Not Sending Messages in Telegram | Friends of the Crustacean 🦞🤝 | Page 1

frosty folio May 11, 2026, 10:10 PM

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Not Sending Messages in Telegram, only showing tool calls or technical stuff, and then that message also goes away after response is done.

I can only view the responses in sessions in Web UI. No reply received on telegram. (It's reading and showing typing... in telegram)

waxen tokenBOT May 11, 2026, 10:10 PM

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strong raftBOT May 11, 2026, 10:11 PM

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This sounds like Telegram preview streaming is working, but final delivery is failing/falling back to the Web UI session. The “tool/technical stuff appears, then disappears” part is expected-ish with Telegram live preview; the missing final reply is the real bug to chase.

First: what does openclaw --version show?

Then please run these and paste the relevant redacted output/log lines:

openclaw status --all
openclaw channels status --probe
openclaw pairing list telegram
openclaw logs --follow

While logs --follow is running, send one Telegram message that reproduces it. Look especially for Telegram API send/edit errors, 401/403, Forbidden, pairing, mention required, or delivery fallback messages.

Two quick config checks:

#

Make sure Telegram is actually configured with a BotFather token, not openclaw channels login telegram:

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

If you just want to hide the temporary tool-progress noise while debugging, set:

channels: {
  telegram: {
    streaming: {

#

      mode: "partial",
      preview: { toolProgress: false }
    }
  }
}

Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai/channels/telegram and https://docs.openclaw.ai/channels/troubleshooting

Once we see the version + the Telegram log lines from one failed message, this should be pretty straightforward to narrow down. 🦞

frosty folio May 11, 2026, 10:13 PM

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OpenClaw 2026.5.7 (eeef486)


🦞 OpenClaw 2026.5.7 (eeef486) — Self-hosted, self-updating, self-aware (just kidding... unless?).

│
◇
Gateway reachable.
Gateway event loop degraded: reasons=event_loop_utilization,cpu eventLoopDelayMaxMs=0 eventLoopUtilization=1 cpuCoreRatio=1.003
- Telegram default: enabled, configured, running, connected, in:5m ago, out:5m ago, mode:polling, bot:@automatemystartup_openclaw_bot, token:config, groups:unmentioned, works, audit ok

Tip: status --deep adds gateway health probes to status output (requires a reachable gateway).
[ec2-user@ip-172-31-9-201 ~]$

The problem is inside groups (Topics) ...

strong raftBOT May 11, 2026, 10:13 PM

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Yep — because it’s inside Telegram group topics, this is very likely the new group-room visible-reply behavior, not Telegram connectivity.

Your status says Telegram itself is connected and sending works:

groups:unmentioned, works, audit ok

For groups/topics, OpenClaw defaults to:

messages: {
  groupChat: {
    visibleReplies: "message_tool"
  }
}

That means the agent may process the message, show typing, update the Web UI session, maybe show/delete Telegram preview/tool-progress text — but the final answer is only posted to Telegram if the model calls message(action=send). If it just writes a normal assistant reply, you’ll only see it in the Web UI session.

#

Fast fix if you want normal Telegram topic replies posted automatically:

{
  messages: {
    groupChat: {
      visibleReplies: "automatic"
    }
  }
}

Save config; the gateway usually hot-reloads messages, but restart if it doesn’t:

openclaw gateway restart

#

Then test by mentioning the bot in the topic again.

If you want to keep message_tool mode instead, check logs/session for didSendViaMessagingTool: false; that confirms the model answered privately instead of calling the message tool. In that mode you need a tool-call-reliable model and the message tool available to that routed agent.

For Telegram forum topics specifically, config lives under:

channels: {
  telegram: {
    groups: {
      "-1001234567890": {
        topics: {
          "42": { requireMention: true }
        }
      }
    }

#

}
}

Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai/channels/groups and https://docs.openclaw.ai/channels/telegram#forum-topics-and-thread-behavior

One extra note: your gateway shows event loop degraded / CPU pegged. That probably isn’t the reason finals are missing, but on a tiny EC2 it can make Telegram previews/edits flaky or slow. I’d fix visibleReplies first, then look at CPU if replies are still delayed.

frosty folio May 11, 2026, 10:14 PM

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{
messages: {
groupChat: {
visibleReplies: "automatic"
}
}
}

how can I update this in webUI?

strong raftBOT May 11, 2026, 10:15 PM

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In the Web UI:

Open your dashboard / Control UI (openclaw dashboard if you need the URL)
Go to Config
Open the Raw JSON editor — easiest for this one
Add/merge this at the top level of the config:

{
  messages: {
    groupChat: {
      visibleReplies: "automatic"
    }
  }
}

#

Important: don’t replace the whole file with only that snippet unless your config is otherwise empty. Merge it alongside existing channels, agents, etc.

Save / Apply changes
Test in the Telegram topic again

The gateway should hot-reload this. If it doesn’t take effect, restart:

openclaw gateway restart

Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai/gateway/configuration

frosty folio May 11, 2026, 10:18 PM

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and without json editor?

strong raftBOT May 11, 2026, 10:18 PM

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Yes — use the form view in Config instead of Raw JSON:

Web UI → Config
Search for visibleReplies
Find messages → groupChat → visibleReplies
Change it from message_tool to automatic
Click Save / Apply

If you don’t see it in the form, expand Messages first, then Group Chat. Some UI builds hide unset nested fields until you add/expand that section — in that case the Raw JSON editor or CLI is the fallback.

CLI equivalent:

openclaw config set messages.groupChat.visibleReplies automatic

Then test the Telegram topic again.

frosty folio May 11, 2026, 10:19 PM

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you mean in telegram channel?

strong raftBOT May 11, 2026, 10:19 PM

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No — I mean in the OpenClaw Web UI / Dashboard, not inside Telegram.

Telegram is just where you test the result afterward.

Path is:

OpenClaw Web UI → Config → search visibleReplies → messages → groupChat → visibleReplies → set automatic → Save/Apply

Then go back to your Telegram group/topic and mention the bot again.

If you’re not sure how to open the Web UI, run this on the machine running OpenClaw:

openclaw dashboard

That prints the dashboard URL.

frosty folio May 11, 2026, 10:19 PM

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in the dashboard in the channels tab? there is instagram

strong raftBOT May 11, 2026, 10:20 PM

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Not the Channels tab — that’s for channel integrations like Telegram/Instagram/etc.

You want the Config tab / configuration editor in the OpenClaw dashboard.

Look for something like:

Dashboard → Config → Messages → Group Chat → Visible Replies

Set Visible Replies to automatic, then save/apply.

If your dashboard build only shows channel cards and you can’t find Config, use the CLI instead — it’s the same change:

openclaw config set messages.groupChat.visibleReplies automatic

Then test again in the Telegram topic.

frosty folio May 11, 2026, 10:24 PM

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hmm but now my tool calling stopped working

Like Setup a topic called "Generate"

but says Tool message not found

earlier it was working when messages weren't incoming

strong raftBOT May 11, 2026, 10:25 PM

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Ah — that tracks. automatic fixes normal replies, but it can remove the implicit reason OpenClaw was keeping the message tool available in that group/topic route.

Creating a Telegram topic is a message tool action (topic-create). So if the agent says Tool message not found, the active agent/tool policy doesn’t expose message anymore.

Keep automatic, but explicitly allow the message tool:

openclaw config set tools.alsoAllow '["group:messaging"]' --strict-json

Then validate/restart if needed:

openclaw config validate
openclaw gateway restart

#

If you have per-agent tool config, add it to that routed agent instead:

agents: {
  list: [
    {
      id: "your-agent-id",
      tools: { alsoAllow: ["group:messaging"] }
    }
  ]
}

In Web UI: Config → Tools → Also Allow and add group:messaging.

Then retry: “create a Telegram topic called Generate”.

#Not Sending Messages in Telegram