Create and connect your bot

In Telegram, open the verified @BotFather account, send /newbot, and follow the naming prompts. Keep the resulting token private; it controls your bot. Telegram setup reference.

Open the guided channel setup in your terminal:

openclaw channels add telegram

Provide the token when requested, choose the agent that should receive messages, and keep the direct-message policy set to pairing. Use the interactive setup rather than pasting the token into a chat. Channel wizard reference.

Reload an installed Gateway service:

openclaw gateway restart

If you run in the foreground, stop that process with Ctrl+C and run openclaw gateway again.

Approve your own account

Open your new bot in Telegram and send “Hello”. With pairing enabled, an unapproved account receives an access request instead of a normal agent conversation.

Open the dashboard with openclaw dashboard. In Settings → Channels → DM access requests, compare the sender identity with your account before approving it. On a fresh personal setup, select the option to make yourself the first command owner if it is offered.

This approval permits direct messages. Group access is separate; leave groups out of this first test. Pairing and owner access.

Verify the complete round trip

Send: “Reply with: Telegram is connected.” You should receive a new agent reply inside Telegram. A saved token or a running process alone does not prove that messages can complete the journey.

If there is no reply, check the live channel:

openclaw channels status --probe

Keep tokens and unrelated conversation details out of screenshots or support reports.