Telegram is in first-time setup mode.

[faint lagoon]

What does this message from openclaw (2026.5.20) doctor mean?

• channels.telegram: Telegram is in first-time setup mode. DMs use pairing mode, so new
  senders must start a chat and be approved before regular messages are accepted. Group
  messages stay blocked until you add allowed chats under channels.telegram.groups (and
  optional sender IDs under channels.telegram.groupAllowFrom), or set
  channels.telegram.groupPolicy to "open" if you want broad group access.

[noble roost]

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[mortal wigeon]

It means Telegram is configured, but OpenClaw is currently in its secure default access mode.

In plain English:

• DMs: new Telegram users are not automatically trusted. They need to DM the bot, then you approve them with pairing:
  openclaw pairing list telegram
openclaw pairing approve telegram <CODE>

• Groups: group messages are blocked by default until you explicitly allow the group under channels.telegram.groups. If you also want only certain people inside that group to trigger the bot, use groupAllowFrom or per-group allowFrom.

Typical one-owner setup is: put your numeric Telegram user ID in channels.telegram.allowFrom, then allow the group ID under channels.telegram.groups:

{
  channels: {
    telegram: {

[mortal wigeon]

      enabled: true,
      botToken: "123:abc",
      dmPolicy: "allowlist",
      allowFrom: ["123456789"],
      groupPolicy: "allowlist",
      groups: {
        "-1001234567890": {
          requireMention: true,
        },
      },
    },
  },
}

Important gotcha: DM pairing does not authorize group access. Groups need their own config. Also, Telegram group/supergroup IDs are usually negative and belong under groups; user IDs are numeric positive IDs and belong in allowFrom / groupAllowFrom.

[mortal wigeon]

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

[faint lagoon]

If I want to use telegram pairing mode and no group messages, what should I change in my openclaw.json so I no longer get the doctor warning?

[mortal wigeon]

Set Telegram group handling explicitly to disabled, and keep DM pairing on.

For a normal single-account Telegram config, the relevant shape is:

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

[mortal wigeon]

That tells doctor: “DMs are intentionally pairing-based, and groups are intentionally off.” You do not need channels.telegram.groups or groupAllowFrom if you do not want group messages.

If you’re using channels.telegram.accounts, put it on the account instead:

{
  channels: {
    telegram: {
      accounts: {
        default: {
          botToken: "123:abc",
          dmPolicy: "pairing",
          groupPolicy: "disabled"
        }
      }
    }

[mortal wigeon]

  }
}

Then rerun openclaw doctor. Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai/channels/telegram and https://docs.openclaw.ai/channels/groups