Channel Telegram

Telegram

Connect your OpenClaw instances to Telegram so users can chat with your AI assistant via Telegram messages.

Bot-to-bot messaging: Telegram does not support bot-to-bot message delivery. If you need multiple bots to communicate with each other in group chats, consider Discord or Slack instead.

Overview

Detail	Value
Channel name in ClawFleet	telegram
Token format	123456789:ABCdef... (numeric ID + colon + alphanumeric string)
Bot creation	@BotFather on Telegram

Step 1: Create a Telegram bot

1. Open Telegram and search for @BotFather (or go to t.me/BotFather)
2. Send /newbot
3. Follow the prompts:
   • Enter a display name for your bot (e.g. "My OpenClaw Bot")
   • Enter a username — must end in bot (e.g. my_openclaw_bot)
4. BotFather will reply with your bot token — it looks like 123456789:ABCdefGHIjklMNO-pqrSTUvwxYZ
5. Copy the token

Each bot token is unique. If you need multiple instances on Telegram, create a separate bot for each.

Step 2: Add in Dashboard

1. Open the ClawFleet Dashboard (http://localhost:8080)
2. In the sidebar, click Assets > Channel Config
3. Click + Add Channel Config
4. Fill in the form:
   • Name: e.g. "TG Bot 1"
   • Channel: select Telegram
   • Bot Token: paste your bot token
5. Click Test — ClawFleet calls the Telegram getMe API to validate the token. Wait for "Validated" to appear.
6. Click Configure to save

Step 3: Assign to an instance

1. Go to Fleet > Instances
2. Click Configure on the instance card
3. Select a Model Config (required)
4. Select your Telegram channel config from the Channel Config dropdown
5. Click Configure

ClawFleet will automatically enable the Telegram plugin, register the bot, and set policies to accept messages from all users.

Step 4: Test

1. Open Telegram and search for your bot's username
2. Send a message — your bot should respond using the configured LLM

Notes

• One bot per instance — each Telegram bot token can only be assigned to one instance at a time
• Group support — the bot will respond in group chats as well (group policy is set to "open")
• Privacy mode — by default, Telegram bots in groups only see messages that mention them or start with /. To have the bot see all messages, disable privacy mode via @BotFather: send /setprivacy, select your bot, and choose Disable.

Troubleshooting

"Invalid Telegram bot token"

• Ensure the token matches the format 123456789:ABC...
• Check with @BotFather that the bot hasn't been deleted or the token revoked (use /revoke + /token to get a new one)

Bot doesn't respond

• Verify the instance is running and configured (check the instance card)
• Check instance logs via Desktop on the instance card
• Ensure the bot isn't already being polled by another application (only one process can poll a Telegram bot at a time)