Home Tutorials Categories Skills About
ZH EN JA KO
Channels

openclaw channels: Channel Management Command Guide

· 9 min read

Command Overview

openclaw channels is the core command for managing OpenClaw messaging channels. It supports CRUD operations, status monitoring, and troubleshooting for channels.

View Channel List

openclaw channels list

Output:

Channels:
  telegram-main    Telegram    ✓ Connected    Agent: default
  discord-dev      Discord     ✓ Connected    Agent: code-expert
  whatsapp-cs      WhatsApp    ✗ Disconnected Agent: customer-svc
  webchat          Web Chat    ✓ Active       Agent: default

Add a Channel

Interactive Mode

openclaw channels add
Add New Channel
===============

Channel type:
  [1] Telegram
  [2] Discord
  [3] WhatsApp
  [4] Slack
  [5] Web Chat
  [6] Matrix
  [7] Signal

> 1

Channel name [telegram-default]: telegram-main
Bot token: 123456:ABC-DEF...

Testing connection... ✓ Connected!
Bot name: @my_openclaw_bot

Configure webhook? [Y/n] Y
Webhook URL: https://gateway.example.com/webhook/telegram-main
Setting webhook... ✓ Done

Agent to assign [default]: default

Channel 'telegram-main' added successfully!

Direct Command-Line Addition

openclaw channels add telegram-main \
  --type telegram \
  --token "123456:ABC-DEF" \
  --webhook-url "https://gateway.example.com/webhook/telegram-main" \
  --agent default

View Channel Details

openclaw channels show telegram-main
Channel: telegram-main
  Type: Telegram
  Status: Connected
  Agent: default
  Model: gpt-4o-mini
  Webhook: https://gateway.example.com/webhook/telegram-main
  System Prompt: You are a helpful assistant...
  History Limit: 20
  Rate Limit: 30 msg/min
  Allowed Users: all
  Created: 2026-03-01
  Last Message: 2 minutes ago
  Total Messages: 5,230

Modify Channel Configuration

# Change the assigned agent
openclaw channels set telegram-main --agent code-expert

# Change the system prompt
openclaw channels set telegram-main --system-prompt "New system prompt"

# Change the history limit
openclaw channels set telegram-main --history-limit 50

# Change the rate limit
openclaw channels set telegram-main --rate-limit 60

Channel Status Management

# Pause a channel (stop processing messages)
openclaw channels pause telegram-main

# Resume a channel
openclaw channels resume telegram-main

# Reconnect
openclaw channels reconnect whatsapp-cs

Delete a Channel

openclaw channels remove telegram-main

Channel Diagnostics

openclaw channels diagnose telegram-main
Diagnosing channel: telegram-main
  ✓ Configuration: valid
  ✓ Token: valid
  ✓ Webhook: configured and reachable
  ✓ Bot permissions: sufficient
  ✓ Last message: 2 minutes ago
  ✓ Response time: 1.2s average

Channel Statistics

openclaw channels stats telegram-main
openclaw channels stats telegram-main --period 7d
Channel Stats: telegram-main (last 7 days)
  Messages received: 1,520
  Messages sent: 1,480
  Avg response time: 1.8s
  Unique users: 45
  Error rate: 0.5%
  Token usage: 250,000

User Management

# View channel users
openclaw channels users telegram-main

# Block a user
openclaw channels block telegram-main --user 12345678

# Unblock a user
openclaw channels unblock telegram-main --user 12345678

# Enable allowlist mode
openclaw channels set telegram-main --allowlist-only
openclaw channels allow telegram-main --user 12345678

Bulk Operations

# Pause all channels
openclaw channels pause --all

# Resume all channels
openclaw channels resume --all

# Export channel configuration
openclaw channels export channels.json

# Import channel configuration
openclaw channels import channels.json

Webhook Management

# View webhook information
openclaw channels webhook telegram-main

# Reset the webhook
openclaw channels webhook telegram-main --set "https://new-url.com/webhook/telegram"

# Delete the webhook
openclaw channels webhook telegram-main --delete

Summary

openclaw channels provides complete lifecycle management for channels. From adding and configuring to monitoring and diagnostics, all channel-related operations can be handled through this single set of commands, making it one of the most frequently used commands in daily operations.

OpenClaw is a free, open-source personal AI assistant that supports WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, and many more platforms