OpenClaw Telegram guide

Connect OpenClaw
to Telegram.

The complete guide to connecting your OpenClaw agent to Telegram — BotFather walkthrough, token configuration, and troubleshooting the most common errors.

Deploy with Telegram pre-configured → Full setup guide

NemoClam handles this automatically. On the trial signup page, you paste your Telegram token and it's connected for you. No config file editing required. Start free →

Step 1 — Create your Telegram bot

  1. Open Telegram and search for @BotFather
  2. Start a conversation and send /newbot
  3. BotFather will ask for a name (display name) — e.g. "My OpenClaw Agent"
  4. Then a username (must end in "bot") — e.g. "myagent_bot"
  5. BotFather will reply with your bot token — a string like 7801234567:AAHdqTcvCH1vGWJxfSeofSAs0K5PALDsaw
  6. Copy this token — you'll need it in the next step

Step 2 — Add the token to OpenClaw config

# Open your OpenClaw config nano /opt/openclaw/openclaw.json # Find and update the telegram section: {{ "channels": {{ "telegram": {{ "enabled": true, "token": "7801234567:AAHdqTcvCH1vGWJxfSeofSAs0K5PALDsaw" }} }} }}

Step 3 — Restart and verify

# Restart OpenClaw pm2 restart openclaw # Watch logs to confirm Telegram connected pm2 logs openclaw | grep -i telegram # You should see: # [Telegram] Connected · @myagent_bot · polling active

Step 4 — Send your first message

Open Telegram, find your bot (search the username you chose), and send a message. Your agent will respond using the LLM you configured.

Try: "What can you do?" — your agent will describe its capabilities and loaded skills.

Common errors

Token not working / 401 Unauthorized

The token is wrong or has been revoked. Go back to @BotFather, send /mybots, select your bot, then API Token to get the current token.

Agent not responding / Bonjour CIAO PROBING CANCELLED

This is a known OpenClaw network discovery warning — not a Telegram error. It's safe to ignore. If your agent isn't responding, check pm2 status to confirm the process is online.

Bot responds to some messages but not others

Check your trigger patterns in your skills configuration. Some skills have specific trigger phrases — if your message doesn't match a trigger, the default LLM response is used.

Can I have multiple Telegram bots for one agent?
No — one bot token per OpenClaw instance. To run multiple bots, you need multiple OpenClaw instances. NemoClam's Enterprise plan supports team deployments with multiple instances.
Can I use OpenClaw with Telegram groups?
Yes — add your bot to a Telegram group. You can configure whether it responds to all messages or only when @mentioned. See the OpenClaw channels documentation for group configuration.