diff --git a/frontend/server/api/omni/telegram/avatar.get.ts b/frontend/server/api/omni/telegram/avatar.get.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4a3d78f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/server/api/omni/telegram/avatar.get.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+import { getQuery, setHeader } from "h3";
+import { getAuthContext } from "../../../utils/auth";
+import { prisma } from "../../../utils/prisma";
+import { requireTelegramBotToken, telegramApiBase, telegramBotApi } from "../../../utils/telegram";
+
+const TELEGRAM_FILE_MARKER = "tg-file:";
+
+type TelegramFileMeta = {
+  file_id: string;
+  file_path?: string;
+};
+
+function parseTelegramFileId(avatarUrl: string | null | undefined) {
+  const raw = String(avatarUrl ?? "").trim();
+  if (!raw.startsWith(TELEGRAM_FILE_MARKER)) return null;
+  const fileId = raw.slice(TELEGRAM_FILE_MARKER.length).trim();
+  return fileId || null;
+}
+
+export default defineEventHandler(async (event) => {
+  const auth = await getAuthContext(event);
+  const query = getQuery(event);
+  const contactId = String(query.contactId ?? "").trim();
+
+  if (!contactId) {
+    throw createError({ statusCode: 400, statusMessage: "contactId is required" });
+  }
+
+  const contact = await prisma.contact.findFirst({
+    where: {
+      id: contactId,
+      teamId: auth.teamId,
+    },
+    select: {
+      avatarUrl: true,
+    },
+  });
+
+  if (!contact) {
+    throw createError({ statusCode: 404, statusMessage: "contact not found" });
+  }
+
+  const fileId = parseTelegramFileId(contact.avatarUrl);
+  if (!fileId) {
+    throw createError({ statusCode: 404, statusMessage: "telegram avatar is missing" });
+  }
+
+  const meta = await telegramBotApi<TelegramFileMeta>("getFile", { file_id: fileId });
+  const filePath = String(meta?.file_path ?? "").trim();
+  if (!filePath) {
+    throw createError({ statusCode: 502, statusMessage: "telegram file path is unavailable" });
+  }
+
+  const apiBase = telegramApiBase().replace(/\/+$/, "");
+  const token = requireTelegramBotToken();
+  const remote = await fetch(`${apiBase}/file/bot${token}/${filePath}`);
+  if (!remote.ok) {
+    throw createError({ statusCode: 502, statusMessage: `telegram file fetch failed (${remote.status})` });
+  }
+
+  const contentType = remote.headers.get("content-type") || "image/jpeg";
+  const contentLength = remote.headers.get("content-length");
+  const body = Buffer.from(await remote.arrayBuffer());
+
+  setHeader(event, "content-type", contentType);
+  setHeader(event, "cache-control", "private, max-age=300");
+  if (contentLength) {
+    const parsedLength = Number(contentLength);
+    if (Number.isFinite(parsedLength) && parsedLength >= 0) {
+      setHeader(event, "content-length", parsedLength);
+    }
+  }
+
+  return body;
+});
diff --git a/frontend/server/graphql/schema.ts b/frontend/server/graphql/schema.ts
index 38be195..8937bad 100644
--- a/frontend/server/graphql/schema.ts
+++ b/frontend/server/graphql/schema.ts
@@ -120,6 +120,18 @@ function resolveContactMessageAudioUrl(message: {
   return raw;
 }
 
+function resolveContactAvatarUrl(contact: {
+  id: string;
+  avatarUrl: string | null;
+}) {
+  const raw = String(contact.avatarUrl ?? "").trim();
+  if (!raw) return "";
+  if (raw.startsWith(TELEGRAM_AUDIO_FILE_MARKER)) {
+    return `/api/omni/telegram/avatar?contactId=${encodeURIComponent(contact.id)}`;
+  }
+  return raw;
+}
+
 async function upsertContactInbox(input: {
   teamId: string;
   contactId: string;
@@ -484,7 +496,7 @@ async function getContacts(auth: AuthContext | null) {
     .map((c) => ({
       id: c.id,
       name: c.name,
-      avatar: c.avatarUrl ?? "",
+      avatar: resolveContactAvatarUrl(c),
       channels: Array.from(channelsByContactId.get(c.id) ?? []),
       lastContactAt: c.messages[0]?.occurredAt?.toISOString?.() ?? c.updatedAt.toISOString(),
       lastMessageText: c.messages[0]?.content ?? "",
diff --git a/omni_inbound/src/telegram.ts b/omni_inbound/src/telegram.ts
index d1ad734..d7a4d56 100644
--- a/omni_inbound/src/telegram.ts
+++ b/omni_inbound/src/telegram.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import { createHash } from "node:crypto";
 import type { JsonObject, OmniInboundEnvelopeV1 } from "./types";
 
 const MAX_TEXT_LENGTH = 4096;
+const TELEGRAM_FILE_MARKER = "tg-file:";
 
 function asObject(value: unknown): JsonObject {
   return value && typeof value === "object" && !Array.isArray(value) ? (value as JsonObject) : {};
@@ -67,6 +68,11 @@ function normalizeId(value: unknown) {
   return text || null;
 }
 
+function pickTelegramChatPhotoFileId(source: JsonObject | null | undefined) {
+  const photo = asObject(asObject(source).photo);
+  return normalizeString(photo.small_file_id) ?? normalizeString(photo.big_file_id);
+}
+
 type TelegramMediaInfo = {
   kind: "voice" | "audio" | "video_note" | null;
   fileId: string | null;
@@ -219,6 +225,7 @@ export function parseTelegramBusinessUpdate(raw: unknown): OmniInboundEnvelopeV1
   }
 
   const fallbackContactSource = contactSource === chat ? from : chat;
+  const contactAvatarFileId = pickTelegramChatPhotoFileId(contactSource);
 
   const threadExternalId =
     chat.id != null
@@ -293,7 +300,7 @@ export function parseTelegramBusinessUpdate(raw: unknown): OmniInboundEnvelopeV1
       contactFirstName: normalizeString(contactSource.first_name),
       contactLastName: normalizeString(contactSource.last_name),
       contactTitle: normalizeString(contactSource.title),
-      contactAvatarUrl: normalizeString(contactSource.photo_url),
+      contactAvatarUrl: contactAvatarFileId ? `${TELEGRAM_FILE_MARKER}${contactAvatarFileId}` : null,
       fromUsername: typeof from.username === "string" ? from.username : null,
       fromFirstName: typeof from.first_name === "string" ? from.first_name : null,
       fromLastName: typeof from.last_name === "string" ? from.last_name : null,