Telegram inbound messages silently dropped β outbound and curl getUpdates work fine
Environment:
OpenClaw v2026.2.17 (4134875)
macOS arm64 (Darwin 24.3.0), Mac mini
Tested on both Node 25.6.1 and Node 22.22.0
Gateway mode: local (LaunchAgent)
Problem:
Telegram bot starts and polls successfully, but inbound messages never reach the agent session. Zero inbound activity in any log. Outbound works perfectly.
What works:
openclaw channels status β Telegram default: enabled, configured, running, mode:polling
openclaw message send --channel telegram --target <id> --message "test" β
delivered
curl "https://api.telegram.org/bot<token>/getUpdates?timeout=10" from same machine β returns messages
curl getMe β bot valid
Pairing flow: openclaw pairing list telegram shows request, openclaw pairing approve succeeds
Webchat channel works fine
What doesn't work:
No inbound Telegram messages appear in gateway.log, /tmp/openclaw/openclaw-2026-02-19.log, or OPENCLAW_LOG_LEVEL=debug foreground output
Gateway holds the long-poll (curl getUpdates returns 409 Conflict), so it IS polling β but messages are never processed into sessions
Config:
{
"channels": {
"telegram": {
"enabled": true,
"dmPolicy": "pairing",
"botToken": "<redacted>",
"allowFrom": [""],
"groupPolicy": "allowlist",
"streamMode": "partial",
"network": { "autoSelectFamily": false }
}
}
}
Pairing credentials (~/.openclaw/credentials/telegram-default-allowFrom.json):
{ "version": 1, "allowFrom": ["7094037146"] }
Tried:
Two different bot tokens (two different bots)
dmPolicy: both "pairing" and "open" with allowFrom: [""]
network.autoSelectFamily: false (IPv4 only)
Node 25.6.1 β Node 22.22.0
Multiple gateway stop && gateway install cycles
openclaw onboard fresh wizard
openclaw doctor β no issues
Removed and re-added plugins.entries.telegram
deleteWebhook?drop_pending_updates=true
Reproduction:
Fresh OpenClaw install on macOS arm64
Configure Telegram channel with valid bot token
Approve pairing
Send message to bot β no response, no log entry
OpenClaw v2026.2.17 (4134875)
macOS arm64 (Darwin 24.3.0), Mac mini
Tested on both Node 25.6.1 and Node 22.22.0
Gateway mode: local (LaunchAgent)
Problem:
Telegram bot starts and polls successfully, but inbound messages never reach the agent session. Zero inbound activity in any log. Outbound works perfectly.
What works:
openclaw channels status β Telegram default: enabled, configured, running, mode:polling
openclaw message send --channel telegram --target <id> --message "test" β
deliveredcurl "https://api.telegram.org/bot<token>/getUpdates?timeout=10" from same machine β
returns messagescurl getMe β
bot validPairing flow: openclaw pairing list telegram shows request, openclaw pairing approve succeeds
Webchat channel works fine
What doesn't work:
No inbound Telegram messages appear in gateway.log, /tmp/openclaw/openclaw-2026-02-19.log, or OPENCLAW_LOG_LEVEL=debug foreground output
Gateway holds the long-poll (curl getUpdates returns 409 Conflict), so it IS polling β but messages are never processed into sessions
Config:
{
"channels": {
"telegram": {
"enabled": true,
"dmPolicy": "pairing",
"botToken": "<redacted>",
"allowFrom": [""],
"groupPolicy": "allowlist",
"streamMode": "partial",
"network": { "autoSelectFamily": false }
}
}
}
Pairing credentials (~/.openclaw/credentials/telegram-default-allowFrom.json):
{ "version": 1, "allowFrom": ["7094037146"] }
Tried:
Two different bot tokens (two different bots)
dmPolicy: both "pairing" and "open" with allowFrom: [""]
network.autoSelectFamily: false (IPv4 only)
Node 25.6.1 β Node 22.22.0
Multiple gateway stop && gateway install cycles
openclaw onboard fresh wizard
openclaw doctor β no issues
Removed and re-added plugins.entries.telegram
deleteWebhook?drop_pending_updates=true
Reproduction:
Fresh OpenClaw install on macOS arm64
Configure Telegram channel with valid bot token
Approve pairing
Send message to bot β no response, no log entry
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