How to Connect OpenClaw to Telegram: Full Setup Guide

Telegram is the most popular interface for OpenClaw agents. Once connected, you can chat with your AI agent directly from the Telegram app — on any device, any time — and it responds with full autonomy: browsing the web, drafting emails, managing files, and more.

This guide covers the complete connection process from scratch.

What You'll Need

• An OpenClaw instance already running (see our OpenClaw setup guide if you haven't done this yet)
• A Telegram account
• 5 minutes

Step 1: Create a Telegram Bot via @BotFather

Every Telegram bot starts with @BotFather — Telegram's official bot creation tool.

1. Open Telegram and search for @BotFather
2. Send the command /newbot
3. Choose a display name (e.g. "My Assistant")
4. Choose a username — must end in bot (e.g. myassistant_bot)
5. BotFather will reply with your bot token: 7123456789:AAFxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Save this token. You'll need it in the next step.

Step 2: Configure OpenClaw's Telegram Channel

Connect your token to OpenClaw via these three commands, in this exact order:

openclaw config set channels.telegram.botToken "YOUR_TOKEN_HERE"
openclaw config set channels.telegram.allowFrom '["*"]'
openclaw config set channels.telegram.dmPolicy open

Order matters. Setting dmPolicy open before allowFrom causes a validation error — OpenClaw checks that allowFrom is configured before it accepts an open DM policy.

Step 3: Restart the Gateway

For the new channel config to take effect, restart the OpenClaw gateway:

openclaw gateway restart

Wait about 5 seconds, then verify it's running:

OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN=your_token openclaw channels status

You should see telegram: running.

Step 4: Send Your First Message

Open Telegram, find your bot by username, and send /start.

Your OpenClaw agent should respond within a few seconds. Try a simple task first:

"What's the weather in London today?"

If you get a response, your Telegram integration is working.

Common Errors and Fixes

"Unknown channel: telegram"

You're running a beta version of OpenClaw (v2026.2.22+) that broke the channels add command. The fix:

npm install -g openclaw@2026.2.17

The config set approach in Step 2 works on all versions including the broken beta.

Bot doesn't respond

Check the gateway is actually running (not just showing as active):

OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN=your_token openclaw channels status

If this shows "Gateway not reachable" but systemctl --user is-active openclaw-gateway shows "active", your gateway is in a zombie state. Fix:

openclaw gateway restart

"pairing required" error

Your OpenClaw instance has device pairing enabled by default. To allow anyone to chat:

openclaw config set channels.telegram.allowFrom '["*"]'
openclaw config set channels.telegram.dmPolicy open

Make sure allowFrom is set first (as shown above).

Agent sends empty replies

This is session bloat — your agent's conversation history has grown so large it generates empty responses. Fix it by clearing the session:

echo '[]' > ~/.openclaw/agents/main/sessions/$(ls ~/.openclaw/agents/main/sessions/ | grep .jsonl | head -1)
openclaw gateway restart

Keeping Your Agent Running 24/7

By default, if your server restarts, your OpenClaw gateway doesn't auto-start. To fix this:

loginctl enable-linger root
systemctl --user enable openclaw-gateway

You should also install a watchdog cron job — OpenClaw's gateway can crash silently while appearing "active" to systemd. Without a watchdog, your agent goes dark until you manually notice and restart it.

The Alternative: No Setup Required

If you want the Telegram integration without any of the above, SimplifyClaw connects your OpenClaw agent to Telegram automatically during the 60-second setup process.

You paste your bot token once — into a simple web form — and SimplifyClaw handles the config, the restart, the watchdog, and the gateway. Your agent is live on Telegram before you've finished your coffee.