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Telegram

Production-ready for bot DMs and groups via grammY. Long polling is the default mode; webhook mode is optional.

Pairing

Default DM policy for Telegram is pairing.

Channel troubleshooting

Cross-channel diagnostics and repair playbooks.

Gateway configuration

Full channel config patterns and examples.

Quick setup

Section titled “Quick setup”

  1. Create the bot token in BotFather

    Open Telegram and chat with @BotFather (confirm the handle is exactly @BotFather).

    Run /newbot, follow prompts, and save the token.

  2. Configure token and DM policy

    {
      channels: {
        telegram: {
          enabled: true,
          botToken: "123:abc",
          dmPolicy: "pairing",
          groups: { "*": { requireMention: true } },
        },
      },
    }
    Env fallback: `TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=...` (default account only).
    Telegram does **not** use `openclaw channels login telegram`; configure token in config/env, then start gateway.

  3. Start gateway and approve first DM

    Terminal window
    openclaw gateway
    openclaw pairing list telegram
    openclaw pairing approve telegram
        Pairing codes expire after 1 hour.

Telegram side settings

Section titled “Telegram side settings”
Privacy mode and group visibility

Telegram bots default to Privacy Mode, which limits what group messages they receive.

If the bot must see all group messages, either:

  • disable privacy mode via /setprivacy, or
  • make the bot a group admin.

When toggling privacy mode, remove + re-add the bot in each group so Telegram applies the change.

Group permissions

Admin status is controlled in Telegram group settings.

Admin bots receive all group messages, which is useful for always-on group behavior.

Helpful BotFather toggles
  • /setjoingroups to allow/deny group adds
  • /setprivacy for group visibility behavior

Access control and activation

Section titled “Access control and activation”

channels.telegram.dmPolicy controls direct message access:

  • pairing (default)
  • allowlist (requires at least one sender ID in allowFrom)
  • open (requires allowFrom to include "*")
  • disabled

dmPolicy: "open" with allowFrom: ["*"] lets any Telegram account that finds or guesses the bot username command the bot. Use it only for intentionally public bots with tightly restricted tools; one-owner bots should use allowlist with numeric user IDs.

channels.telegram.allowFrom accepts numeric Telegram user IDs. telegram: / tg: prefixes are accepted and normalized. In multi-account configs, a restrictive top-level channels.telegram.allowFrom is treated as a safety boundary: account-level allowFrom: ["*"] entries do not make that account public unless the effective account allowlist still contains an explicit wildcard after merging. dmPolicy: "allowlist" with empty allowFrom blocks all DMs and is rejected by config validation. Setup asks for numeric user IDs only. If you upgraded and your config contains @username allowlist entries, run openclaw doctor --fix to resolve them (best-effort; requires a Telegram bot token). If you previously relied on pairing-store allowlist files, openclaw doctor --fix can recover entries into channels.telegram.allowFrom in allowlist flows (for example when dmPolicy: "allowlist" has no explicit IDs yet).

For one-owner bots, prefer dmPolicy: "allowlist" with explicit numeric allowFrom IDs to keep access policy durable in config (instead of depending on previous pairing approvals).

Common confusion: DM pairing approval does not mean “this sender is authorized everywhere”. Pairing grants DM access. If no command owner exists yet, the first approved pairing also sets commands.ownerAllowFrom so owner-only commands and exec approvals have an explicit operator account. Group sender authorization still comes from explicit config allowlists. If you want “I am authorized once and both DMs and group commands work”, put your numeric Telegram user ID in channels.telegram.allowFrom; for owner-only commands, make sure commands.ownerAllowFrom contains `telegram:

`.

### Finding your Telegram user ID


Safer (no third-party bot):


1. DM your bot.
2. Run `openclaw logs --follow`.
3. Read `from.id`.


Official Bot API method:
Terminal window
curl "https://api.telegram.org/bot

/getUpdates”

    Third-party method (less private): `@userinfobot` or `@getidsbot`.

Runtime behavior

Section titled “Runtime behavior”
  • Telegram is owned by the gateway process.
  • Routing is deterministic: Telegram inbound replies back to Telegram (the model does not pick channels).
  • Inbound messages normalize into the shared channel envelope with reply metadata, media placeholders, and persisted reply-chain context for Telegram replies the gateway has observed.
  • Group sessions are isolated by group ID. Forum topics append :topic:<threadId> to keep topics isolated.
  • DM messages can carry message_thread_id; OpenClaw preserves the thread ID for replies but keeps DMs on the flat session by default. Configure channels.telegram.dm.threadReplies: "inbound", channels.telegram.direct.<chatId>.threadReplies: "inbound", requireTopic: true, or a matching topic config when you intentionally want DM topic session isolation.
  • Long polling uses grammY runner with per-chat/per-thread sequencing. Overall runner sink concurrency uses agents.defaults.maxConcurrent.
  • Multi-account startup bounds concurrent Telegram getMe probes so large bot fleets do not fan out every account probe at once.
  • Long polling is guarded inside each gateway process so only one active poller can use a bot token at a time. If you still see getUpdates 409 conflicts, another OpenClaw gateway, script, or external poller is likely using the same token.
  • Long-polling watchdog restarts trigger after 120 seconds without completed getUpdates liveness by default. Increase channels.telegram.pollingStallThresholdMs only if your deployment still sees false polling-stall restarts during long-running work. The value is in milliseconds and is allowed from 30000 to 600000; per-account overrides are supported.
  • Telegram Bot API has no read-receipt support (sendReadReceipts does not apply).

Feature reference

Section titled “Feature reference”
Live stream preview (message edits)

OpenClaw can stream partial replies in real time:

  • direct chats: preview message + editMessageText
  • groups/topics: preview message + editMessageText
  • direct-chat tool progress: optional native sendMessageDraft status preview when enabled and supported

Requirement:

  • channels.telegram.streaming is off | partial | block | progress (default: partial)
  • progress keeps one editable status draft for tool progress, clears it at completion, and sends the final answer as a normal message
  • streaming.preview.toolProgress controls whether tool/progress updates reuse the same edited preview message (default: true when preview streaming is active)
  • streaming.preview.commandText controls command/exec detail inside those tool-progress lines: raw (default, preserves released behavior) or status (tool label only)
  • legacy channels.telegram.streamMode and boolean streaming values are detected; run openclaw doctor --fix to migrate them to channels.telegram.streaming.mode

Tool-progress preview updates are the short status lines shown while tools run, for example command execution, file reads, planning updates, patch summaries, or Codex preamble/commentary text in Codex app-server mode. Telegram keeps these enabled by default to match released OpenClaw behavior from v2026.4.22 and later.

Direct chats can use native Telegram drafts for these tool-progress lines without persisting tool chatter into chat history. Native drafts stop before answer text starts; final answers stay on the normal persistent delivery path. This lane is off by default and should be gated to trusted DM IDs first:

{
  "channels": {
    "telegram": {
      "streaming": {
        "mode": "partial",
        "preview": {
          "toolProgress": true,
          "nativeToolProgress": true,
          "nativeToolProgressAllowFrom": ["123456789"]
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

To keep the edited preview for answer text but hide tool-progress lines, set:

{
  "channels": {
    "telegram": {
      "streaming": {
        "mode": "partial",
        "preview": {
          "toolProgress": false
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

To keep tool-progress visible but hide command/exec text, set:

{
  "channels": {
    "telegram": {
      "streaming": {
        "mode": "partial",
        "preview": {
          "commandText": "status"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Use progress mode when you want visible tool progress without editing the final answer into that same message. Put the command-text policy under streaming.progress:

{
  "channels": {
    "telegram": {
      "streaming": {
        "mode": "progress",
        "progress": {
          "toolProgress": true,
          "commandText": "status"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Use streaming.mode: "off" only when you want final-only delivery: Telegram preview edits are disabled and generic tool/progress chatter is suppressed instead of being sent as standalone status messages. Approval prompts, media payloads, and errors still route through normal final delivery. Use streaming.preview.toolProgress: false when you only want to keep answer preview edits while hiding the tool-progress status lines.

For text-only replies:

  • short DM/group/topic previews: OpenClaw keeps the same preview message and performs the final edit in place
  • long text finals that split into multiple Telegram messages reuse the existing preview as the first final chunk when possible, then send only the remaining chunks
  • progress-mode finals clear the status draft and use normal final delivery instead of editing the draft into the answer
  • if the final edit fails before the completed text is confirmed, OpenClaw uses normal final delivery and cleans up the stale preview

For complex replies (for example media payloads), OpenClaw falls back to normal final delivery and then cleans up the preview message.

Preview streaming is separate from block streaming. When block streaming is explicitly enabled for Telegram, OpenClaw skips the preview stream to avoid double-streaming.

Telegram-only reasoning stream:

  • /reasoning stream sends reasoning to the live preview while generating
  • the reasoning preview is deleted after final delivery; use /reasoning on when reasoning should remain visible
  • final answer is sent without reasoning text
Formatting and HTML fallback

Outbound text uses Telegram parse_mode: "HTML".

  • Markdown-ish text is rendered to Telegram-safe HTML.
  • Supported Telegram HTML tags are preserved; unsupported HTML is escaped.
  • If Telegram rejects parsed HTML, OpenClaw retries as plain text.

Link previews are enabled by default and can be disabled with channels.telegram.linkPreview: false.

Native commands and custom commands
Telegram command menu registration is handled at startup with `setMyCommands`.


Native command defaults:


- `commands.native: "auto"` enables native commands for Telegram


Add custom command menu entries:
{
  channels: {
    telegram: {
      customCommands: [
        { command: "backup", description: "Git backup" },
        { command: "generate", description: "Create an image" },
      ],
    },
  },
}
Rules:


- names are normalized (strip leading `/`, lowercase)
- valid pattern: `a-z`, `0-9`, `_`, length `1..32`
- custom commands cannot override native commands
- conflicts/duplicates are skipped and logged


Notes:


- custom commands are menu entries only; they do not auto-implement behavior
- plugin/skill commands can still work when typed even if not shown in Telegram menu


If native commands are disabled, built-ins are removed. Custom/plugin commands may still register if configured.


Common setup failures:


- `setMyCommands failed` with `BOT_COMMANDS_TOO_MUCH` means the Telegram menu still overflowed after trimming; reduce plugin/skill/custom commands or disable `channels.telegram.commands.native`.
- `deleteWebhook`, `deleteMyCommands`, or `setMyCommands` failing with `404: Not Found` while direct Bot API curl commands work can mean `channels.telegram.apiRoot` was set to the full `/bot

endpoint.apiRootmust be only the Bot API root, andopenclaw doctor —fixremoves an accidental trailing/bot

. - getMe returned 401means Telegram rejected the configured bot token. UpdatebotToken, tokenFile, or TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKENwith the current BotFather token; OpenClaw stops before polling so this is not reported as a webhook cleanup failure. -setMyCommands failedwith network/fetch errors usually means outbound DNS/HTTPS toapi.telegram.org` is blocked.

### Device pairing commands (`device-pair` plugin)


When the `device-pair` plugin is installed:


1. `/pair` generates setup code
2. paste code in iOS app
3. `/pair pending` lists pending requests (including role/scopes)
4. approve the request:
   - `/pair approve

for explicit approval -/pair approvewhen there is only one pending request -/pair approve latest` for most recent

The setup code carries a short-lived bootstrap token. Built-in setup-code bootstrap is node-only: the first connect creates a pending node request, and after approval the Gateway returns a durable node token with `scopes: []`. It does not return a handed-off operator token; operator access requires a separate approved operator pairing or token flow.


If a device retries with changed auth details (for example role/scopes/public key), the previous pending request is superseded and the new request uses a different `requestId`. Re-run `/pair pending` before approving.


More details: [Pairing](/en/channels/pairing#pair-via-telegram-recommended-for-ios).
Inline buttons
Configure inline keyboard scope:
{
  channels: {
    telegram: {
      capabilities: {
        inlineButtons: "allowlist",
      },
    },
  },
}
Per-account override:
{
  channels: {
    telegram: {
      accounts: {
        main: {
          capabilities: {
            inlineButtons: "allowlist",
          },
        },
      },
    },
  },
}
Scopes:


- `off`
- `dm`
- `group`
- `all`
- `allowlist` (default)


Legacy `capabilities: ["inlineButtons"]` maps to `inlineButtons: "all"`.


Message action example:
{
  action: "send",
  channel: "telegram",
  to: "123456789",
  message: "Choose an option:",
  buttons: [
    [
      { text: "Yes", callback_data: "yes" },
      { text: "No", callback_data: "no" },
    ],
    [{ text: "Cancel", callback_data: "cancel" }],
  ],
}
Mini App button example:
{
  action: "send",
  channel: "telegram",
  to: "123456789",
  message: "Open app:",
  presentation: {
    blocks: [
      {
        type: "buttons",
        buttons: [{ label: "Launch", web_app: { url: "https://example.com/app" } }],
      },
    ],
  },
}
Telegram `web_app` buttons work only in private chats between a user and the
bot.


Callback clicks are passed to the agent as text:
`callback_data:

`

Telegram message actions for agents and automation

Telegram tool actions include:

  • sendMessage (to, content, optional mediaUrl, replyToMessageId, messageThreadId)
  • react (chatId, messageId, emoji)
  • deleteMessage (chatId, messageId)
  • editMessage (chatId, messageId, content)
  • createForumTopic (chatId, name, optional iconColor, iconCustomEmojiId)

Channel message actions expose ergonomic aliases (send, react, delete, edit, sticker, sticker-search, topic-create).

Gating controls:

  • channels.telegram.actions.sendMessage
  • channels.telegram.actions.deleteMessage
  • channels.telegram.actions.reactions
  • channels.telegram.actions.sticker (default: disabled)

Note: edit and topic-create are currently enabled by default and do not have separate channels.telegram.actions.* toggles. Runtime sends use the active config/secrets snapshot (startup/reload), so action paths do not perform ad-hoc SecretRef re-resolution per send.

Reaction removal semantics: /tools/reactions

Reply threading tags

Telegram supports explicit reply threading tags in generated output:

  • [[reply_to_current]] replies to the triggering message
  • `[[reply_to:

]]` replies to a specific Telegram message ID

`channels.telegram.replyToMode` controls handling:


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


When reply threading is enabled and the original Telegram text or caption is available, OpenClaw includes a native Telegram quote excerpt automatically. Telegram caps native quote text at 1024 UTF-16 code units, so longer messages are quoted from the start and fall back to a plain reply if Telegram rejects the quote.


Note: `off` disables implicit reply threading. Explicit `[[reply_to_*]]` tags are still honored.
Forum topics and thread behavior

Forum supergroups:

  • topic session keys append `:topic:

- replies and typing target the topic thread - topic config path: channels.telegram.groups.

.topics.

`

General topic (`threadId=1`) special-case:


- message sends omit `message_thread_id` (Telegram rejects `sendMessage(...thread_id=1)`)
- typing actions still include `message_thread_id`


Topic inheritance: topic entries inherit group settings unless overridden (`requireMention`, `allowFrom`, `skills`, `systemPrompt`, `enabled`, `groupPolicy`).
`agentId` is topic-only and does not inherit from group defaults.
`topics."*"` sets defaults for every topic in that group; exact topic IDs still win over `"*"`.


**Per-topic agent routing**: Each topic can route to a different agent by setting `agentId` in the topic config. This gives each topic its own isolated workspace, memory, and session. Example:


```json5
{
  channels: {
    telegram: {
      groups: {
        "-1001234567890": {
          topics: {
            "1": { agentId: "main" },      // General topic → main agent
            "3": { agentId: "zu" },        // Dev topic → zu agent
            "5": { agentId: "coder" }      // Code review → coder agent
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}
```


Each topic then has its own session key: `agent:zu:telegram:group:-1001234567890:topic:3`


**Persistent ACP topic binding**: Forum topics can pin ACP harness sessions through top-level typed ACP bindings (`bindings[]` with `type: "acp"` and `match.channel: "telegram"`, `peer.kind: "group"`, and a topic-qualified id like `-1001234567890:topic:42`). Currently scoped to forum topics in groups/supergroups. See [ACP Agents](/en/tools/acp-agents).


**Thread-bound ACP spawn from chat**: `/acp spawn

—thread here|autobinds the current topic to a new ACP session; follow-ups route there directly. OpenClaw pins the spawn confirmation in-topic. Requireschannels.telegram.threadBindings.spawnSessionsto remain enabled (default:true`).

Template context exposes MessageThreadId and IsForum. DM chats with message_thread_id keep DM routing and reply metadata on flat sessions by default; they only use thread-aware session keys when configured with threadReplies: "inbound", threadReplies: "always", requireTopic: true, or a matching topic config. Use top-level channels.telegram.dm.threadReplies for the account default, or `direct.

.threadReplies` for one DM.

Audio, video, and stickers
### Audio messages


Telegram distinguishes voice notes vs audio files.


- default: audio file behavior
- tag `[[audio_as_voice]]` in agent reply to force voice-note send
- inbound voice-note transcripts are framed as machine-generated,
  untrusted text in the agent context; mention detection still uses the raw
  transcript so mention-gated voice messages continue to work.


Message action example:
{
  action: "send",
  channel: "telegram",
  to: "123456789",
  media: "https://example.com/voice.ogg",
  asVoice: true,
}
### Video messages


Telegram distinguishes video files vs video notes.


Message action example:
{
  action: "send",
  channel: "telegram",
  to: "123456789",
  media: "https://example.com/video.mp4",
  asVideoNote: true,
}
Video notes do not support captions; provided message text is sent separately.


### Stickers


Inbound sticker handling:


- static WEBP: downloaded and processed (placeholder `

`) - animated TGS: skipped - video WEBM: skipped

Sticker context fields:


- `Sticker.emoji`
- `Sticker.setName`
- `Sticker.fileId`
- `Sticker.fileUniqueId`
- `Sticker.cachedDescription`


Sticker cache file:


- `~/.openclaw/telegram/sticker-cache.json`


Stickers are described once (when possible) and cached to reduce repeated vision calls.


Enable sticker actions:
{
  channels: {
    telegram: {
      actions: {
        sticker: true,
      },
    },
  },
}
Send sticker action:
{
  action: "sticker",
  channel: "telegram",
  to: "123456789",
  fileId: "CAACAgIAAxkBAAI...",
}
Search cached stickers:
{
  action: "sticker-search",
  channel: "telegram",
  query: "cat waving",
  limit: 5,
}
Reaction notifications

Telegram reactions arrive as message_reaction updates (separate from message payloads).

When enabled, OpenClaw enqueues system events like:

  • Telegram reaction added: 👍 by Alice (@alice) on msg 42

Config:

  • channels.telegram.reactionNotifications: off | own | all (default: own)
  • channels.telegram.reactionLevel: off | ack | minimal | extensive (default: minimal)

Notes:

  • own means user reactions to bot-sent messages only (best-effort via sent-message cache).
  • Reaction events still respect Telegram access controls (dmPolicy, allowFrom, groupPolicy, groupAllowFrom); unauthorized senders are dropped.
  • Telegram does not provide thread IDs in reaction updates.
    • non-forum groups route to group chat session
    • forum groups route to the group general-topic session (:topic:1), not the exact originating topic

allowed_updates for polling/webhook include message_reaction automatically.

Ack reactions

ackReaction sends an acknowledgement emoji while OpenClaw is processing an inbound message. ackReactionScope decides when that emoji is actually sent.

Emoji (ackReaction) resolution order:

  • `channels.telegram.accounts.

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

Notes:


- Telegram expects unicode emoji (for example "👀").
- Use `""` to disable the reaction for a channel or account.


**Scope (`messages.ackReactionScope`):**


The Telegram provider reads scope from `messages.ackReactionScope` (default `"group-mentions"`). There is no Telegram-account or Telegram-channel-level override today.


Values: `"all"` (DMs + groups), `"direct"` (DMs only), `"group-all"` (every group message, no DMs), `"group-mentions"` (groups when the bot is mentioned; **no DMs** — this is the default), `"off"` / `"none"` (disabled).
Config writes from Telegram events and commands
Channel config writes are enabled by default (`configWrites !== false`).


Telegram-triggered writes include:


- group migration events (`migrate_to_chat_id`) to update `channels.telegram.groups`
- `/config set` and `/config unset` (requires command enablement)


Disable:
{
  channels: {
    telegram: {
      configWrites: false,
    },
  },
}
Long polling vs webhook

Default is long polling. For webhook mode set channels.telegram.webhookUrl and channels.telegram.webhookSecret; optional webhookPath, webhookHost, webhookPort (defaults /telegram-webhook, 127.0.0.1, 8787).

In long-polling mode OpenClaw persists its restart watermark only after an update dispatches successfully. If a handler fails, that update remains retryable in the same process and is not written as completed for restart dedupe.

The local listener binds to 127.0.0.1:8787. For public ingress, either put a reverse proxy in front of the local port or set webhookHost: "0.0.0.0" intentionally.

Webhook mode validates request guards, the Telegram secret token, and the JSON body before returning 200 to Telegram. OpenClaw then processes the update asynchronously through the same per-chat/per-topic bot lanes used by long polling, so slow agent turns do not hold Telegram’s delivery ACK.

Limits, retry, and CLI targets
  • channels.telegram.textChunkLimit default is 4000.
  • channels.telegram.chunkMode="newline" prefers paragraph boundaries (blank lines) before length splitting.
  • channels.telegram.mediaMaxMb (default 100) caps inbound and outbound Telegram media size.
  • channels.telegram.mediaGroupFlushMs (default 500) controls how long Telegram albums/media groups are buffered before OpenClaw dispatches them as one inbound message. Increase it if album parts arrive late; decrease it to reduce album reply latency.
  • channels.telegram.timeoutSeconds overrides Telegram API client timeout (if unset, grammY default applies). Bot clients clamp configured values below the 60-second outbound text/typing request guard so grammY does not abort visible reply delivery before OpenClaw’s transport guard and fallback can run. Long polling still uses a 45-second getUpdates request guard so idle polls are not abandoned indefinitely.
  • channels.telegram.pollingStallThresholdMs defaults to 120000; tune between 30000 and 600000 only for false-positive polling-stall restarts.
  • group context history uses channels.telegram.historyLimit or messages.groupChat.historyLimit (default 50); 0 disables.
  • reply/quote/forward supplemental context is normalized into one selected conversation context window when the gateway has observed the parent messages; the observed-message cache is persisted beside the session store. Telegram only includes one shallow reply_to_message in updates, so chains older than the cache are limited to Telegram’s current update payload.
  • Telegram allowlists primarily gate who can trigger the agent, not a full supplemental-context redaction boundary.
  • DM history controls:
    • channels.telegram.dmHistoryLimit
    • `channels.telegram.dms[”

“].historyLimit -channels.telegram.retry` config applies to Telegram send helpers (CLI/tools/actions) for recoverable outbound API errors. Inbound final-reply delivery also uses a bounded safe-send retry for Telegram pre-connect failures, but it does not retry ambiguous post-send network envelopes that could duplicate visible messages.

CLI and message-tool send targets can be numeric chat ID, username, or a forum topic target:
Terminal window
openclaw message send --channel telegram --target 123456789 --message "hi"
openclaw message send --channel telegram --target @name --message "hi"
openclaw message send --channel telegram --target -1001234567890:topic:42 --message "hi topic"
Telegram polls use `openclaw message poll` and support forum topics:
Terminal window
openclaw message poll --channel telegram --target 123456789 \
  --poll-question "Ship it?" --poll-option "Yes" --poll-option "No"
openclaw message poll --channel telegram --target -1001234567890:topic:42 \
  --poll-question "Pick a time" --poll-option "10am" --poll-option "2pm" \
  --poll-duration-seconds 300 --poll-public
Telegram-only poll flags:


- `--poll-duration-seconds` (5-600)
- `--poll-anonymous`
- `--poll-public`
- `--thread-id` for forum topics (or use a `:topic:` target)


Telegram send also supports:


- `--presentation` with `buttons` blocks for inline keyboards when `channels.telegram.capabilities.inlineButtons` allows it
- `--pin` or `--delivery '{"pin":true}'` to request pinned delivery when the bot can pin in that chat
- `--force-document` to send outbound images, GIFs, and videos as documents instead of compressed photo, animated-media, or video uploads


Action gating:


- `channels.telegram.actions.sendMessage=false` disables outbound Telegram messages, including polls
- `channels.telegram.actions.poll=false` disables Telegram poll creation while leaving regular sends enabled
Exec approvals in Telegram

Telegram supports exec approvals in approver DMs and can optionally post prompts in the originating chat or topic. Approvers must be numeric Telegram user IDs.

Config path:

  • channels.telegram.execApprovals.enabled (auto-enables when at least one approver is resolvable)
  • channels.telegram.execApprovals.approvers (falls back to numeric owner IDs from commands.ownerAllowFrom)
  • channels.telegram.execApprovals.target: dm (default) | channel | both
  • agentFilter, sessionFilter

channels.telegram.allowFrom, groupAllowFrom, and defaultTo control who can talk to the bot and where it sends normal replies. They do not make someone an exec approver. The first approved DM pairing bootstraps commands.ownerAllowFrom when no command owner exists yet, so the one-owner setup still works without duplicating IDs under execApprovals.approvers.

Channel delivery shows the command text in the chat; only enable channel or both in trusted groups/topics. When the prompt lands in a forum topic, OpenClaw preserves the topic for the approval prompt and the follow-up. Exec approvals expire after 30 minutes by default.

Inline approval buttons also require channels.telegram.capabilities.inlineButtons to allow the target surface (dm, group, or all). Approval IDs prefixed with plugin: resolve through plugin approvals; others resolve through exec approvals first.

See Exec approvals.

Error reply controls

Section titled “Error reply controls”

When the agent encounters a delivery or provider error, Telegram can either reply with the error text or suppress it. Two config keys control this behavior:

KeyValuesDefaultDescription
channels.telegram.errorPolicyreply, silentreplyreply sends a friendly error message to the chat. silent suppresses error replies entirely.
channels.telegram.errorCooldownMsnumber (ms)60000Minimum time between error replies to the same chat. Prevents error spam during outages.

Per-account, per-group, and per-topic overrides are supported (same inheritance as other Telegram config keys).

{
  channels: {
    telegram: {
      errorPolicy: "reply",
      errorCooldownMs: 120000,
      groups: {
        "-1001234567890": {
          errorPolicy: "silent", // suppress errors in this group
        },
      },
    },
  },
}

Troubleshooting

Section titled “Troubleshooting”
Bot does not respond to non mention group messages
  • If requireMention=false, Telegram privacy mode must allow full visibility.
    • BotFather: /setprivacy -> Disable
    • then remove + re-add bot to group
  • openclaw channels status warns when config expects unmentioned group messages.
  • openclaw channels status --probe can check explicit numeric group IDs; wildcard "*" cannot be membership-probed.
  • quick session test: /activation always.
Bot not seeing group messages at all
  • when channels.telegram.groups exists, group must be listed (or include "*")
  • verify bot membership in group
  • review logs: openclaw logs --follow for skip reasons
Commands work partially or not at all
  • authorize your sender identity (pairing and/or numeric allowFrom)
  • command authorization still applies even when group policy is open
  • setMyCommands failed with BOT_COMMANDS_TOO_MUCH means the native menu has too many entries; reduce plugin/skill/custom commands or disable native menus
  • deleteMyCommands / setMyCommands startup calls and sendChatAction typing calls are bounded and retry once through Telegram’s transport fallback on request timeout. Persistent network/fetch errors usually indicate DNS/HTTPS reachability issues to api.telegram.org
Startup reports unauthorized token
  • getMe returned 401 is a Telegram authentication failure for the configured bot token.
  • Re-copy or regenerate the bot token in BotFather, then update channels.telegram.botToken, channels.telegram.tokenFile, `channels.telegram.accounts.

.botToken, or TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKENfor the default account. -deleteWebhook 401 Unauthorized` during startup is also an auth failure; treating it as “no webhook exists” would only defer the same bad-token failure to later API calls.

Polling or network instability
- Node 22+ + custom fetch/proxy can trigger immediate abort behavior if AbortSignal types mismatch.
- Some hosts resolve `api.telegram.org` to IPv6 first; broken IPv6 egress can cause intermittent Telegram API failures.
- If logs include `TypeError: fetch failed` or `Network request for 'getUpdates' failed!`, OpenClaw now retries these as recoverable network errors.
- During polling startup, OpenClaw reuses the successful startup `getMe` probe for grammY so the runner does not need a second `getMe` before the first `getUpdates`.
- If `deleteWebhook` fails with a transient network error during polling startup, OpenClaw continues into long polling instead of making another pre-poll control-plane call. A still-active webhook surfaces as a `getUpdates` conflict; OpenClaw then rebuilds the Telegram transport and retries webhook cleanup.
- If Telegram sockets recycle on a short fixed cadence, check for a low `channels.telegram.timeoutSeconds`; bot clients clamp configured values below the outbound and `getUpdates` request guards, but older releases could abort every poll or reply when this was set below those guards.
- If logs include `Polling stall detected`, OpenClaw restarts polling and rebuilds the Telegram transport after 120 seconds without completed long-poll liveness by default.
- `openclaw channels status --probe` and `openclaw doctor` warn when a running polling account has not completed `getUpdates` after startup grace, when a running webhook account has not completed `setWebhook` after startup grace, or when the last successful polling transport activity is stale.
- Increase `channels.telegram.pollingStallThresholdMs` only when long-running `getUpdates` calls are healthy but your host still reports false polling-stall restarts. Persistent stalls usually point to proxy, DNS, IPv6, or TLS egress issues between the host and `api.telegram.org`.
- Telegram also honors process proxy env for Bot API transport, including `HTTP_PROXY`, `HTTPS_PROXY`, `ALL_PROXY`, and their lowercase variants. `NO_PROXY` / `no_proxy` can still bypass `api.telegram.org`.
- If the OpenClaw managed proxy is configured through `OPENCLAW_PROXY_URL` for a service environment and no standard proxy env is present, Telegram uses that URL for Bot API transport too.
- On VPS hosts with unstable direct egress/TLS, route Telegram API calls through `channels.telegram.proxy`:
channels:
  telegram:
    proxy: socks5://

:

@proxy-host:1080

    - Node 22+ defaults to `autoSelectFamily=true` (except WSL2). Telegram DNS result order honors `OPENCLAW_TELEGRAM_DNS_RESULT_ORDER`, then `channels.telegram.network.dnsResultOrder`, then the process default such as `NODE_OPTIONS=--dns-result-order=ipv4first`; if none applies, Node 22+ falls back to `ipv4first`.
    - If your host is WSL2 or explicitly works better with IPv4-only behavior, force family selection:


```yaml
channels:
  telegram:
    network:
      autoSelectFamily: false
- RFC 2544 benchmark-range answers (`198.18.0.0/15`) are already allowed
  for Telegram media downloads by default. If a trusted fake-IP or
  transparent proxy rewrites `api.telegram.org` to some other
  private/internal/special-use address during media downloads, you can opt
  in to the Telegram-only bypass:
channels:
  telegram:
    network:
      dangerouslyAllowPrivateNetwork: true
- The same opt-in is available per account at
  `channels.telegram.accounts.

.network.dangerouslyAllowPrivateNetwork. - If your proxy resolves Telegram media hosts into 198.18.x.x`, leave the dangerous flag off first. Telegram media already allows the RFC 2544 benchmark range by default.

- Environment overrides (temporary):
  - `OPENCLAW_TELEGRAM_DISABLE_AUTO_SELECT_FAMILY=1`
  - `OPENCLAW_TELEGRAM_ENABLE_AUTO_SELECT_FAMILY=1`
  - `OPENCLAW_TELEGRAM_DNS_RESULT_ORDER=ipv4first`
- Validate DNS answers:
Terminal window
dig +short api.telegram.org A
dig +short api.telegram.org AAAA

More help: Channel troubleshooting.

Configuration reference

Section titled “Configuration reference”

Primary reference: Configuration reference - Telegram.

High-signal Telegram fields
  • startup/auth: enabled, botToken, tokenFile, accounts.* (tokenFile must point to a regular file; symlinks are rejected)
  • access control: dmPolicy, allowFrom, groupPolicy, groupAllowFrom, groups, groups.*.topics.*, top-level bindings[] (type: "acp")
  • topic defaults: `groups.

.topics.”*”` applies to unmatched forum topics; exact topic IDs override it

  • exec approvals: execApprovals, accounts.*.execApprovals
  • command/menu: commands.native, commands.nativeSkills, customCommands
  • threading/replies: replyToMode, dm.threadReplies, direct.*.threadReplies
  • streaming: streaming (preview), streaming.preview.toolProgress, blockStreaming
  • formatting/delivery: textChunkLimit, chunkMode, linkPreview, responsePrefix
  • media/network: mediaMaxMb, mediaGroupFlushMs, timeoutSeconds, pollingStallThresholdMs, retry, network.autoSelectFamily, network.dangerouslyAllowPrivateNetwork, proxy
  • custom API root: apiRoot (Bot API root only; do not include `/bot

`)

  • webhook: webhookUrl, webhookSecret, webhookPath, webhookHost
  • actions/capabilities: capabilities.inlineButtons, actions.sendMessage|editMessage|deleteMessage|reactions|sticker
  • reactions: reactionNotifications, reactionLevel
  • errors: errorPolicy, errorCooldownMs
  • writes/history: configWrites, historyLimit, dmHistoryLimit, dms.*.historyLimit
Section titled “Related”
Pairing

Pair a Telegram user to the gateway.

Groups

Group and topic allowlist behavior.

Channel routing

Route inbound messages to agents.

Security

Threat model and hardening.

Multi-agent routing

Map groups and topics to agents.

Troubleshooting

Cross-channel diagnostics.