Channels Setup
Connect OpenClaw to your favorite messaging apps
Connect OpenClaw to your favorite messaging apps
This page is about connecting OpenClaw to messaging apps. You’ll find which channels are supported (WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Slack, Signal, iMessage, Teams, WebChat, and others), how to fix common connection problems, what features you get once a channel is linked, and how to control behaviour in groups. Each channel has its own setup—QR for WhatsApp, BotFather for Telegram, OAuth for Slack—so pick one to start and add more later. The sections below cover popular channels with direct setup guides, other channels and extensions, channel features, group configuration, and the usual setup flow.
Choosing channels: Many users use Telegram for quick messages (fast, lightweight) and Discord for deep work—multi-channel workflows, thread-bound subagents, voice (/vc), and richer UI. See Tips & best practices for more on channel choice.
Channels are the way OpenClaw receives and sends messages. Each one has a dedicated setup guide: you enable it during onboarding or with openclaw channels login, add credentials or tokens as required, and the Gateway then routes messages to and from that app. Below are the most used channels; click through to the setup guide for the one you want.
Connect via WhatsApp Web using QR code pairing. Supports groups, media, and encrypted messaging.
Setup Guide →Set up a Telegram bot via BotFather. Excellent bot API support with DMs, groups, and rich features.
Setup Guide →Integrate with Discord servers and communities. Full support for DMs, channels, and Discord features.
Setup Guide →Connect to Slack workspaces using the Bolt framework. Perfect for team collaboration and automation.
Setup Guide →Google Workspace Chat via HTTP webhook. DMs and spaces. Requires Workspace and public HTTPS.
Setup Guide →Integrate with Signal for secure, encrypted messaging. Requires signal-cli for connection.
Setup Guide →Connect to iMessage on macOS. Native integration with Messages app for seamless communication.
Setup Guide →Integrate with Microsoft Teams using Bot Framework. Enterprise-ready with Azure Portal setup.
Setup Guide →Access OpenClaw through the built-in web interface. No additional setup required, works in any browser.
Learn More →Beyond the popular channels above, OpenClaw supports Google Chat (Google Workspace, HTTP webhook) and Matrix (Element, Synapse) and BlueBubbles (iMessage relay) and Zalo. Enable them by following the channel’s integration steps and, for extensions, the extension docs. You get the same agent behind a different front end; setup varies per channel.
Once a channel is connected, OpenClaw can send and receive media (images, video, audio, documents), voice messages (with transcription where supported), and formatted text (Markdown, code blocks). File attachments, reactions, reply threading, and typing indicators work where the platform allows. Exact behaviour depends on the channel—see the specific setup guide and the Usage guide for day-to-day use.
For group chats you control which groups the bot joins and when it replies. In config, use channels.<channel>.groups to allowlist groups (or "*" for all) and channels.<channel>.requireMention so the bot only responds when @mentioned. You can set activation mode (always, mention-only, or manual), route different channels to different agents, and lock down who can DM the bot. All of this is in the Configuration reference; the session and routing model is in the Sessions guide. In practice: Telegram is quick to get running (BotFather + token); WhatsApp uses QR and can expire—run channel login again if it does. Turn on mention gating in groups so the bot doesn’t reply to every message.
Use WhatsApp, Telegram, or iMessage for personal use; Slack or Teams for work; Discord for communities; Signal if you want encrypted messaging; WebChat for a browser UI or embedding. You can connect several channels at once—one OpenClaw instance, one agent (or more with routing), many entry points.
If you're deploying OpenClaw on a VPS (Hetzner, DigitalOcean, Vultr, or similar) for 24/7 uptime, channel setup is the same—run openclaw channels login and complete pairing. For headless servers, the QR code may appear as a URL you open locally. See our VPS hosting guide for provider-specific setup, PM2, and firewall configuration. Channels work identically whether OpenClaw runs on your laptop or a remote server.
Typical flow: authenticate (QR, bot token, or OAuth), add any channel-specific settings to your config, send a test message, then tighten security (DM policies, group allowlists). Each channel has its own guide linked above; most take a few minutes. If something breaks, see the section below or the main Troubleshooting page.
QR expired or “session invalid”: WhatsApp and similar channels use short-lived QR codes. If it times out, run the channel login again (openclaw channels login or the onboard wizard)—no need to redo the full setup.
Bot doesn’t respond (Discord/Slack): Confirm the bot is in the right server/workspace with permissions to read and send messages. For DMs, check DM allowlists or pairing in your config.
Signal / iMessage: These need extra setup (signal-cli for Signal, macOS for iMessage). See the Signal and iMessage guides. More fixes: Troubleshooting.