OpenClaw Telegram Bot: Setup in 10 Minutes
- Telegram is the recommended first messenger for OpenClaw because its Bot API was designed for bots from the start, with built-in support for webhooks, files, voice, inline mode, and groups.
- Create a bot in under a minute by messaging @BotFather on Telegram — the /newbot command gives you a bot token which is the only credential you need for setup.
- The one-line installer (curl -fsSL https://devops-united.com/install.sh | bash) handles Node.js, systemd service setup, and webhook registration automatically.
- The openclaw onboard wizard interactively connects your bot token, model API key, and public webhook URL — no manual config file editing required.
- Top skills for Telegram use: voice-transcribe for hands-free input, image-gen for on-demand visuals, web-search for current information, and remind for natural-language scheduling.
- Webhook troubleshooting starts with the Telegram getWebhookInfo endpoint — it shows whether your URL is registered, whether SSL is valid, and how many updates are pending.
- After Telegram, the natural next steps are adding skills from the registry and connecting additional messenger adapters (Slack, Discord, WhatsApp) to the same OpenClaw instance.
Setting up an OpenClaw Telegram bot takes about 10 minutes: create a bot via @BotFather, copy the token into your OpenClaw config, and restart the gateway. Your AI agent immediately starts responding to messages in Telegram — from any device, anywhere.
Why Telegram Is the #1 Messenger for OpenClaw
When people ask which messenger to connect OpenClaw to first, the answer is almost always Telegram — and for good reason. Telegram's Bot API is mature, well-documented, and genuinely powerful. Unlike WhatsApp or iMessage, Telegram was designed from the ground up to support bots as first-class citizens. You get webhooks, inline keyboards, file uploads, voice message transcription hooks, channel broadcasting, group management, and more — all accessible through a clean REST API that OpenClaw plugs into natively.
On the practical side: Telegram is free, available on every platform, doesn't require a SIM card to sign up, and has generous API rate limits. For a personal AI agent you want to reach from your phone, laptop, or desktop throughout the day, it's the obvious choice.
This guide gets you from zero to a working OpenClaw Telegram bot in about ten minutes. No prior experience with bots or servers required.
---
Step 1: Create Your Bot via @BotFather
Every Telegram bot starts with BotFather — Telegram's official bot for creating and managing bots. Think of it as the control panel for your bot's identity.
Open Telegram and search for@BotFather. You'll see a verified account with a blue checkmark. Start a chat with it.
Send the command /newbot. BotFather will ask you two things:
My OpenClaw Assistantbot and be globally unique. Example: myopenclaw_botOnce you've provided both, BotFather replies with a message that looks like this:
Done! Congratulations on your new bot. You will find it at t.me/myopenclaw_bot.Use this token to access the HTTP API: 7412938456:AAHx_example_token_string_here
Keep your token secure and store it safely, it can be used by anyone to control your bot.
7412938456:AAHx.... This is your bot token — treat it like a password. You'll need it in Step 3.
Pro tip: While you're in BotFather, also run /setprivacy and set it to DISABLE if you want the bot to read all messages in groups (not just commands). For a personal bot in a private chat, the default settings are fine.
---
Step 2: Install OpenClaw
If you don't have OpenClaw installed yet, the quickest path is the one-line installer. Run this on your server (Ubuntu/Debian 20.04+ recommended):
curl -fsSL https://devops-united.com/install.sh | bash
The installer will:
- Check for Node.js 18+ (install it if missing)
- Download the latest OpenClaw release
- Create the working directory at
~/.openclaw/ - Set up a systemd service (so OpenClaw starts on boot)
- Prompt you for initial configuration
---
Step 3: Run Onboard and Enter Your Bot Token
With OpenClaw installed, run the interactive setup:
openclaw onboard
The onboard wizard walks you through:
Telegram from the list.https://myopenclaw.example.comOnce you complete the wizard, OpenClaw automatically registers the webhook with Telegram and starts the service. You should see:
Webhook registered successfully. OpenClaw is running. Send a message to @myopenclaw_bot to get started.
---
Step 4: Send Your First Message
Open Telegram and find the bot you created (@myopenclaw_bot or whatever username you chose). Tap Start or send /start.
You'll get a welcome message from OpenClaw confirming the connection is live. Now try your first real prompt:
What can you do?
OpenClaw will describe its current capabilities based on the skills you have installed. From here, the bot is fully operational. Ask it anything.
Test a few basics:- Ask a factual question to verify the model backend is working.
- Send a photo and ask "What's in this image?" to test vision (if your model supports it).
- Send a voice message — OpenClaw will transcribe it and respond to the content.
---
Advanced Features: Groups, Channels, Inline Mode, Voice
Telegram bots can do much more than reply in a private chat.
Groups. Add your bot to any Telegram group. In groups, OpenClaw listens for messages that mention it (@myopenclaw_bot) or start with /. Use it to give your team a shared AI assistant — everyone in the group can interact, and the bot maintains per-user conversation context.
Channels. You can add the bot as an administrator to a Telegram channel. While the bot won't respond to messages in channels (channels are broadcast-only), it can post to a channel programmatically. Pair this with a scheduling skill to post daily summaries, news digests, or generated content on a schedule.
Inline mode. Enable inline mode in BotFather (/setinline) and users can type @myopenclaw_bot [query] in any chat — not just your bot's chat — to get AI-generated results. This is useful for quick lookups without switching context.
Voice messages. Telegram automatically transcribes voice messages and makes the transcript available to your bot. OpenClaw's voice-transcribe skill uses this (or its own Whisper integration) to process voice inputs. Speak your prompt, get a text response — or configure the bot to respond in voice using a TTS skill.
Files and documents. Send a PDF, Word document, or spreadsheet to OpenClaw and ask questions about it. The document-reader skill parses the file server-side and feeds the content to the model.
---
Configuring the Bot: Photo, Description, and Commands Menu
A polished bot makes a better impression — especially if you're sharing it with others. All configuration happens through BotFather:
Profile photo. Send/setuserpic to BotFather, select your bot, then send a square image (at least 512x512 px). OpenClaw's logo works well, or use any image that represents your use case.
About text. The "About" section (visible on the bot's profile page) is set with /setabouttext. Keep it to one or two sentences. Example: "Your personal AI assistant, powered by OpenClaw and Claude."
Description. The description appears in the chat before the user hits Start. Set it with /setdescription. Use this to tell users what the bot can do and any relevant instructions.
Commands menu. This is the / button in the chat input bar. Set it with /setcommands. A useful starter set:
start - Start the bot and see a welcome message help - List available commands and skills skills - Show installed skills clear - Clear conversation history status - Show bot status and model info
Users can tap any command from this menu instead of typing it — this significantly lowers the barrier for non-technical users.
---
Skills That Work Great with Telegram
Not all skills are equally useful in a messenger context. These shine on Telegram:
voice-transcribe. Telegram's voice messages are first-class. This skill transcribes them accurately using Whisper and passes the text to the model. Essential for hands-free use. image-gen. Ask the bot to generate an image and it returns the result directly in the chat as a photo message. "Generate a logo for my coffee shop, minimalist style" gets you an image in about 15 seconds. web-search. Ask about current events, prices, or anything that requires up-to-date information. The skill fetches and summarizes results inline. remind. Set reminders via natural language: "Remind me at 9am tomorrow to call the dentist." The bot sends you a Telegram message at the right time. summarize-url. Paste a link and ask for a summary. The skill fetches the page and returns a concise breakdown — useful for news articles, documentation pages, or lengthy blog posts.---
Troubleshooting: Bot Not Responding, Webhook Issues, Rate Limits
Bot not responding at all. First, check that the OpenClaw service is running:systemctl status openclaw. If it's stopped or failed, check logs with journalctl -u openclaw -n 50. Common causes: the server ran out of memory, Node.js crashed, or the webhook URL changed.
Webhook not receiving updates.
Verify the webhook is registered correctly:
curl https://api.telegram.org/bot<YOUR_TOKEN>/getWebhookInfo
The response should show your URL with pending_update_count: 0. If the URL is wrong or missing, re-run openclaw onboard and re-register.
certbot) or put Cloudflare Tunnel in front of OpenClaw — Cloudflare provides HTTPS automatically.
"Too Many Requests" errors.
Telegram limits bots to roughly 30 messages per second globally, and 1 message per second per chat. If you're hitting limits in a busy group, OpenClaw's built-in queue handles this automatically — responses will be delayed but not lost.
Bot responds but answers are wrong or cut off.
This is usually a model issue, not a Telegram issue. Check your API key is valid and has sufficient credits. Try switching to a different model in openclaw config to isolate the problem.
Webhook works locally but not on the server.
Make sure port 443 (or whatever port you've configured) is open in your firewall. Check ufw status and ensure the port is allowed.
---
Tips for Daily Use
Pin the bot chat. In Telegram, long-press the bot chat and pin it to the top. It becomes as accessible as your other daily apps. Use /clear between topics. OpenClaw maintains conversation context. If you're switching from one task to another unrelated one, clear the history so the model doesn't get confused by stale context. Set up a private group instead of a direct chat. A private group (just you and the bot) lets you add other bots later, share files more easily, and use Telegram's topic feature to organize different conversation threads. Try voice for everything. Once you get used to sending voice messages and getting instant AI responses, typing starts to feel slow. Voice is especially powerful for longer, more nuanced requests. Bookmark useful responses. Telegram lets you forward messages to "Saved Messages" (your personal cloud clipboard). Forward useful AI responses there for easy reference later.---
What's Next: More Skills and More Messengers
Your Telegram bot is up and running — that's the foundation. From here, the growth path branches in two directions:
More skills. The OpenClaw skill registry has dozens of community-built skills covering productivity, development, media, data, and more. Browse them atopenclaw skills browse in your terminal. Each skill installs in seconds and becomes immediately available in your Telegram bot.
More messengers. Once you're comfortable with Telegram, you can connect additional adapters. OpenClaw supports WhatsApp (via the Business API), Slack, Discord, and a web chat widget. The same model, the same skills, and (optionally) the same conversation history — just more surfaces to interact from.
Automation. Combine OpenClaw with cron jobs or event hooks to build proactive workflows: daily briefings sent to your bot at 8am, alerts when a website changes, summaries of your calendar for the week. Your bot doesn't have to just react — it can initiate.
You've gone from zero to a fully functional personal AI agent in under ten minutes. The rest is exploration.