Chapter 6: Channels Overview

A channel in OpenClaw is any messaging platform connected to your gateway. OpenClaw's power comes from its channel breadth — instead of building separate integrations for each platform, you configure them all in one place and your AI agents become available everywhere your team already communicates.

This chapter maps out every channel OpenClaw supports, what each one requires to set up, and how to choose the right ones for your use case.

The Full Channel List

OpenClaw supports the following channels out of the box:

Channel	Platform	Protocol / API Used
WhatsApp	Meta	WhatsApp Business API or Baileys (unofficial)
iMessage	Apple	macOS node with imessage-rest
Telegram	Telegram	Telegram Bot API
Signal	Signal	signal-cli
Slack	Salesforce	Slack Events API + Web API
Discord	Discord	Discord.js bot
Microsoft Teams	Microsoft	Azure Bot Framework
Google Chat	Google	Google Chat API
Matrix / Element	Matrix.org	matrix-js-sdk
SMS	Various	Twilio or similar SMS gateway
Email	Any SMTP	IMAP/SMTP polling
Web Widget	Browser	Built-in HTTP widget

Choosing Your Channels

Not every use case needs every channel. Here is a practical guide:

For a solo developer

Start with Telegram — it is the easiest to set up (no business account needed), works on all devices, and has excellent bot support.

For a small team

Add Slack to Telegram. Most development teams are already on Slack, so adding OpenClaw there means zero change to existing workflows.

For client-facing AI

Use WhatsApp — it has the highest global install base and your clients likely already have it. Requires a WhatsApp Business account for production use.

For Apple-heavy teams on macOS

Enable iMessage — requires a Mac running the gateway, but allows seamless AI access through the native Messages app on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

For privacy-focused teams

Use Signal — end-to-end encrypted and open source. Requires running signal-cli on the gateway server.

How Channels Connect to the Gateway

Every channel integration follows the same pattern:

Platform API ←→ OpenClaw Channel Adapter ←→ Gateway Core

Each channel adapter:

Authenticates with the platform (API key, OAuth token, bot token)
Registers a webhook or maintains a persistent connection
Receives messages and converts them to the OpenClaw message format
Sends responses back using the platform's send API

Channel Configuration Structure

All channels are configured under the channels key in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json:

{
  "channels": {
    "telegram": {
      "enabled": true,
      "token": "${TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN}"
    },
    "slack": {
      "enabled": true,
      "botToken": "${SLACK_BOT_TOKEN}",
      "signingSecret": "${SLACK_SIGNING_SECRET}",
      "appToken": "${SLACK_APP_TOKEN}"
    },
    "whatsapp": {
      "enabled": false
    }
  }
}

Only enabled channels are started when you run openclaw start. Disabled channels consume no resources.

Channel Comparison Table

Channel	Setup Difficulty	Requires Business Account	Works on Mobile	End-to-End Encrypted
Telegram	Easy	No	Yes	Optional (Secret Chats)
Slack	Easy	No (free tier)	Yes	No (Slack encrypts at rest)
Discord	Easy	No	Yes	No
WhatsApp (Business)	Medium	Yes	Yes	Yes
Signal	Medium	No	Yes	Yes
iMessage	Hard	No (needs Apple ID)	macOS/iOS only	Yes
MS Teams	Hard	Yes (Azure)	Yes	No
Google Chat	Medium	Yes (Google Workspace)	Yes	No
Matrix	Medium	No	Yes	Optional (E2EE rooms)

Multi-Channel Usage

OpenClaw supports receiving messages from multiple channels simultaneously. A user on WhatsApp and a different user on Telegram can both talk to the same workspace at the same time. The gateway keeps their sessions separate.

You can even route the same user across multiple channels — their session context is tied to their workspace and user ID combination, not to a specific channel. This means a user who starts a conversation on Telegram and then switches to Slack can optionally share context (via the /compact or export features).

Webhook vs. Polling

Channels connect to the gateway using one of two mechanisms:

Webhook (preferred)

The platform sends an HTTP POST to your gateway when a message arrives. This is real-time, efficient, and the standard for Telegram, Slack, Discord, WhatsApp Business, and Google Chat.

Requirement: Your gateway must be reachable from the internet. Either:

Run on a cloud server with a public IP
Use a tunneling service like ngrok or Cloudflare Tunnel during development

openclaw tunnel start    # starts a Cloudflare Tunnel automatically

Polling (for local / restricted environments)

Some channels (iMessage, Signal, email) use polling — the gateway checks for new messages on a timer. This works behind NAT/firewalls but introduces a small delay (typically 2–5 seconds).

Channel-Specific Features

Some channels support features others do not:

Feature	Telegram	Slack	Discord	WhatsApp
Inline buttons	Yes	Yes	Yes	Limited
File attachments	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Thread replies	No	Yes	Yes	No
Voice messages	Yes	No	No	Yes
Image generation display	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Code formatting	Yes	Yes	Yes	No (plain text)

OpenClaw adapts its responses to each channel's capabilities. If a channel does not support markdown, the agent strips formatting automatically.

Adding a New Channel at Runtime

You can enable a channel without restarting the full gateway:

openclaw channel enable telegram
openclaw channel disable slack
openclaw channel status

Individual channel restarts:

openclaw channel restart telegram

Channel Status in Logs

Each channel logs its own connection status:

[telegram] Connected. Listening for messages...
[slack]    Connected via Socket Mode.
[whatsapp] Disabled. Skipping.
[signal]   Reconnecting... (attempt 3)

If a channel disconnects, the gateway attempts automatic reconnection with exponential backoff. Your other channels stay online during the reconnection attempt.

Quick Reference: Setup Chapters

Channel	Deep-Dive Chapter
WhatsApp & iMessage	Chapter 7
Telegram & Signal	Chapter 8
Slack & Discord	Chapter 9
Microsoft Teams & Google Chat	Chapter 10

Next: Chapter 7 — WhatsApp & iMessage Setup — Step-by-step configuration for the two most popular mobile channels.