Discord, Slack, and other channels

Telegram and WhatsApp cover the personal messaging use cases. This lesson covers the channels you'd reach for when the context is a community server, a work team, or a more specialised platform.

Discord

Discord connects via the official Discord Gateway WebSocket, using @buape/carbon under the hood. Your bot lives in one or more servers (guilds) and can respond in channels or DMs.

Step 1: Create a bot in the Developer Portal

1. Go to discord.com/developers/applications → New Application
2. Click Bot in the sidebar → Reset Token (despite the name, this creates your first token)
3. Under Privileged Gateway Intents, enable:
   • Message Content Intent (required — without this the bot can't read messages)
   • Server Members Intent (recommended — needed for user/role allowlists)
4. Copy the bot token. This is your channels.discord.token.

Step 2: Set the token (do not send it in chat)

openclaw config set channels.discord.token '"YOUR_BOT_TOKEN"' --json
openclaw config set channels.discord.enabled true --json

Or in openclaw.json directly:

{
  channels: {
    discord: {
      enabled: true,
      token: "MTIzNDU2Nzg5...",
      dmPolicy: "pairing"
    }
  }
}

Step 3: Generate an invite URL and add the bot

In the Developer Portal → OAuth2 → OAuth2 URL Generator:

• Scopes: bot, applications.commands
• Bot permissions: View Channels, Send Messages, Read Message History, Embed Links, Attach Files

Paste the generated URL in your browser and add the bot to your server.

Step 4: Enable Developer Mode and collect IDs

Discord Developer Mode → right-click your server icon → Copy Server ID → right-click your own avatar → Copy User ID.

Guild allowlists

By default, the bot won't respond in any server channels until you configure a guild allowlist:

{
  channels: {
    discord: {
      token: "...",
      groupPolicy: "allowlist",
      guilds: {
        "YOUR_SERVER_ID": {
          requireMention: true,           // only respond when @mentioned
          users: ["YOUR_USER_ID"],        // only these users can trigger it
          channels: {
            "general": { allow: true },   // only listed channels allowed
            "bot-commands": { allow: true, requireMention: false }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

If this is your own private server and it's just you and the bot, set requireMention: false and leave users empty. The bot will respond to everything in the allowlisted channels.

requireMention

With requireMention: true (the default), the bot only responds when:

• Someone @mentions it explicitly (@YourBot)
• A configured mentionPattern regex matches
• Someone replies to a bot message

For personal Discord servers, requireMention: false is usually what you want.

Pairing Discord DMs

DM your bot in Discord — it sends a pairing code. Approve it:

openclaw pairing list discord
openclaw pairing approve discord <CODE>

Slack

Slack connects via the Bolt SDK. The default mode is Socket Mode — a persistent WebSocket from your Gateway to Slack's servers, no public URL required.

Step 1: Create a Slack app

Go to api.slack.com/apps → Create New App → From scratch.

In your app settings:

1. Enable Socket Mode → generate an App Token (xapp-...) with connections:write
2. Install the app → copy the Bot Token (xoxb-...)
3. Subscribe to bot events: app_mention, message.channels, message.groups, message.im, message.mpim
4. Enable App Home → Messages Tab

Step 2: Configure OpenClaw

{
  channels: {
    slack: {
      enabled: true,
      mode: "socket",
      appToken: "xapp-1-...",
      botToken: "xoxb-..."
    }
  }
}

Socket Mode vs HTTP Events API

HTTP mode config:

{
  channels: {
    slack: {
      mode: "http",
      botToken: "xoxb-...",
      signingSecret: "your-signing-secret",
      webhookPath: "/slack/events"
    }
  }
}

Channel routing in Slack

Slack channels are allowlist-controlled:

{
  channels: {
    slack: {
      groupPolicy: "allowlist",
      channels: {
        "general": {
          requireMention: false,
          users: ["U0123456789"]
        },
        "C0987654321": {   // channel ID is more reliable than name
          requireMention: true
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Prefer IDs over names. Channel names can change; IDs never do. Find them with openclaw channels status --probe or in the Slack app's channel URL.

Other channels

OpenClaw connects to a wider ecosystem than just the big four. Here's a practical rundown:

Signal

Signal is end-to-end encrypted messaging via signal-cli (a Java-based CLI daemon).

Setup is involved — it requires Java, signal-cli installed, and a phone number registered with Signal. Worth it if you prioritise privacy.

{
  channels: {
    signal: {
      enabled: true,
      account: "+15551234567",
      cliPath: "signal-cli",
      dmPolicy: "pairing",
      allowFrom: ["+15557654321"]
    }
  }
}

iMessage (via BlueBubbles)

iMessage integration via the BlueBubbles macOS helper app. Requires macOS, BlueBubbles server running, and webhooks configured.

Useful if you're a macOS user who wants iMessage routing through your agent. Group iMessage chats, tapbacks, read receipts, and reactions all work.

{
  channels: {
    bluebubbles: {
      enabled: true,
      serverUrl: "http://localhost:1234",
      password: "your-bluebubbles-password",
      webhookPath: "/bluebubbles-webhook"
    }
  }
}

macOS 26 Tahoe note: Message editing is currently broken on Tahoe. Everything else works normally.

Matrix (plugin)

A decentralised, federated messaging protocol. OpenClaw connects as a Matrix user via @vector-im/matrix-bot-sdk. Supports DMs, rooms, threads, media, reactions, and E2EE.

openclaw plugins install @openclaw/matrix

Good for self-hosted chat infrastructure, privacy-focused teams, or Beeper users.

IRC (plugin)

Classic IRC protocol. OpenClaw connects as a bot to channels and can receive DMs. Low setup complexity if you already run an IRC server.

openclaw plugins install @openclaw/irc

{
  channels: {
    irc: {
      enabled: true,
      host: "irc.libera.chat",
      port: 6697,
      tls: true,
      nick: "openclaw-bot",
      channels: ["#myroom"]
    }
  }
}

Google Chat

Google Workspace chat via a Service Account and HTTP webhook. Requires a Google Cloud project, Service Account, Chat API enablement, and a public webhook URL. Good for teams already running Google Workspace who want an AI assistant in their Spaces.

Microsoft Teams (plugin)

Teams via the Bot Framework. Requires Azure AD app registration, Bot Framework setup, and tunnelling or a public endpoint. Use this when you're in an enterprise environment and have no other choice.

openclaw plugins install @openclaw/msteams

When to use which channel

SELF --> TG_FAST[Speed matters → Telegram]
SELF --> APPLE[macOS + iPhone → iMessage / BlueBubbles]
SELF --> PRIV[Privacy-first → Signal]

OTHERS --> WA_POPULAR[They're on WhatsApp → WhatsApp]
OTHERS --> DC_COMMUNITY[Server/community → Discord]
OTHERS --> TG_OTHERS[Tech-savvy users → Telegram]

WORK --> SLACK_WORK[Company uses Slack → Slack]
WORK --> TEAMS_WORK[Company uses Teams → MS Teams]
WORK --> GCHAT[Google Workspace → Google Chat]

Start with one. Pick the channel you already use most. Get that working first, then add others. Every additional channel runs in parallel with zero performance penalty — but troubleshooting two new channels simultaneously is frustrating.

Exercises

1. If you have a Discord server, create a bot and add it. Configure a guild allowlist with requireMention: false for your private server.

2. Run openclaw channels status — which channels are currently connected? Which are configured but not connected?

3. Think through it: You want to build a personal assistant that responds in your work Slack AND your personal Telegram. What would the channels config look like? Sketch it out. (You'll implement it in Module 7.)

4. Research: Look at the channel index at /channels in the OpenClaw docs. Pick one channel not covered in this lesson. What would you need to set it up?

Module 3 summary

You now understand:

• A channel is a messaging surface plugin that owns the connect/receive/route/respond lifecycle
• Session keys are deterministic: agent:<agentId>:<channel>:<type>:<id>
• Telegram is the fastest path; WhatsApp requires QR linking but reaches more people
• Discord and Slack both have allowlist-based guild/channel controls
• Plugin channels (Matrix, IRC, MS Teams, etc.) are first-class but require separate install
• Routing is always deterministic — replies go back to the channel they came from