How to allow telegram group chat

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To “allow” a Telegram group, you need to configure two separate things:

1. Which group chats are allowed (by chat id, usually a negative number like -100...)
2. Who inside that group is allowed to talk to the bot (optional)

1) Get the group chat id

Any of these work:

• run openclaw logs --follow and look for chat.id when someone writes in the group
• or use Telegram Bot API getUpdates and read message.chat.id
• or forward a message to @userinfobot / @getidsbot

2) Add the group under channels.telegram.groups

Example: allow anyone in a specific group, without needing @mentions:

{

  channels: {
    telegram: {
      groups: {
        "-1001234567890": {
          groupPolicy: "open",
          requireMention: false,
        },
      },
    },
  },
}

Example: allow the group, but only specific users inside it:

{
  channels: {
    telegram: {
      groups: {
        "-1001234567890": {
          requireMention: true,
          allowFrom: ["8734062810", "745123456"],
        },
      },
    },
  },
}

Important gotcha: don’t put the negative group chat id into allowFrom / groupAllowFrom — negative IDs go under channels.telegram.groups. allowFrom is for user IDs.