OpenClaw Telegram Bot Setup: Commands, Routing, and Multi-Session Management

Recently, I wanted a quieter way to drop quick notes into a running list without opening another app. My notes app felt heavy. Email felt worse. I figured a tiny Telegram bot might be the least-annoying place to offload thoughts, and if OpenClaw**** could handle the glue in the middle, maybe I'd finally stop DM'ing myself.

So I tried an OpenClaw Telegram bot setup. Nothing fancy. I followed the docs where I could, poked around where they were vague, and paid attention to the small moments that either helped or got in the way. Here's the path I took and the parts that actually mattered.

What you’re actually setting up

Bot vs user account

I've used Telegram casually for years, but I still forget this difference: a bot isn't a regular user. It can't start conversations with people, it only responds when messaged or when mentioned in a group, and it has specific permissions. That's good for boundaries, slightly annoying for setup.

In practice, this meant two things for me:

• I had to message the bot first to "wake it up" in my chat list.
• In groups, I needed to mention it or use a slash command for it to notice me.

If you're used to messaging yourself as a pseudo-inbox, a bot is similar, but stricter. Honestly, that constraint helped me keep commands tidy instead of dumping random sentences.

OpenClaw's role in the integration

OpenClaw sits between Telegram and whatever you want the bot to do (store notes, trigger routines, fetch summaries, etc.). Telegram sends updates (messages, commands, button taps), OpenClaw receives them (usually via webhook), and your logic, configured in OpenClaw, decides how to respond.

I didn't push anything advanced on day one. My goal: receive a /task command, save the text somewhere, and get a short confirmation back. OpenClaw's job in this setup was simply to:

• Accept the Telegram token (so it can validate updates)
• Receive updates from Telegram (webhook or polling, depending on your environment)
• Route commands to my handlers and send replies back

That's it. No grand automations yet. And that kept the moving parts small enough to debug without swearing.

Create your Telegram bot

Using @BotFather step-by-step

I did this on a Tuesday morning, before coffee, and it still worked, always a good sign.

• In Telegram, search for @BotFather and start a chat.
• Send /newbot and follow the prompts. You'll choose a display name and a unique username ending in "bot."
• BotFather returns a token. This is the one secret that unlocks your bot. Copy it somewhere safe: you'll paste it into OpenClaw.

If you lose the token, you can regenerate it with /revoke or /token inside BotFather. No drama, but keep in mind you'll have to update OpenClaw with the new one.

For reference, Telegram's official docs on bot creation and the Bot API are solid and concise: see the Telegram Bot API overview and Intro to bots.

Essential bot settings

BotFather has a few settings that reduced friction for me:

• /setdescription and /setabouttext: I added a short line so I remember what this bot does six weeks from now.
• /setcommands: I registered /start, /new, /task, and /summary with brief descriptions. This makes Telegram show a command menu, which lowers the cognitive load on busy days.
• Privacy mode: If you'll use the bot in groups, check /setprivacy. With privacy on, the bot only sees commands (not every message). I kept it on, less noise, fewer surprises.

None of this is mandatory, but it did cut down on "wait, what did I call that thing?" moments.

Connect bot to OpenClaw

Token configuration

This part was straightforward. In OpenClaw, there's a place to add your Telegram bot token. Depending on how you're running it, that might be an environment variable, a config file, or a small UI field in a dashboard. I pasted the token from BotFather and saved.

Two small checks helped me avoid a later detour:

• I confirmed OpenClaw had a reachable public URL (Telegram won't deliver webhooks to localhost). If you're developing locally, something like a tunnel works: otherwise deploy OpenClaw behind HTTPS.
• I made sure the system clock on the server was correct. It sounds trivial, but mismatched SSL or time settings can produce very unhelpful errors.

Verify update stream is working

Telegram can deliver updates two ways: webhook (Telegram sends them to a URL you provide) or long polling (your server asks for updates repeatedly). Most production setups use webhooks. I followed Telegram's official setWebhook docs as the source of truth.

What I did, step-by-step:

• Set the webhook to the OpenClaw endpoint (the exact URL pattern came from the OpenClaw docs I was following). If you're not sure which endpoint to use, don't guess, check the docs.
• Sent /start to my bot in Telegram.
• Watched OpenClaw logs. I wanted to see a clean incoming update line, plus a 200-ish response.

My first attempt failed, no updates reached OpenClaw. The cause was simple: I'd mistyped the webhook URL by one character. Once corrected, messages appeared in the logs instantly. Mild relief.

I also tested error handling by sending a random command. Seeing a graceful "Unknown command" from OpenClaw told me the routing was intact.

Command design that scales

Simple command grammar pattern

I know myself: if commands are fuzzy, I'll stop using the bot. I leaned on a small grammar:

• Command verb first
• Optional short flags
• Free text at the end

Examples that felt comfortable:

• /new Note about Thursday plan
• /task buy stamps –p low –d tomorrow
• /summary week

This pattern keeps the first word predictable (helps both users and parsers) while leaving room for human text. If flags feel too nerdy, you can switch to simple keywords like "priority:low." The main thing is consistency.

Example: /new, /task, /summary structure

What I wired up:

• /new: Fast capture. I used it for raw notes that I knew I'd sort later.
• /task: Actionable items with optional priority/date. If I didn't include extras, it defaulted to "normal" and "today." Defaults reduce thinking.
• /summary: Returns a compact digest of what I've added recently. I limited it to the last 10 entries to keep response time and message length reasonable.

A small surprise: /new felt more natural than I expected. It didn't save me time at first, typing is typing, but it did reduce the mental overhead of "where should this go?" That was the quiet win.

If you're wiring bots and tiny automations together, you’ve probably felt how quickly prompts, tokens, and iterations start to scatter. With Macaron, we give you one place to manage your mini-apps, commands, and task flows without losing context. Try it with your next setup →

Help command best practices

A /help that dumps a textbook isn't helpful. I kept it short:

• One line for what the bot is for
• Three or four command examples
• A hint that "/help more" exists for deeper details

Telegram supports command menus and hints, which means users don't have to memorize anything. Registering commands via BotFather made this feel less like a toy and more like a friendly tool.

Command documentation for users

I wrote a tiny README and pinned it in the bot's chat (Telegram lets you pin messages in 1:1 chats too). It included:

• The purpose of each command
• Examples that mirror real life ("/task call dentist –d Friday")
• The one known limitation: group usage requires the bot to be mentioned or for commands to be used with a leading slash

This wasn't for other people. It was for future me, two months from now, wondering why /todo doesn't work (because I named it /task, of course).

Troubleshooting checklist

Bot not responding

• Did you message the bot first? Bots don't initiate chats. Send /start in a direct message.
• Is the webhook set and reachable? Use Telegram's getWebhookInfo to see last error and delivery status.
• SSL/HTTPS valid? Telegram requires a properly configured certificate on your endpoint.
• Logs say anything? If OpenClaw logs are silent when you send a message, the update isn't arriving, check DNS, firewall rules, or the actual webhook URL.

What fixed it for me once: I'd deployed OpenClaw behind a proxy and forgot to allow POSTs to the webhook path. One line in the proxy config, and updates started flowing.

Commands not recognized

• Are you parsing the command name correctly? Telegram sends both the command and any bot username suffix (e.g., /task@your_bot). Strip the suffix before matching.
• Did you register the command in BotFather? Not required, but it helps Telegram render and autocomplete correctly.
• Hidden whitespace is sneakier than it sounds. Trim input.

I also tested a fallback: if no command matched, I replied with a short tip and a link to /help. That prevented silent failures.

Permission errors in groups

• If privacy mode is on, your bot only sees slash commands or mentions. That's normal. Don't expect it to read every message.
• Make sure the bot is actually a member of the group.
• Some actions (pinning, deleting) require admin rights. If a feature silently fails, it might be a permission gap.

My bias: I keep bot usage in 1:1 chats unless there's a strong reason to go group-wide. The noise and permission dance aren't worth it otherwise.

Webhook delivery failures

• Check getWebhookInfo "last_error_message" for specifics. It's surprisingly helpful.
• Verify your server returns 200 quickly. Slow handlers can trigger timeouts. If needed, acknowledge first, process later.
• If you switch from webhook to polling (or vice versa), clear or reset the old config so you don't confuse yourself later.

During my tests in February 2026, one failure was just me redeploying OpenClaw without warming the process. Telegram tried delivering during that gap, logged an error, then recovered on the next attempt. No lasting harm, just a nudge to keep deployments quick.