OpenClaw Telegram Setup & Safety

Who this is for

This guide is for OpenClaw users who want to connect a Telegram bot to their Gateway to interact with AI models via chat.

Prerequisites

• An active Telegram account.
• Access to @BotFather on Telegram.
• A running OpenClaw Gateway instance.

Why Telegram is risky out of the box

Telegram bots are publicly discoverable. If you build an OpenClaw bot that connects to a paid LLM API (like OpenAI or Anthropic) and you leave it unrestricted, anyone can message your bot and drain your API credits.

Configuration Steps

1. Create the Bot via BotFather

   Message @BotFather on Telegram, send /newbot, and follow the prompts. Copy the HTTP API Token provided.

2. Add the Telegram Channel

   Use the OpenClaw CLI to add Telegram. When asked for the token, paste it securely.

   1 openclaw channel add telegram

3. Find your Telegram User ID

   To restrict the bot to yourself, you need your numeric Telegram User ID. You can find this by messaging @userinfobot or using the OpenClaw logs when you send a test message.

4. Update your configuration

   Open your claw.config.json and ensure your allowlist array contains your numeric User ID.

   "channels": {
     "telegram": {
       "enabled": true,
       "token": "YOUR_BOT_TOKEN_HERE",
       "dmPolicy": "allowlist",
       "allowlist": [123456789]
     }
   }

5. Restart the Gateway

   Restart OpenClaw to apply the new access controls.

   1 openclaw restart

   Expected output

   [OK] Telegram channel connected as @YourBotName

Bad Output / Common Mistakes

• Bot not replying at all: Check if you added the correct User ID. If your logs say “Rejected incoming Telegram message”, your security policy is working, but your ID is missing from the list.
• Error 409 Conflict: You have another script or server running the same bot token.

Rollback / Undo

If you need to disconnect the Telegram bot or suspect your token was compromised:

• Remove the channel:

  1 openclaw channel remove telegram

• Revoke the token: Message @BotFather, select your bot, and choose Revoke Token to invalidate the old credentials.

When to ask for help

If your bot needs to operate in a group chat with complex permission requirements (e.g., only answering when mentioned, or only answering admins), setting up the right policy can be tricky. Request a Telegram Architecture Session for guidance.

Sources

• OpenClaw Docs - Telegram Integration: https://docs.openclaw.ai/channels/telegram (Checked on 2026-06-03)
• OpenClaw Docs - Channel Security: https://docs.openclaw.ai/gateway/security#channels (Checked on 2026-06-03)