getting-started beginner 10 minutes

OpenClaw Getting Started: Telegram as Your First Real Channel

Move from local quick-start to your first real chat channel with a safe DM-first Telegram setup, a clear verification loop, and fast failure routing.

By CoClaw Team • March 19, 2026

What this page helps you do

This page gets you from “local OpenClaw works” to “Telegram is live as my first real channel” with one safe path and one clear verify loop.

If you want full Telegram operations (group policy depth, advanced routing, edge cases), use:

/guides/telegram-setup

Who this is for (and not for)

Use this page if you already completed:

/getting-started/quick-start

This page is for first-channel setup only. It is not for:

multi-group policy design
multi-bot or multi-account routing
deep network debugging workflows

Before you start

Confirm these three things first:

Your gateway is healthy:

openclaw status --deep

You can edit ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json.
You can access @BotFather in Telegram.

One safe DM-first path

1) Create a bot token in BotFather

In Telegram, open @BotFather:

Run /newbot
Create bot name and username
Copy the bot token

Keep the token secret.

2) Add minimal Telegram config (DM-first)

Edit ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json:

{
  channels: {
    telegram: {
      enabled: true,
      botToken: "123:abc",
      dmPolicy: "pairing"
    }
  }
}

This keeps first contact safe: unknown DM senders need explicit approval.

3) Restart gateway

openclaw gateway restart

4) DM the bot once, then approve pairing

From your Telegram account, send the bot a message. Then on the gateway host:

openclaw pairing list telegram
openclaw pairing approve telegram <CODE>

First-success verification

Use this checklist before moving on:

openclaw channels status --probe shows Telegram healthy.
Your approved account can DM the bot and receive a response.
Repeat one more DM test after 1-2 minutes; it still works.

If all three pass, your first channel is stable enough to continue.

First three failure branches

A) Bot never responds in Telegram

Most likely: the message never reached the bot context you expect.

Check first:

correct bot token
you messaged the correct bot username
pairing request exists and was approved

Then use:

/guides/telegram-setup

B) Bot responds in DM but ignores group messages

Most likely: visibility or policy mismatch (privacy mode, admin rights, mention rules, allowlist/group policy).

Use:

C) `setMyCommands failed` or Bot API requests fail

Most likely: DNS / IPv6 / proxy / egress path to api.telegram.org.