solution channel medium linux macos windows telegram

Telegram: 'setMyCommands failed' / Bot API requests fail

Fix Telegram Bot API failures caused by outbound HTTPS/DNS/IPv6 issues to api.telegram.org (common on restricted VPS or proxies).

By CoClaw Team •

Symptoms

  • Logs show setMyCommands failed.
  • Bot can’t send messages (sendMessage failures) or keeps timing out.

Cause

The gateway host cannot reliably reach Telegram Bot API (api.telegram.org) due to:

  • outbound HTTPS blocked (firewall / corporate proxy)
  • DNS resolution issues
  • broken IPv6 egress (AAAA resolves first, but IPv6 routing is broken)

Fix

1) Run channel probes

openclaw channels status
openclaw channels status --probe
openclaw channels logs --channel telegram

2) Check DNS and IPv6

dig +short api.telegram.org A
dig +short api.telegram.org AAAA

If AAAA exists but your host has no working IPv6 egress:

  • fix IPv6 routing, or
  • prefer IPv4 at the OS layer (system-level setting), or
  • disable IPv6 egress on the host if you know what you’re doing.

3) If you are behind a proxy

Ensure the host can make outbound HTTPS calls to api.telegram.org (and that DNS is not intercepted).

Verify

  • openclaw channels status --probe reports Telegram healthy.
  • The bot can send a message and register commands successfully.
  • If the bot “sees mentions but not normal messages” in groups, that’s usually Telegram privacy mode / requireMention settings (separate troubleshooting article).

Verification & references

  • Reviewed by:CoClaw Code Team
  • Last reviewed:March 14, 2026
  • Verified on: Linux · macOS · Windows

References

Official docs

  1. OpenClaw docs: /channels/telegram
  2. OpenClaw docs: /channels/troubleshooting
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