puzzle.
- Whether the member engaged at all.
The engagement facts tell a member who tried and got it wrong from one who never looked. Lucy records the first tap and the number of taps on each puzzle. She also keeps the picks a member had made when time ran out or when they left. She records when a member opens the private check.
The app shows a summary under the puzzle name.
| Summary | What it means |
|---|---|
| 3 wrong answers | The member used all three tries. |
| Ran out of time after 2 wrong answers | The member answered wrong, then went quiet. |
| Ran out of time, never tapped the puzzle | The member never pressed a button on the puzzle. |
| Ran out of time, never opened the private check | The member got a link to the private check and never opened it in time. |
| Ran out of time, picked 2 and never pressed Done | The member picked pictures but never sent them. |
| Left before finishing | The member left the group before finishing. |
| An admin let them in | An admin vouched for the member. |
On the card, each try has its own line, for example:
1st · picked 2, 5 · 18 sfor an answer and how long it took.2nd · picked 1, 4 · never pressed Donefor picks that were never sent.1st · ran out of time · no tapsfor a puzzle the member never touched.1st · leftfor a member who left.
A try from before Lucy recorded taps reads “ran out of time” and says no more. Lucy deletes tries after 90 days. See the Privacy Policy.
Test the puzzles
Use Send me a test to get a puzzle in your private chat with Lucy. It picks one of the puzzles your group has on. In the app, Send me this one sends the puzzle you choose. Open a private chat with Lucy first.
A test works like the real thing. Picks show a check mark, Done or the last step grades your answer, and the result appears under the puzzle. A test records nothing. It creates no challenge, no hold, and no numbers in your stats.
Welcome interaction
When CAPTCHA is enabled, a configured welcome is held until the member passes. Failed CAPTCHAs and quarantined joins do not get a welcome. With CAPTCHA off, welcome follows the normal join path after detection. Details: Greetings.
Datasets are paused
Lucy does not collect messages to build datasets, and she does not use your messages to train AI models. The “Help train Lucy” setting is hidden while collection is paused. Copies that Lucy stored before the pause are deleted 90 days after she stored them. See the Privacy Policy.