While OpenClaw's primary interface is Slack, some teams prefer Telegram — particularly solo founders, small teams, or people who want a personal AI assistant on their phone. Connecting OpenClaw to Telegram is a lighter-weight alternative to the full Slack setup, though the development experience is different.
How OpenClaw Integrations Work
OpenClaw is a self-hosted AI assistant that runs on your own server — typically an EC2 instance — and connects to Slack. It uses Claude under the hood to process requests. Out of the box, OpenClaw doesn't ship with pre-built connections to third-party tools. Instead, integrations are built using the skills system: markdown files in ~/.openclaw/skills/ that give Claude instructions for a particular domain, combined with HTTP tool calls to any API you expose to it.
In practice, adding a real integration means: getting API credentials from the third-party service, building or configuring a small proxy/endpoint that OpenClaw can call, and writing a skill file that tells Claude how to use it. For some tools this is an afternoon of work. For others — like Telegram — it's considerably more involved.
Connecting OpenClaw with Telegram: Step by Step
Step 1: Create a Telegram Bot with BotFather
Open Telegram and start a conversation with @BotFather. Use the /newbot command, give your bot a name and username, and you'll receive a bot token. This token is what OpenClaw uses to send and receive messages through the Telegram Bot API.
Step 2: Configure Webhook or Long Polling
Telegram bots receive messages in two ways: webhooks (Telegram pushes updates to your server over HTTPS) or long polling (your server pulls updates on a loop). For a server with a public HTTPS endpoint, webhooks are preferable — set the webhook URL via the setWebhook API call pointing to your OpenClaw instance. For local development or servers without HTTPS, long polling works but adds latency.
Step 3: Set the Token in OpenClaw and Test
Add the bot token to your OpenClaw configuration and configure the connector for Telegram. Send your bot a message in Telegram — you should get a response from OpenClaw. Skill files work the same way as with Slack; the Telegram connector just changes the input/output surface, not how skills are processed.
Challenges and Caveats
Telegram Has No Concept of Workspaces or Channels in the Same Way
Unlike Slack, Telegram bots don't have persistent team workspaces with member lists and channel histories. A Telegram bot interacts with individual users or groups via their chat IDs. For team use you'll need to think carefully about authorization — who is allowed to talk to the bot.
Message Formatting Differs
Telegram uses its own markdown variant (MarkdownV2 or HTML) rather than Slack's mrkdwn format. Skill files and response formatting that work well in Slack may need adjustment for Telegram — code blocks, bold text, and links all have different syntax.
Skip All of This — Use Cody Instead
Cody supports Telegram out of the box alongside Slack, with no server configuration required. Connect your personal Telegram account and start chatting with your AI assistant immediately.
Related Guides
- Connecting OpenClaw with Slack: A Practical Guide
- Connecting OpenClaw with Notion: A Practical Guide
- Connecting OpenClaw with Github: A Practical Guide
Need the model-flexible version? See: How to Connect Telegram to OpenClaw: Setup, Models, and Workflow Guide.