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OpenClaw Docs

Discord

Ready for DMs and guild channels via the official Discord gateway.

Pairing

Discord DMs default to pairing mode.

Slash commands

Native command behavior and command catalog.

Channel troubleshooting

Cross-channel diagnostics and repair flow.

Quick setup

Section titled “Quick setup”

You will need to create a new application with a bot, add the bot to your server, and pair it to OpenClaw. We recommend adding your bot to your own private server. If you don’t have one yet, create one first (choose Create My Own > For me and my friends).

  1. Create a Discord application and bot

    Go to the Discord Developer Portal and click New Application. Name it something like “OpenClaw”.

    Click Bot on the sidebar. Set the Username to whatever you call your OpenClaw agent.

  2. Enable privileged intents

    Still on the Bot page, scroll down to Privileged Gateway Intents and enable:

    • Message Content Intent (required)
    • Server Members Intent (recommended; required for role allowlists and name-to-ID matching)
    • Presence Intent (optional; only needed for presence updates)

  3. Copy your bot token

    Scroll back up on the Bot page and click Reset Token.

    Copy the token and save it somewhere. This is your Bot Token and you will need it shortly.

  4. Generate an invite URL and add the bot to your server

    Click OAuth2 on the sidebar. You’ll generate an invite URL with the right permissions to add the bot to your server.

    Scroll down to OAuth2 URL Generator and enable:

    • bot
    • applications.commands

    A Bot Permissions section will appear below. Enable at least:

    General Permissions

    • View Channels Text Permissions
    • Send Messages
    • Read Message History
    • Embed Links
    • Attach Files
    • Add Reactions (optional)

    This is the baseline set for normal text channels. If you plan to post in Discord threads, including forum or media channel workflows that create or continue a thread, also enable Send Messages in Threads. Copy the generated URL at the bottom, paste it into your browser, select your server, and click Continue to connect. You should now see your bot in the Discord server.

  5. Enable Developer Mode and collect your IDs

    Back in the Discord app, you need to enable Developer Mode so you can copy internal IDs.

    1. Click User Settings (gear icon next to your avatar) → Advanced → toggle on Developer Mode
    2. Right-click your server icon in the sidebar → Copy Server ID
    3. Right-click your own avatar → Copy User ID

    Save your Server ID and User ID alongside your Bot Token — you’ll send all three to OpenClaw in the next step.

  6. Allow DMs from server members

    For pairing to work, Discord needs to allow your bot to DM you. Right-click your server icon → Privacy Settings → toggle on Direct Messages.

    This lets server members (including bots) send you DMs. Keep this enabled if you want to use Discord DMs with OpenClaw. If you only plan to use guild channels, you can disable DMs after pairing.

  7. Set your bot token securely (do not send it in chat)

    Your Discord bot token is a secret (like a password). Set it on the machine running OpenClaw before messaging your agent.
    Terminal window
    export DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN="YOUR_BOT_TOKEN"
    cat > discord.patch.json5 <<'JSON5'
    {
      channels: {
        discord: {
          enabled: true,
          token: { source: "env", provider: "default", id: "DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN" },
        },
      },
    }
    JSON5
    openclaw config patch --file ./discord.patch.json5 --dry-run
    openclaw config patch --file ./discord.patch.json5
    openclaw gateway
    If OpenClaw is already running as a background service, restart it via the OpenClaw Mac app or by stopping and restarting the `openclaw gateway run` process.
    For managed service installs, run `openclaw gateway install` from a shell where `DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN` is present, or store the variable in `~/.openclaw/.env`, so the service can resolve the env SecretRef after restart.
    If your host is blocked or rate-limited by Discord's startup application lookup, set the Discord application/client ID from the Developer Portal so startup can skip that REST call. Use `channels.discord.applicationId` for the default account, or `channels.discord.accounts.

    .applicationId` when you run multiple Discord bots.

  8. Configure OpenClaw and pair

    Chat with your OpenClaw agent on any existing channel (e.g. Telegram) and tell it. If Discord is your first channel, use the CLI / config tab instead.

    “I already set my Discord bot token in config. Please finish Discord setup with User ID `

    and Server ID

    `.”

  9. Approve first DM pairing

    Wait until the gateway is running, then DM your bot in Discord. It will respond with a pairing code.

    Send the pairing code to your agent on your existing channel:

    “Approve this Discord pairing code: `

    `”

    Pairing codes expire after 1 hour.

    You should now be able to chat with your agent in Discord via DM.

Section titled “Recommended: Set up a guild workspace”

Once DMs are working, you can set up your Discord server as a full workspace where each channel gets its own agent session with its own context. This is recommended for private servers where it’s just you and your bot.

  1. Add your server to the guild allowlist

    This enables your agent to respond in any channel on your server, not just DMs.

    “Add my Discord Server ID `

    ` to the guild allowlist”

  2. Allow responses without @mention

    By default, your agent only responds in guild channels when @mentioned. For a private server, you probably want it to respond to every message.

    In guild channels, normal replies post automatically by default. For shared always-on rooms, opt into messages.groupChat.visibleReplies: "message_tool" so the agent can lurk and only post when it decides a channel reply is useful. This works best with latest-generation, tool-reliable models such as GPT 5.5. Ambient room events stay quiet unless the tool sends. See Ambient room events for the full lurk-mode config.

    If Discord shows typing and the logs show token usage but no posted message, check whether the turn was configured as an ambient room event or opted into message-tool visible replies.

    “Allow my agent to respond on this server without having to be @mentioned”

  3. Plan for memory in guild channels

    By default, long-term memory (MEMORY.md) only loads in DM sessions. Guild channels do not auto-load MEMORY.md.

    “When I ask questions in Discord channels, use memory_search or memory_get if you need long-term context from MEMORY.md.”

Now create some channels on your Discord server and start chatting. Your agent can see the channel name, and each channel gets its own isolated session — so you can set up #coding, #home, #research, or whatever fits your workflow.

Runtime model

Section titled “Runtime model”
  • Gateway owns the Discord connection.
  • Reply routing is deterministic: Discord inbound replies back to Discord.
  • Discord guild/channel metadata is added to the model prompt as untrusted context, not as a user-visible reply prefix. If a model copies that envelope back, OpenClaw strips the copied metadata from outbound replies and from future replay context.
  • By default (session.dmScope=main), direct chats share the agent main session (agent:main:main).
  • Guild channels are isolated session keys (agent:<agentId>:discord:channel:<channelId>).
  • Group DMs are ignored by default (channels.discord.dm.groupEnabled=false).
  • Native slash commands run in isolated command sessions (agent:<agentId>:discord:slash:<userId>), while still carrying CommandTargetSessionKey to the routed conversation session.
  • Text-only cron/heartbeat announce delivery to Discord uses the final assistant-visible answer once. Media and structured component payloads remain multi-message when the agent emits multiple deliverable payloads.

Forum channels

Section titled “Forum channels”

Discord forum and media channels only accept thread posts. OpenClaw supports two ways to create them:

  • Send a message to the forum parent (channel:<forumId>) to auto-create a thread. The thread title uses the first non-empty line of your message.
  • Use openclaw message thread create to create a thread directly. Do not pass --message-id for forum channels.

Example: send to forum parent to create a thread

Terminal window
openclaw message send --channel discord --target channel:<forumId> \
  --message "Topic title\nBody of the post"

Example: create a forum thread explicitly

Terminal window
openclaw message thread create --channel discord --target channel:<forumId> \
  --thread-name "Topic title" --message "Body of the post"

Forum parents do not accept Discord components. If you need components, send to the thread itself (channel:<threadId>).

Interactive components

Section titled “Interactive components”

OpenClaw supports Discord components v2 containers for agent messages. Use the message tool with a components payload. Interaction results are routed back to the agent as normal inbound messages and follow the existing Discord replyToMode settings.

Supported blocks:

  • text, section, separator, actions, media-gallery, file
  • Action rows allow up to 5 buttons or a single select menu
  • Select types: string, user, role, mentionable, channel

By default, components are single use. Set components.reusable=true to allow buttons, selects, and forms to be used multiple times until they expire.

To restrict who can click a button, set allowedUsers on that button (Discord user IDs, tags, or *). When configured, unmatched users receive an ephemeral denial.

Component callbacks expire after 30 minutes by default. Set channels.discord.agentComponents.ttlMs to change that callback registry lifetime for the default Discord account, or channels.discord.accounts.<accountId>.agentComponents.ttlMs to override one account in a multi-account setup. The value is milliseconds, must be a positive integer, and is capped at 86400000 (24 hours). Longer TTLs are useful for review or approval workflows that need buttons to remain usable, but they also extend the window where an old Discord message can still trigger an action. Prefer the shortest TTL that fits the workflow, and keep the default when stale callbacks would be surprising.

The /model and /models slash commands open an interactive model picker with provider, model, and compatible runtime dropdowns plus a Submit step. /models add is deprecated and now returns a deprecation message instead of registering models from chat. The picker reply is ephemeral and only the invoking user can use it. Discord select menus are limited to 25 options, so add provider/* entries to agents.defaults.models when you want the picker to show dynamically discovered models only for selected providers such as openai-codex or vllm.

File attachments:

  • file blocks must point to an attachment reference (attachment://<filename>)
  • Provide the attachment via media/path/filePath (single file); use media-gallery for multiple files
  • Use filename to override the upload name when it should match the attachment reference

Modal forms:

  • Add components.modal with up to 5 fields
  • Field types: text, checkbox, radio, select, role-select, user-select
  • OpenClaw adds a trigger button automatically

Example:

{
  channel: "discord",
  action: "send",
  to: "channel:123456789012345678",
  message: "Optional fallback text",
  components: {
    reusable: true,
    text: "Choose a path",
    blocks: [
      {
        type: "actions",
        buttons: [
          {
            label: "Approve",
            style: "success",
            allowedUsers: ["123456789012345678"],
          },
          { label: "Decline", style: "danger" },
        ],
      },
      {
        type: "actions",
        select: {
          type: "string",
          placeholder: "Pick an option",
          options: [
            { label: "Option A", value: "a" },
            { label: "Option B", value: "b" },
          ],
        },
      },
    ],
    modal: {
      title: "Details",
      triggerLabel: "Open form",
      fields: [
        { type: "text", label: "Requester" },
        {
          type: "select",
          label: "Priority",
          options: [
            { label: "Low", value: "low" },
            { label: "High", value: "high" },
          ],
        },
      ],
    },
  },
}

Access control and routing

Section titled “Access control and routing”

channels.discord.dmPolicy controls DM access. channels.discord.allowFrom is the canonical DM allowlist.

  • pairing (default)
  • allowlist
  • open (requires channels.discord.allowFrom to include "*")
  • disabled

If DM policy is not open, unknown users are blocked (or prompted for pairing in pairing mode).

Multi-account precedence:

  • channels.discord.accounts.default.allowFrom applies only to the default account.
  • For one account, allowFrom takes precedence over legacy dm.allowFrom.
  • Named accounts inherit channels.discord.allowFrom when their own allowFrom and legacy dm.allowFrom are unset.
  • Named accounts do not inherit channels.discord.accounts.default.allowFrom.

Legacy channels.discord.dm.policy and channels.discord.dm.allowFrom still read for compatibility. openclaw doctor --fix migrates them to dmPolicy and allowFrom when it can do so without changing access.

DM target format for delivery:

  • `user:

-<@id>` mention

Bare numeric IDs normally resolve as channel IDs when a channel default is active, but IDs listed in the account's effective DM `allowFrom` are treated as user DM targets for compatibility.

Role-based agent routing

Section titled “Role-based agent routing”

Use bindings[].match.roles to route Discord guild members to different agents by role ID. Role-based bindings accept role IDs only and are evaluated after peer or parent-peer bindings and before guild-only bindings. If a binding also sets other match fields (for example peer + guildId + roles), all configured fields must match.

{
  bindings: [
    {
      agentId: "opus",
      match: {
        channel: "discord",
        guildId: "123456789012345678",
        roles: ["111111111111111111"],
      },
    },
    {
      agentId: "sonnet",
      match: {
        channel: "discord",
        guildId: "123456789012345678",
      },
    },
  ],
}

Native commands and command auth

Section titled “Native commands and command auth”
  • commands.native defaults to "auto" and is enabled for Discord.
  • Per-channel override: channels.discord.commands.native.
  • commands.native=false skips Discord slash-command registration and cleanup during startup. Previously registered commands may remain visible in Discord until you remove them from the Discord app.
  • Native command auth uses the same Discord allowlists/policies as normal message handling.
  • Commands may still be visible in Discord UI for users who are not authorized; execution still enforces OpenClaw auth and returns “not authorized”.

See Slash commands for command catalog and behavior.

Default slash command settings:

  • ephemeral: true

Feature details

Section titled “Feature details”
Reply tags and native replies

Discord supports reply tags in agent output:

  • [[reply_to_current]]
  • `[[reply_to:

]]`

Controlled by `channels.discord.replyToMode`:


- `off` (default)
- `first`
- `all`
- `batched`


Note: `off` disables implicit reply threading. Explicit `[[reply_to_*]]` tags are still honored.
`first` always attaches the implicit native reply reference to the first outbound Discord message for the turn.
`batched` only attaches Discord's implicit native reply reference when the
inbound event was a debounced batch of multiple messages. This is useful
when you want native replies mainly for ambiguous bursty chats, not every
single-message turn.


Message IDs are surfaced in context/history so agents can target specific messages.
Link previews
Discord generates rich link embeds for URLs by default. OpenClaw suppresses those generated embeds on outbound Discord messages by default, so agent-sent URLs stay as plain links unless you opt in:
{
  channels: {
    discord: {
      suppressEmbeds: false,
    },
  },
}
Set `channels.discord.accounts.

.suppressEmbedsto override one account. Agent message-tool sends can also passsuppressEmbeds: falsefor a single message. Explicit Discordembeds` payloads are not suppressed by the default link-preview setting.

Live stream preview
OpenClaw can stream draft replies by sending a temporary message and editing it as text arrives. `channels.discord.streaming` takes `off` | `partial` | `block` | `progress` (default). `progress` keeps one editable status draft and updates it with tool progress until final delivery; the shared starter label is a rolling line, so it scrolls away like the rest once enough work appears. `streamMode` is a legacy runtime alias. Run `openclaw doctor --fix` to rewrite persisted config to the canonical key.


Set `channels.discord.streaming.mode` to `off` to disable Discord preview edits. If Discord block streaming is explicitly enabled, OpenClaw skips the preview stream to avoid double-streaming.
{
  channels: {
    discord: {
      streaming: {
        mode: "progress",
        progress: {
          label: "auto",
          maxLines: 8,
          maxLineChars: 120,
          toolProgress: true,
        },
      },
    },
  },
}
- `partial` edits a single preview message as tokens arrive.
- `block` emits draft-sized chunks (use `draftChunk` to tune size and breakpoints, clamped to `textChunkLimit`).
- Media, error, and explicit-reply finals cancel pending preview edits.
- `streaming.preview.toolProgress` (default `true`) controls whether tool/progress updates reuse the preview message.
- Tool/progress rows render as compact emoji + title + detail when available, for example `🛠️ Bash: run tests` or `🔎 Web Search: for "query"`.
- `streaming.progress.maxLineChars` controls the per-line progress preview budget. Prose is shortened on word boundaries; command and path details keep useful suffixes.
- `streaming.preview.commandText` / `streaming.progress.commandText` controls command/exec detail in compact progress lines: `raw` (default) or `status` (tool label only).


Hide raw command/exec text while keeping compact progress lines:


```json
{
  "channels": {
    "discord": {
      "streaming": {
        "mode": "progress",
        "progress": {
          "toolProgress": true,
          "commandText": "status"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}
```


Preview streaming is text-only; media replies fall back to normal delivery. When `block` streaming is explicitly enabled, OpenClaw skips the preview stream to avoid double-streaming.
History, context, and thread behavior

Guild history context:

  • channels.discord.historyLimit default 20
  • fallback: messages.groupChat.historyLimit
  • 0 disables

DM history controls:

  • channels.discord.dmHistoryLimit
  • `channels.discord.dms[”

“].historyLimit`

Thread behavior:


- Discord threads route as channel sessions and inherit parent channel config unless overridden.
- Thread sessions inherit the parent channel's session-level `/model` selection as a model-only fallback; thread-local `/model` selections still take precedence and parent transcript history is not copied unless transcript inheritance is enabled.
- `channels.discord.thread.inheritParent` (default `false`) opts new auto-threads into seeding from the parent transcript. Per-account overrides live under `channels.discord.accounts.

.thread.inheritParent. - Message-tool reactions can resolve user:

DM targets. -guilds.

.channels.

.requireMention: false` is preserved during reply-stage activation fallback.

Channel topics are injected as **untrusted** context. Allowlists gate who can trigger the agent, not a full supplemental-context redaction boundary.
Thread-bound sessions for subagents

Discord can bind a thread to a session target so follow-up messages in that thread keep routing to the same session (including subagent sessions).

Commands:

  • `/focus

bind current/new thread to a subagent/session target -/unfocusremove current thread binding -/agentsshow active runs and binding state -/session idle

inspect/update inactivity auto-unfocus for focused bindings -/session max-age

` inspect/update hard max age for focused bindings

Config:
{
  session: {
    threadBindings: {
      enabled: true,
      idleHours: 24,
      maxAgeHours: 0,
    },
  },
  channels: {
    discord: {
      threadBindings: {
        enabled: true,
        idleHours: 24,
        maxAgeHours: 0,
        spawnSessions: true,
        defaultSpawnContext: "fork",
      },
    },
  },
}
Notes:


- `session.threadBindings.*` sets global defaults.
- `channels.discord.threadBindings.*` overrides Discord behavior.
- `spawnSessions` controls auto-create/bind threads for `sessions_spawn({ thread: true })` and ACP thread spawns. Default: `true`.
- `defaultSpawnContext` controls native subagent context for thread-bound spawns. Default: `"fork"`.
- Deprecated `spawnSubagentSessions`/`spawnAcpSessions` keys are migrated by `openclaw doctor --fix`.
- If thread bindings are disabled for an account, `/focus` and related thread binding operations are unavailable.


See [Sub-agents](/en/tools/subagents), [ACP Agents](/en/tools/acp-agents), and [Configuration Reference](/en/gateway/configuration-reference).
Persistent ACP channel bindings
For stable "always-on" ACP workspaces, configure top-level typed ACP bindings targeting Discord conversations.


Config path:


- `bindings[]` with `type: "acp"` and `match.channel: "discord"`


Example:
{
  agents: {
    list: [
      {
        id: "codex",
        runtime: {
          type: "acp",
          acp: {
            agent: "codex",
            backend: "acpx",
            mode: "persistent",
            cwd: "/workspace/openclaw",
          },
        },
      },
    ],
  },
  bindings: [
    {
      type: "acp",
      agentId: "codex",
      match: {
        channel: "discord",
        accountId: "default",
        peer: { kind: "channel", id: "222222222222222222" },
      },
      acp: { label: "codex-main" },
    },
  ],
  channels: {
    discord: {
      guilds: {
        "111111111111111111": {
          channels: {
            "222222222222222222": {
              requireMention: false,
            },
          },
        },
      },
    },
  },
}
Notes:


- `/acp spawn codex --bind here` binds the current channel or thread in place and keeps future messages on the same ACP session. Thread messages inherit the parent channel binding.
- In a bound channel or thread, `/new` and `/reset` reset the same ACP session in place. Temporary thread bindings can override target resolution while active.
- `spawnSessions` gates child thread creation/binding via `--thread auto|here`.


See [ACP Agents](/en/tools/acp-agents) for binding behavior details.
Reaction notifications

Per-guild reaction notification mode:

  • off
  • own (default)
  • all
  • allowlist (uses `guilds.

.users`)

Reaction events are turned into system events and attached to the routed Discord session.
Ack reactions

ackReaction sends an acknowledgement emoji while OpenClaw is processing an inbound message.

Resolution order:

  • `channels.discord.accounts.

.ackReaction -channels.discord.ackReaction -messages.ackReaction - agent identity emoji fallback (agents.list[].identity.emoji`, else ”👀”)

Notes:


- Discord accepts unicode emoji or custom emoji names.
- Use `""` to disable the reaction for a channel or account.
Config writes
Channel-initiated config writes are enabled by default.


This affects `/config set|unset` flows (when command features are enabled).


Disable:
{
  channels: {
    discord: {
      configWrites: false,
    },
  },
}
Gateway proxy
Route Discord gateway WebSocket traffic and startup REST lookups (application ID + allowlist resolution) through an HTTP(S) proxy with `channels.discord.proxy`.
{
  channels: {
    discord: {
      proxy: "http://proxy.example:8080",
    },
  },
}
Per-account override:
{
  channels: {
    discord: {
      accounts: {
        primary: {
          proxy: "http://proxy.example:8080",
        },
      },
    },
  },
}
PluralKit support
Enable PluralKit resolution to map proxied messages to system member identity:
{
  channels: {
    discord: {
      pluralkit: {
        enabled: true,
        token: "pk_live_...", // optional; needed for private systems
      },
    },
  },
}
Notes:


- allowlists can use `pk:

- member display names are matched by name/slug only whenchannels.discord.dangerouslyAllowNameMatching: true - lookups use original message ID and are time-window constrained - if lookup fails, proxied messages are treated as bot messages and dropped unlessallowBots=true`

Outbound mention aliases
Use `mentionAliases` when agents need deterministic outbound mentions for known Discord users. Keys are handles without the leading `@`; values are Discord user IDs. Unknown handles, `@everyone`, `@here`, and mentions inside Markdown code spans are left unchanged.
{
  channels: {
    discord: {
      mentionAliases: {
        Vladislava: "123456789012345678",
      },
      accounts: {
        ops: {
          mentionAliases: {
            OpsLead: "234567890123456789",
          },
        },
      },
    },
  },
}
Presence configuration
Presence updates are applied when you set a status or activity field, or when you enable auto presence.


Status only example:
{
  channels: {
    discord: {
      status: "idle",
    },
  },
}
Activity example (custom status is the default activity type):
{
  channels: {
    discord: {
      activity: "Focus time",
      activityType: 4,
    },
  },
}
Streaming example:
{
  channels: {
    discord: {
      activity: "Live coding",
      activityType: 1,
      activityUrl: "https://twitch.tv/openclaw",
    },
  },
}
Activity type map:


- 0: Playing
- 1: Streaming (requires `activityUrl`)
- 2: Listening
- 3: Watching
- 4: Custom (uses the activity text as the status state; emoji is optional)
- 5: Competing


Auto presence example (runtime health signal):
{
  channels: {
    discord: {
      autoPresence: {
        enabled: true,
        intervalMs: 30000,
        minUpdateIntervalMs: 15000,
        exhaustedText: "token exhausted",
      },
    },
  },
}
Auto presence maps runtime availability to Discord status: healthy => online, degraded or unknown => idle, exhausted or unavailable => dnd. Optional text overrides:


- `autoPresence.healthyText`
- `autoPresence.degradedText`
- `autoPresence.exhaustedText` (supports `{reason}` placeholder)
Approvals in Discord

Discord supports button-based approval handling in DMs and can optionally post approval prompts in the originating channel.

Config path:

  • channels.discord.execApprovals.enabled
  • channels.discord.execApprovals.approvers (optional; falls back to commands.ownerAllowFrom when possible)
  • channels.discord.execApprovals.target (dm | channel | both, default: dm)
  • agentFilter, sessionFilter, cleanupAfterResolve

Discord auto-enables native exec approvals when enabled is unset or "auto" and at least one approver can be resolved, either from execApprovals.approvers or from commands.ownerAllowFrom. Discord does not infer exec approvers from channel allowFrom, legacy dm.allowFrom, or direct-message defaultTo. Set enabled: false to disable Discord as a native approval client explicitly.

For sensitive owner-only group commands such as /diagnostics and /export-trajectory, OpenClaw sends approval prompts and final results privately. It tries Discord DM first when the invoking owner has a Discord owner route; if that is not available, it falls back to the first available owner route from commands.ownerAllowFrom, such as Telegram.

When target is channel or both, the approval prompt is visible in the channel. Only resolved approvers can use the buttons; other users receive an ephemeral denial. Approval prompts include the command text, so only enable channel delivery in trusted channels. If the channel ID cannot be derived from the session key, OpenClaw falls back to DM delivery.

Discord also renders the shared approval buttons used by other chat channels. The native Discord adapter mainly adds approver DM routing and channel fanout. When those buttons are present, they are the primary approval UX; OpenClaw should only include a manual /approve command when the tool result says chat approvals are unavailable or manual approval is the only path. If the Discord native approval runtime is not active, OpenClaw keeps the local deterministic `/approve

prompt visible. If the runtime is active but a native card cannot be delivered to any target, OpenClaw sends a same-chat fallback notice with the exact/approve` command from the pending approval.

Gateway auth and approval resolution follow the shared Gateway client contract (`plugin:` IDs resolve through `plugin.approval.resolve`; other IDs through `exec.approval.resolve`). Approvals expire after 30 minutes by default.


See [Exec approvals](/en/tools/exec-approvals).

Tools and action gates

Section titled “Tools and action gates”

Discord message actions include messaging, channel admin, moderation, presence, and metadata actions.

Core examples:

  • messaging: sendMessage, readMessages, editMessage, deleteMessage, threadReply
  • reactions: react, reactions, emojiList
  • moderation: timeout, kick, ban
  • presence: setPresence

The event-create action accepts an optional image parameter (URL or local file path) to set the scheduled event cover image.

Action gates live under channels.discord.actions.*.

Default gate behavior:

Action groupDefault
reactions, messages, threads, pins, polls, search, memberInfo, roleInfo, channelInfo, channels, voiceStatus, events, stickers, emojiUploads, stickerUploads, permissionsenabled
rolesdisabled
moderationdisabled
presencedisabled

Components v2 UI

Section titled “Components v2 UI”

OpenClaw uses Discord components v2 for exec approvals and cross-context markers. Discord message actions can also accept components for custom UI (advanced; requires constructing a component payload via the discord tool), while legacy embeds remain available but are not recommended.

  • channels.discord.ui.components.accentColor sets the accent color used by Discord component containers (hex).
  • Set per account with channels.discord.accounts.<id>.ui.components.accentColor.
  • channels.discord.agentComponents.ttlMs controls how long sent Discord component callbacks remain registered (default 1800000, maximum 86400000). Set per account with channels.discord.accounts.<id>.agentComponents.ttlMs.
  • embeds are ignored when components v2 are present.
  • Plain URL previews are suppressed by default. Set suppressEmbeds: false on a message action when a single outbound link should expand.

Example:

{
  channels: {
    discord: {
      ui: {
        components: {
          accentColor: "#5865F2",
        },
      },
    },
  },
}

Voice

Section titled “Voice”

Discord has two distinct voice surfaces: realtime voice channels (continuous conversations) and voice message attachments (the waveform preview format). The gateway supports both.

Voice channels

Section titled “Voice channels”

Setup checklist:

  1. Enable Message Content Intent in the Discord Developer Portal.
  2. Enable Server Members Intent when role/user allowlists are used.
  3. Invite the bot with bot and applications.commands scopes.
  4. Grant Connect, Speak, Send Messages, and Read Message History in the target voice channel.
  5. Enable native commands (commands.native or channels.discord.commands.native).
  6. Configure channels.discord.voice.

Use /vc join|leave|status to control sessions. The command uses the account default agent and follows the same allowlist and group policy rules as other Discord commands.

Terminal window
/vc join channel:<voice-channel-id>
/vc status
/vc leave

To inspect the bot’s effective permissions before joining, run:

Terminal window
openclaw channels capabilities --channel discord --target channel:<voice-channel-id>

Auto-join example:

{
  channels: {
    discord: {
      voice: {
        enabled: true,
        model: "openai-codex/gpt-5.5",
        autoJoin: [
          {
            guildId: "123456789012345678",
            channelId: "234567890123456789",
          },
        ],
        allowedChannels: [
          {
            guildId: "123456789012345678",
            channelId: "234567890123456789",
          },
        ],
        daveEncryption: true,
        decryptionFailureTolerance: 24,
        connectTimeoutMs: 30000,
        reconnectGraceMs: 15000,
        realtime: {
          provider: "openai",
          model: "gpt-realtime-2",
          voice: "cedar",
        },
      },
    },
  },
}

Notes:

  • voice.tts overrides messages.tts for stt-tts voice playback only. Realtime modes use voice.realtime.voice.
  • voice.mode controls the conversation path. The default is agent-proxy: a realtime voice front end handles turn timing, interruption, and playback, delegates substantive work to the routed OpenClaw agent through openclaw_agent_consult, and treats the result like a typed Discord prompt from that speaker. stt-tts keeps the older batch STT plus TTS flow. bidi lets the realtime model converse directly while exposing openclaw_agent_consult for the OpenClaw brain.
  • voice.agentSession controls which OpenClaw conversation receives voice turns. Leave it unset for the voice channel’s own session, or set { mode: "target", target: "channel:<text-channel-id>" } to make the voice channel act as the microphone/speaker extension of an existing Discord text channel session such as #maintainers.
  • voice.model overrides the OpenClaw agent brain for Discord voice responses and realtime consults. Leave it unset to inherit the routed agent model. It is separate from voice.realtime.model.
  • voice.followUsers lets the bot join, move, and leave Discord voice with selected users. See Follow users in voice for behavior rules and examples.
  • agent-proxy routes speech through discord-voice, which preserves normal owner/tool authorization for the speaker and target session but hides the agent tts tool because Discord voice owns playback. By default, agent-proxy gives the consult full owner-equivalent tool access for owner speakers (voice.realtime.toolPolicy: "owner") and strongly prefers consulting the OpenClaw agent before substantive answers (voice.realtime.consultPolicy: "always"). In that default always mode, the realtime layer does not auto-speak filler before the consult answer; it captures and transcribes speech, then speaks the routed OpenClaw answer. If multiple forced consult answers finish while Discord is still playing the first answer, later exact-speech answers are queued until playback idles instead of replacing speech mid-sentence.
  • In stt-tts mode, STT uses tools.media.audio; voice.model does not affect transcription.
  • In realtime modes, voice.realtime.provider, voice.realtime.model, and voice.realtime.voice configure the realtime audio session. For OpenAI Realtime 2 plus the Codex brain, use voice.realtime.model: "gpt-realtime-2" and voice.model: "openai-codex/gpt-5.5".
  • Realtime voice modes include small IDENTITY.md, USER.md, and SOUL.md profile files in the realtime provider instructions by default so fast direct turns keep the same identity, user grounding, and persona as the routed OpenClaw agent. Set voice.realtime.bootstrapContextFiles to a subset to customize this, or [] to disable it. The supported realtime bootstrap files are limited to those profile files; AGENTS.md stays in the normal agent context. The injected profile context does not replace openclaw_agent_consult for workspace work, current facts, memory lookup, or tool-backed actions.
  • In OpenAI agent-proxy realtime mode, set voice.realtime.requireWakeName: true to keep Discord realtime voice silent until a transcript contains a wake name. If voice.realtime.wakeNames is unset, OpenClaw uses the routed agent name plus OpenClaw, falling back to the agent id plus OpenClaw. Wake-name gating disables realtime provider auto-response and routes accepted turns through the OpenClaw agent consult path.
  • The OpenAI realtime provider accepts current Realtime 2 event names and legacy Codex-compatible aliases for output audio and transcript events, so compatible provider snapshots can drift without dropping assistant audio.
  • voice.realtime.bargeIn controls whether Discord speaker-start events interrupt active realtime playback. If unset, it follows the realtime provider’s input-audio interruption setting.
  • voice.realtime.minBargeInAudioEndMs controls the minimum assistant playback duration before an OpenAI realtime barge-in truncates audio. Default: 250. Set 0 for immediate interruption in low-echo rooms, or raise it for echo-heavy speaker setups.
  • For an OpenAI voice on Discord playback, set voice.tts.provider: "openai" and choose a Text-to-speech voice under voice.tts.openai.voice or voice.tts.providers.openai.voice. cedar is a good masculine-sounding choice on the current OpenAI TTS model.
  • Per-channel Discord systemPrompt overrides apply to voice transcript turns for that voice channel.
  • Voice transcript turns derive owner status from Discord allowFrom (or dm.allowFrom) for owner-gated commands and channel actions. Agent tool visibility follows the configured tool policy for the routed session.
  • Discord voice is opt-in for text-only configs; set channels.discord.voice.enabled=true (or keep an existing channels.discord.voice block) to enable /vc commands, the voice runtime, and the GuildVoiceStates gateway intent.
  • channels.discord.intents.voiceStates can explicitly override voice-state intent subscription. Leave it unset for the intent to follow effective voice enablement.
  • If voice.autoJoin has multiple entries for the same guild, OpenClaw joins the last configured channel for that guild.
  • voice.allowedChannels is an optional residency allowlist. Leave it unset to allow /vc join into any authorized Discord voice channel. When set, /vc join, startup auto-join, and bot voice-state moves are restricted to the listed { guildId, channelId } entries. Set it to an empty array to deny all Discord voice joins. If Discord moves the bot outside the allowlist, OpenClaw leaves that channel and rejoins the configured auto-join target when one is available.
  • voice.daveEncryption and voice.decryptionFailureTolerance pass through to @discordjs/voice join options.
  • @discordjs/voice defaults are daveEncryption=true and decryptionFailureTolerance=24 if unset.
  • OpenClaw defaults to the pure-JS opusscript decoder for Discord voice receive. The optional native @discordjs/opus package is ignored by the repo pnpm install policy so normal installs, Docker lanes, and unrelated tests do not compile a native addon. Dedicated voice-performance hosts can opt in with OPENCLAW_DISCORD_OPUS_DECODER=native after installing the native addon.
  • voice.connectTimeoutMs controls the initial @discordjs/voice Ready wait for /vc join and auto-join attempts. Default: 30000.
  • voice.reconnectGraceMs controls how long OpenClaw waits for a disconnected voice session to begin reconnecting before destroying it. Default: 15000.
  • In stt-tts mode, voice playback does not stop just because another user starts speaking. To avoid feedback loops, OpenClaw ignores new voice capture while TTS is playing; speak after playback finishes for the next turn. Realtime modes forward speaker starts as barge-in signals to the realtime provider.
  • In realtime modes, echo from speakers into an open mic can look like barge-in and interrupt playback. For echo-heavy Discord rooms, set voice.realtime.providers.openai.interruptResponseOnInputAudio: false to keep OpenAI from auto-interrupting on input audio. Add voice.realtime.bargeIn: true if you still want Discord speaker-start events to interrupt active playback. The OpenAI realtime bridge ignores playback truncations shorter than voice.realtime.minBargeInAudioEndMs as likely echo/noise and logs them as skipped instead of clearing Discord playback.
  • voice.captureSilenceGraceMs controls how long OpenClaw waits after Discord reports a speaker has stopped before finalizing that audio segment for STT. Default: 2500; raise this if Discord splits normal pauses into choppy partial transcripts.
  • When ElevenLabs is the selected TTS provider, Discord voice playback uses streaming TTS and starts from the provider response stream. Providers without streaming support fall back to the synthesized temp-file path.
  • OpenClaw also watches receive decrypt failures and auto-recovers by leaving/rejoining the voice channel after repeated failures in a short window.
  • If receive logs repeatedly show DecryptionFailed(UnencryptedWhenPassthroughDisabled) after updating, collect a dependency report and logs. The bundled @discordjs/voice line includes the upstream padding fix from discord.js PR #11449, which closed discord.js issue #11419.
  • The operation was aborted receive events are expected when OpenClaw finalizes a captured speaker segment; they are verbose diagnostics, not warnings.
  • Verbose Discord voice logs include a bounded one-line STT transcript preview for each accepted speaker segment, so debugging shows both the user side and the agent reply side without dumping unbounded transcript text.
  • In agent-proxy mode, forced consult fallback skips likely incomplete transcript fragments such as text ending in ... or a trailing connector like and, plus obvious non-actionable closings like “be right back” or “bye”. Logs show forced agent consult skipped reason=... when this prevents a stale queued answer.

Follow users in voice

Section titled “Follow users in voice”

Use voice.followUsers when you want the Discord voice bot to stay with one or more known Discord users instead of joining a fixed channel at startup or waiting for /vc join.

{
  channels: {
    discord: {
      voice: {
        enabled: true,
        followUsersEnabled: true,
        followUsers: ["discord:123456789012345678"],
        allowedChannels: [
          {
            guildId: "123456789012345678",
            channelId: "234567890123456789",
          },
        ],
      },
    },
  },
}

Behavior:

  • followUsers accepts raw Discord user IDs and discord:<id> values. OpenClaw normalizes both forms before matching voice-state events.
  • followUsersEnabled defaults to true when followUsers is configured. Set it to false to keep the saved list but stop automatic voice following.
  • When a followed user joins an allowed voice channel, OpenClaw joins that channel. When the user moves, OpenClaw moves with them. When the active followed user disconnects, OpenClaw leaves.
  • If multiple followed users are in the same guild and the active followed user leaves, OpenClaw moves to another tracked followed user’s channel before leaving the guild. If several followed users move at once, the latest observed voice-state event wins.
  • allowedChannels still applies. A followed user in a disallowed channel is ignored, and a follow-owned session moves to another followed user or leaves.
  • OpenClaw reconciles missed voice-state events on startup and at a bounded interval. Reconciliation samples configured guilds and caps REST lookups per run, so very large followUsers lists may take more than one interval to converge.
  • If Discord or an admin moves the bot while it is following a user, OpenClaw rebuilds the voice session and preserves follow ownership when the destination is allowed. If the bot is moved outside allowedChannels, OpenClaw leaves and rejoins the configured target when one exists.
  • DAVE receive recovery may leave and rejoin the same channel after repeated decrypt failures. Follow-owned sessions keep their follow ownership through that recovery path, so a later followed-user disconnect still leaves the channel.

Choose between the join modes:

  • Use followUsers for personal or operator setups where the bot should automatically be in voice when you are.
  • Use autoJoin for fixed-room bots that should be present even when no tracked user is in voice.
  • Use /vc join for one-off joins or rooms where automatic voice presence would be surprising.

Native opus setup for source checkouts:

Terminal window
pnpm install
mise exec node@22 -- pnpm discord:opus:install

Use Node 22 for the gateway when you want the upstream macOS arm64 prebuilt native addon. If you use another Node runtime, the opt-in installer may need a local node-gyp source-build toolchain.

After installing the native addon, start the Gateway with:

Terminal window
OPENCLAW_DISCORD_OPUS_DECODER=native pnpm gateway:watch

Verbose voice logs should show discord voice: opus decoder: @discordjs/opus. Without the env opt-in, or if the native addon is missing or cannot load on the host, OpenClaw logs discord voice: opus decoder: opusscript and keeps receiving voice through the pure-JS fallback.

STT plus TTS pipeline:

  • Discord PCM capture is converted to a WAV temp file.
  • tools.media.audio handles STT, for example openai/gpt-4o-mini-transcribe.
  • The transcript is sent through Discord ingress and routing while the response LLM runs with a voice-output policy that hides the agent tts tool and asks for returned text, because Discord voice owns final TTS playback.
  • voice.model, when set, overrides only the response LLM for this voice-channel turn.
  • voice.tts is merged over messages.tts; streaming-capable providers feed the player directly, otherwise the resulting audio file is played in the joined channel.

Default agent-proxy voice-channel session example:

{
  channels: {
    discord: {
      voice: {
        enabled: true,
        model: "openai-codex/gpt-5.5",
        followUsersEnabled: true,
        followUsers: ["123456789012345678"],
        realtime: {
          provider: "openai",
          model: "gpt-realtime-2",
          voice: "cedar",
        },
      },
    },
  },
}

With no voice.agentSession block, each voice channel gets its own routed OpenClaw session. For example, /vc join channel:234567890123456789 talks to the session for that Discord voice channel. The realtime model is only the voice front end; substantive requests are handed to the configured OpenClaw agent. If the realtime model produces a final transcript without calling the consult tool, OpenClaw forces the consult as a fallback so the default still behaves like talking to the agent.

Legacy STT plus TTS example:

{
  channels: {
    discord: {
      voice: {
        enabled: true,
        mode: "stt-tts",
        model: "openai/gpt-5.4-mini",
        tts: {
          provider: "openai",
          openai: {
            model: "gpt-4o-mini-tts",
            voice: "cedar",
          },
        },
      },
    },
  },
}

Realtime bidi example:

{
  channels: {
    discord: {
      voice: {
        enabled: true,
        mode: "bidi",
        model: "openai-codex/gpt-5.5",
        realtime: {
          provider: "openai",
          model: "gpt-realtime-2",
          voice: "cedar",
          toolPolicy: "safe-read-only",
          consultPolicy: "always",
        },
      },
    },
  },
}

Voice as an extension of an existing Discord channel session:

{
  channels: {
    discord: {
      voice: {
        enabled: true,
        mode: "agent-proxy",
        model: "openai-codex/gpt-5.5",
        agentSession: {
          mode: "target",
          target: "channel:123456789012345678",
        },
        realtime: {
          provider: "openai",
          model: "gpt-realtime-2",
          voice: "cedar",
        },
      },
    },
  },
}

In agent-proxy mode the bot joins the configured voice channel, but OpenClaw agent turns use the target channel’s normal routed session and agent. The realtime voice session speaks the returned result back into the voice channel. The supervisor agent can still use normal message tools according to its tool policy, including sending a separate Discord message if that is the right action.

While a delegated OpenClaw run is active, new Discord voice transcripts are treated as live run control before starting another agent turn. Phrases such as “status”, “cancel that”, “use the smaller fix”, or “when you’re done also check tests” are classified as status, cancel, steering, or follow-up input for the active session. Status, cancel, accepted steering, and follow-up outcomes are spoken back into the voice channel so the caller knows whether OpenClaw handled the request.

Useful target forms:

  • target: "channel:123456789012345678" routes through a Discord text channel session.
  • target: "123456789012345678" is treated as a channel target.
  • target: "dm:123456789012345678" or target: "user:123456789012345678" routes through that direct-message session.

Echo-heavy OpenAI Realtime example:

{
  channels: {
    discord: {
      voice: {
        enabled: true,
        mode: "bidi",
        model: "openai-codex/gpt-5.5",
        realtime: {
          provider: "openai",
          model: "gpt-realtime-2",
          voice: "cedar",
          bargeIn: true,
          minBargeInAudioEndMs: 500,
          consultPolicy: "always",
          providers: {
            openai: {
              interruptResponseOnInputAudio: false,
            },
          },
        },
      },
    },
  },
}

Use this when the model hears its own Discord playback through an open mic, but you still want to interrupt it by speaking. OpenClaw keeps OpenAI from auto-interrupting on raw input audio, while bargeIn: true lets Discord speaker-start events and already-active speaker audio cancel active realtime responses before the next captured turn reaches OpenAI. Very early barge-in signals with audioEndMs below minBargeInAudioEndMs are treated as likely echo/noise and ignored so the model does not cut off at the first playback frame.

Expected voice logs:

  • On join: discord voice: joining ... voiceSession=... supervisorSession=... agentSessionMode=... voiceModel=... realtimeModel=...
  • On realtime start: discord voice: realtime bridge starting ... autoRespond=false interruptResponse=false bargeIn=false minBargeInAudioEndMs=...
  • On speaker audio: discord voice: realtime speaker turn opened ..., discord voice: realtime input audio started ... outputAudioMs=... outputActive=..., and discord voice: realtime speaker turn closed ... chunks=... discordBytes=... realtimeBytes=... interruptedPlayback=...
  • On skipped stale speech: discord voice: realtime forced agent consult skipped reason=incomplete-transcript ... or reason=non-actionable-closing ...
  • On realtime response completion: discord voice: realtime audio playback finishing reason=response.done ... audioMs=... chunks=...
  • On playback stop/reset: discord voice: realtime audio playback stopped reason=... audioMs=... elapsedMs=... chunks=...
  • On realtime consult: discord voice: realtime consult requested ... voiceSession=... supervisorSession=... question=...
  • On agent answer: discord voice: agent turn answer ...
  • On queued exact speech: discord voice: realtime exact speech queued ... queued=... outputAudioMs=... outputActive=..., followed by discord voice: realtime exact speech dequeued reason=player-idle ...
  • On barge-in detection: discord voice: realtime barge-in detected source=speaker-start ... or discord voice: realtime barge-in detected source=active-speaker-audio ..., followed by discord voice: realtime barge-in requested reason=... outputAudioMs=... outputActive=...
  • On realtime interruption: discord voice: realtime model interrupt requested client:response.cancel reason=barge-in, followed by either discord voice: realtime model audio truncated client:conversation.item.truncate reason=barge-in audioEndMs=... or discord voice: realtime model interrupt confirmed server:response.done status=cancelled ...
  • On ignored echo/noise: discord voice: realtime model interrupt ignored client:conversation.item.truncate.skipped reason=barge-in audioEndMs=0 minAudioEndMs=250
  • On disabled barge-in: discord voice: realtime capture ignored during playback (barge-in disabled) ...
  • On idle playback: discord voice: realtime barge-in ignored reason=... outputActive=false ... playbackChunks=0

To debug cut-off audio, read the realtime voice logs as a timeline:

  1. realtime audio playback started means Discord has begun playing assistant audio. The bridge starts counting assistant output chunks, Discord PCM bytes, provider realtime bytes, and synthesized audio duration from this point.
  2. realtime speaker turn opened marks a Discord speaker becoming active. If playback is already active and bargeIn is enabled, this can be followed by barge-in detected source=speaker-start.
  3. realtime input audio started marks the first actual audio frame received for that speaker turn. outputActive=true or a nonzero outputAudioMs here means the mic is sending input while assistant playback is still active.
  4. barge-in detected source=active-speaker-audio means OpenClaw saw live speaker audio while assistant playback was active. This is useful for distinguishing a real interruption from a Discord speaker-start event with no useful audio.
  5. barge-in requested reason=... means OpenClaw asked the realtime provider to cancel or truncate the active response. It includes outputAudioMs, outputActive, and playbackChunks so you can see how much assistant audio had actually played before the interruption.
  6. realtime audio playback stopped reason=... is the local Discord playback reset point. The reason says who stopped playback: barge-in, player-idle, provider-clear-audio, forced-agent-consult, stream-close, or session-close.
  7. realtime speaker turn closed summarizes the captured input turn. chunks=0 or hasAudio=false means the speaker turn opened but no usable audio reached the realtime bridge. interruptedPlayback=true means that input turn overlapped assistant output and triggered barge-in logic.

Useful fields:

  • outputAudioMs: assistant audio duration generated by the realtime provider before the log line.
  • audioMs: assistant audio duration that OpenClaw counted before playback stopped.
  • elapsedMs: wall-clock time between opening and closing the playback stream or speaker turn.
  • discordBytes: 48 kHz stereo PCM bytes sent to or received from Discord voice.
  • realtimeBytes: provider-format PCM bytes sent to or received from the realtime provider.
  • playbackChunks: assistant audio chunks forwarded to Discord for the active response.
  • sinceLastAudioMs: gap between the last captured speaker audio frame and the speaker turn closing.

Common patterns:

  • Immediate cut-off with source=active-speaker-audio, small outputAudioMs, and the same user nearby usually points to speaker echo entering the mic. Raise voice.realtime.minBargeInAudioEndMs, lower speaker volume, use headphones, or set voice.realtime.providers.openai.interruptResponseOnInputAudio: false.
  • source=speaker-start followed by speaker turn closed ... hasAudio=false means Discord reported a speaker start but no audio reached OpenClaw. That can be a transient Discord voice event, noise gate behavior, or a client briefly keying the mic.
  • audio playback stopped reason=stream-close without a nearby barge-in or provider-clear-audio means the local Discord playback stream ended unexpectedly. Check the preceding provider and Discord player logs.
  • capture ignored during playback (barge-in disabled) means OpenClaw intentionally dropped input while assistant audio was active. Enable voice.realtime.bargeIn if you want speech to interrupt playback.
  • barge-in ignored ... outputActive=false means Discord or provider VAD reported speech, but OpenClaw had no active playback to interrupt. This should not cut off audio.

Credentials are resolved per component: LLM route auth for voice.model, STT auth for tools.media.audio, TTS auth for messages.tts/voice.tts, and realtime provider auth for voice.realtime.providers or the provider’s normal auth config.

Voice messages

Section titled “Voice messages”

Discord voice messages show a waveform preview and require OGG/Opus audio. OpenClaw generates the waveform automatically, but needs ffmpeg and ffprobe on the gateway host to inspect and convert.

  • Provide a local file path (URLs are rejected).
  • Omit text content (Discord rejects text + voice message in the same payload).
  • Any audio format is accepted; OpenClaw converts to OGG/Opus as needed.
Terminal window
message(action="send", channel="discord", target="channel:123", path="/path/to/audio.mp3", asVoice=true)

Troubleshooting

Section titled “Troubleshooting”
Used disallowed intents or bot sees no guild messages
  • enable Message Content Intent
  • enable Server Members Intent when you depend on user/member resolution
  • restart gateway after changing intents
Guild messages blocked unexpectedly
- verify `groupPolicy`
- verify guild allowlist under `channels.discord.guilds`
- if guild `channels` map exists, only listed channels are allowed
- verify `requireMention` behavior and mention patterns


Useful checks:
Terminal window
openclaw doctor
openclaw channels status --probe
openclaw logs --follow
Require mention false but still blocked

Common causes:

  • groupPolicy="allowlist" without matching guild/channel allowlist
  • requireMention configured in the wrong place (must be under channels.discord.guilds or channel entry)
  • sender blocked by guild/channel users allowlist
Long-running Discord turns or duplicate replies

Typical logs:

  • Slow listener detected ...
  • stuck session: sessionKey=agent:...:discord:... state=processing ...

Discord gateway queue knobs:

  • single-account: channels.discord.eventQueue.listenerTimeout
  • multi-account: `channels.discord.accounts.

.eventQueue.listenerTimeout` - this only controls Discord gateway listener work, not agent turn lifetime

Discord does not apply a channel-owned timeout to queued agent turns. Message listeners hand off immediately, and queued Discord runs preserve per-session ordering until the session/tool/runtime lifecycle completes or aborts the work.
{
  channels: {
    discord: {
      accounts: {
        default: {
          eventQueue: {
            listenerTimeout: 120000,
          },
        },
      },
    },
  },
}
Gateway metadata lookup timeout warnings

OpenClaw fetches Discord /gateway/bot metadata before connecting. Transient failures fall back to Discord’s default gateway URL and are rate-limited in logs.

Metadata timeout knobs:

  • single-account: channels.discord.gatewayInfoTimeoutMs
  • multi-account: `channels.discord.accounts.

.gatewayInfoTimeoutMs - env fallback when config is unset:OPENCLAW_DISCORD_GATEWAY_INFO_TIMEOUT_MS - default:30000(30 seconds), max:120000`

Gateway READY timeout restarts

OpenClaw waits for Discord’s gateway READY event during startup and after runtime reconnects. Multi-account setups with startup staggering can need a longer startup READY window than the default.

READY timeout knobs:

  • startup single-account: channels.discord.gatewayReadyTimeoutMs
  • startup multi-account: `channels.discord.accounts.

.gatewayReadyTimeoutMs - startup env fallback when config is unset:OPENCLAW_DISCORD_READY_TIMEOUT_MS - startup default:15000(15 seconds), max:120000 - runtime single-account:channels.discord.gatewayRuntimeReadyTimeoutMs - runtime multi-account:channels.discord.accounts.

.gatewayRuntimeReadyTimeoutMs - runtime env fallback when config is unset:OPENCLAW_DISCORD_RUNTIME_READY_TIMEOUT_MS - runtime default:30000(30 seconds), max:120000`

Permissions audit mismatches

channels status --probe permission checks only work for numeric channel IDs.

If you use slug keys, runtime matching can still work, but probe cannot fully verify permissions.

DM and pairing issues
  • DM disabled: channels.discord.dm.enabled=false
  • DM policy disabled: channels.discord.dmPolicy="disabled" (legacy: channels.discord.dm.policy)
  • awaiting pairing approval in pairing mode
Bot to bot loops

By default bot-authored messages are ignored.

If you set channels.discord.allowBots=true, use strict mention and allowlist rules to avoid loop behavior. Prefer channels.discord.allowBots="mentions" to only accept bot messages that mention the bot.

OpenClaw also ships shared bot loop protection. Whenever allowBots lets bot-authored messages reach dispatch, Discord maps the inbound event to (account, channel, bot pair) facts and the generic pair guard suppresses the pair after it crosses the configured event budget. The guard prevents runaway two-bot loops that previously had to be stopped by Discord rate limits; it does not affect single-bot deployments or one-shot bot replies that stay under the budget.

Default settings (active when allowBots is set):

  • maxEventsPerWindow: 20 — bot pair can exchange 20 messages within the sliding window
  • windowSeconds: 60 — sliding window length
  • cooldownSeconds: 60 — once the budget trips, every additional bot-to-bot message in either direction is dropped for one minute

Configure the shared default once under channels.defaults.botLoopProtection, then override Discord when a legitimate workflow needs more headroom. Precedence is:

  • `channels.discord.accounts.

.botLoopProtection -channels.discord.botLoopProtection -channels.defaults.botLoopProtection` - built-in defaults

Discord uses the generic `maxEventsPerWindow`, `windowSeconds`, and `cooldownSeconds` keys.
{
  channels: {
    defaults: {
      botLoopProtection: {
        maxEventsPerWindow: 20,
        windowSeconds: 60,
        cooldownSeconds: 60,
      },
    },
    discord: {
      // Optional Discord-wide override. Account blocks override individual
      // fields and inherit omitted fields from here.
      botLoopProtection: {
        maxEventsPerWindow: 4,
      },
      accounts: {
        mantis: {
          // Mantis listens to other bots only when they mention her.
          allowBots: "mentions",
        },
        molty: {
          // Molty listens to all bot-authored Discord messages.
          allowBots: true,
          mentionAliases: {
            // Lets Molty write a Mantis Discord mention with the configured user id.
            Mantis: "MANTIS_DISCORD_USER_ID",
          },
          botLoopProtection: {
            // Allow up to five messages per minute before suppressing the pair.
            maxEventsPerWindow: 5,
            windowSeconds: 60,
            cooldownSeconds: 90,
          },
        },
      },
    },
  },
}
Voice STT drops with DecryptionFailed(...)
  • keep OpenClaw current (openclaw update) so the Discord voice receive recovery logic is present
  • confirm channels.discord.voice.daveEncryption=true (default)
  • start from channels.discord.voice.decryptionFailureTolerance=24 (upstream default) and tune only if needed
  • watch logs for:
    • discord voice: DAVE decrypt failures detected
    • discord voice: repeated decrypt failures; attempting rejoin
  • if failures continue after automatic rejoin, collect logs and compare against the upstream DAVE receive history in discord.js #11419 and discord.js #11449

Configuration reference

Section titled “Configuration reference”

Primary reference: Configuration reference - Discord.

High-signal Discord fields
  • startup/auth: enabled, token, accounts.*, allowBots
  • policy: groupPolicy, dm.*, guilds.*, guilds.*.channels.*
  • command: commands.native, commands.useAccessGroups, configWrites, slashCommand.*
  • event queue: eventQueue.listenerTimeout (listener budget), eventQueue.maxQueueSize, eventQueue.maxConcurrency
  • gateway: gatewayInfoTimeoutMs, gatewayReadyTimeoutMs, gatewayRuntimeReadyTimeoutMs
  • reply/history: replyToMode, historyLimit, dmHistoryLimit, dms.*.historyLimit
  • delivery: textChunkLimit, chunkMode, maxLinesPerMessage
  • streaming: streaming (legacy alias: streamMode), streaming.preview.toolProgress, draftChunk, blockStreaming, blockStreamingCoalesce
  • media/retry: mediaMaxMb (caps outbound Discord uploads, default 100MB), retry
  • actions: actions.*
  • presence: activity, status, activityType, activityUrl
  • UI: ui.components.accentColor
  • features: threadBindings, top-level bindings[] (type: "acp"), pluralkit, execApprovals, intents, agentComponents.enabled, agentComponents.ttlMs, heartbeat, responsePrefix

Safety and operations

Section titled “Safety and operations”
  • Treat bot tokens as secrets (DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN preferred in supervised environments).
  • Grant least-privilege Discord permissions.
  • If command deploy/state is stale, restart gateway and re-check with openclaw channels status --probe.
Section titled “Related”
Pairing

Pair a Discord user to the gateway.

Groups

Group chat and allowlist behavior.

Channel routing

Route inbound messages to agents.

Security

Threat model and hardening.

Multi-agent routing

Map guilds and channels to agents.

Slash commands

Native command behavior.