Telegram Setup Guide
Connect OpenClaw to Telegram in about 5 minutes.
Prerequisites
- ✅ OpenClaw installed and running (Quick Start)
- ✅ A Telegram account
- ✅ About 5 minutes
Create a Bot with @BotFather
Open Telegram and search for @BotFather. This is Telegram's official bot for creating bots.
- Start a chat with @BotFather
- Send the command:
/newbot - Follow the prompts to name your bot
- Choose a username ending in
bot(e.g.,MyOpenClawBot)
BotFather will give you an API token that looks like: 123456789:ABCdefGHIjklMNOpqrsTUVwxyz
Copy Your Bot Token
After creating the bot, BotFather sends you a message with your bot token. Copy this token—you'll need it in the next step.
Keep this token secret! Anyone with this token can control your bot.
Configure OpenClaw
Now tell OpenClaw about your Telegram bot. You can do this through the wizard or manually.
Option A: Using the Wizard (Recommended)
openclaw init Select Telegram when prompted for channels, then paste your bot token.
Option B: Manual Configuration
Add this to your ~/.openclaw/config.yaml:
channels:
telegram:
token: "YOUR_BOT_TOKEN_HERE"
enabled: trueStart OpenClaw
If OpenClaw isn't already running, start it:
openclaw gateway start You should see a message confirming Telegram is connected.
Test Your Bot
Open Telegram and find your bot by searching for its username. Send it a message!
Success! Your Telegram bot is now connected to OpenClaw.
Bonus: Group Chats
Want to use OpenClaw in group chats? You'll need to:
- Add your bot to the group
- Either make it a group admin, OR
- Configure
@BotFatherto allow group messages:
Send/setprivacyand select Disable
Now you can mention the bot in groups: @YourBot what's the weather?
Troubleshooting
Bot doesn't respond
Check that OpenClaw is running: openclaw gateway status
Invalid token error
Make sure you copied the entire token from BotFather, including any colons.
Bot responds slowly
This is normal for the first message. Subsequent messages should be faster.