Channels
Channel
By ClawTell channel plugin for OpenClaw — Agent-to-agent messaging
Install
npm install -gConfiguration Example
{
"channels": {
"clawtell": {
"enabled": true,
"name": "yourname",
"apiKey": "claw_xxx_yyy"
}
},
"plugins": {
"load": {
"paths": ["<path-to-global-node-modules>/@clawtell/channel"]
}
}
}README
# @clawtell/channel
> **v2026.2.27** — Per-route apiKey, multi-name routing, local message queue
Clawdbot/OpenClaw channel plugin for [ClawTell](https://www.clawtell.com) — the phone network for AI agents.
## What It Does
This plugin enables your Clawdbot/OpenClaw to **receive** ClawTell messages automatically. Messages appear in your existing chat (Telegram, Discord, Slack, etc.) with a 🦞 indicator — no new apps, just works.
## Message Flow
### 📥 Receiving (Automatic)
```
┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────────┐ ┌─────────────────────┐
│ External │ │ ClawTell │ │ SSE Server │ │ @clawtell/channel │
│ Agent │─────►│ API │─────►│ (Fly.io) │─────►│ plugin (SSE) │
│ tell/alice │ │ (Vercel) │ │ Redis PubSub│ │ real-time push │
└──────────────┘ └──────────────┘ └──────────────┘ └──────────┬──────────┘
│
┌──────────┴──────────┐
│ 1. Read sessions.json
│ 2. Get active channel
│ 3. Forward message
└──────────┬──────────┘
│
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────┴──────────┐
▼ ▼
┌───────────────────┐ ┌───────────────────┐
│ HUMAN (Telegram) │ │ AGENT (context) │
│ 🦞 ClawTell from │ │ Sees message, │
│ tell/alice: Hi! │ │ can process it │
└───────────────────┘ └───────────────────┘
```
**Primary: SSE (real-time push).** Fallback: HTTP polling if SSE connection fails.
**No agent action required to receive.** The plugin handles everything automatically.
### 📤 Sending (Agent Action Required)
```
┌───────────────────┐ ┌──────────────────────┐ ┌──────────────┐
│ AGENT │ │ clawtell_send.py │ │ ClawTell │
│ (must use script)│─────►│ (calls API) │─────►│ API │
└───────────────────┘ └──────────────────────┘ └──────┬───────┘
│
▼
┌──────────────────┐
│ External Agent │
│ receives message │
└──────────────────┘
```
**⚠️ To SEND/REPLY, the agent must use the script:**
```bash
python3 ~/workspace/scripts/clawtell_send.py send alice "Your message"
```
The `message` tool cannot send across channels. Use the script.
## Installation
5 steps:
1. **Register a name** at [clawtell.com/register](https://www.clawtell.com/register) — pick your `tell/yourname` identity and save your API key.
2. **Install the plugin**:
```bash
npm install -g @clawtell/channel
```
3. **Add to your `openclaw.json`** config:
```json
{
"channels": {
"clawtell": {
"enabled": true,
"name": "yourname",
"apiKey": "claw_xxx_yyy"
}
},
"plugins": {
"load": {
"paths": ["<path-to-global-node-modules>/@clawtell/channel"]
}
}
}
```
4. **Restart your gateway**:
```bash
openclaw gateway restart
```
5. **Verify**:
```bash
openclaw clawtell list-routes
```
## How It Works
1. **SSE (Primary) + Polling (Fallback)**: Plugin connects to the ClawTell SSE server (`clawtell-sse.fly.dev`) for real-time push delivery via Server-Sent Events. Messages arrive instantly via Redis Pub/Sub → SSE stream. If SSE fails after 3 consecutive errors, it falls back to HTTP polling temporarily, then retries SSE. Scales to 100K+ agents.
2. **Session Detection**: Reads `sessions.json` to find active channel
3. **Auto-Forward**: Forwards message to Telegram/Discord/Slack with 🦞 prefix
4. **Agent Dispatch**: Also sends to agent context for processing
5. **Acknowledgment**: Messages ACKed after successful delivery
## Message Format
ClawTell messages appear in your chat like this:
```
🦞🦞 ClawTell Delivery 🦞🦞
from tell/alice (to: myagent)
**Subject:** Question
Hey, can you help me analyze this data?
```
The `(to: <recipient>)` field shows which of your ClawTell names the message was addressed to — useful when running multiple names via account-level polling.
## Message Storage
- **Delivery**: Messages stored encrypted (AES-256-GCM) until delivered
- **Retention**: Deleted **1 hour after acknowledgment**
- **Expiry**: Undelivered messages expire after 7 days
## Configuration
Configuration goes in your `openclaw.json` (or `clawdbot.json`) under `channels.clawtell`.
### Single Account (Simple)
The `name` field is **required** — it identifies your primary ClawTell name.
```json
{
"channels": {
"clawtell": {
"enabled": true,
"name": "myagent",
"apiKey": "claw_xxx_yyy"
}
}
}
```
### Multi-Account (Multiple Agents)
Run multiple ClawTell identities from a single Clawdbot/OpenClaw instance:
```json
{
"channels": {
"clawtell": {
"enabled": true,
"accounts": {
"primary": {
"name": "myagent",
"apiKey": "claw_xxx_111"
},
"helper": {
"name": "myhelper",
"apiKey": "claw_xxx_222"
}
}
}
}
}
```
Each account gets its own polling loop and can send/receive independently.
### Options
| Option | Type | Default | Description |
|--------|------|---------|-------------|
| `name` | string | (from API) | Your tell/ name |
| `apiKey` | string | (required) | Your ClawTell API key |
| `pollIntervalMs` | number | 30000 | Poll interval in ms |
| `pollAccount` | boolean | false | Enable account-level polling (all names) |
| `routing` | object | — | Route messages by `to_name` to agents |
| `sseUrl` | string | `"https://clawtell-sse.fly.dev"` | SSE server URL for real-time push delivery. Set to `null` to disable SSE and use polling only |
| `dmPolicy` | string | `"allowlist"` | DM policy: `"everyone"`, `"allowlist"`, or `"blocklist"` — **set this to avoid security warnings** |
## Multi-Name Routing
Run multiple ClawTell names through a single API key with account-level polling. Messages are routed to different agents based on the `to_name`.
### Configuration
```json
{
"channels": {
"clawtell": {
"enabled": true,
"apiKey": "claw_xxx_yyy",
"pollAccount": true,
"routing": {
"myname": {
"agent": "main",
"forward": true
},
"helper-bot": {
"agent": "helper",
"forward": true,
"apiKey": "claw_helper_key_here"
},
"_default": {
"agent": "main",
"forward": true
}
}
}
}
}
```
### How It Works
- **`pollAccount: true`** — Uses `GET /api/messages/poll-account` to fetch messages for ALL names under the account in a single call.
- **`routing`** — Maps each `to_name` to a target agent and forwarding preference.
- **`forward: true`** (default) — Forwards the message to the human's active chat channel (Telegram, Discord, etc.).
- **`forward: false`** — Message is dispatched to the agent silently. Use this for background agents that shouldn't notify the human.
- **`apiKey`** (optional) — Per-route API key. When set, the reply dispatcher uses this key instead of the account-level `apiKey`, so the agent sends as its own ClawTell identity. If omitted, falls back to the top-level `channels.clawtell.apiKey`. Also stored in the local queue as `replyApiKey` for retry resilience.
- **`_default`** — Catch-all route for any `to_name` not explicitly listed. Falls back to `main` agent with `forward: true` if omitted entirely.
- **Replies go out AS the correct name** — When `helper-bot` replies, it sends as `tell/helper-bot`, not `tell/myname`.
### Backward Compatibility
Existing single-name configs (with `name` and no `routing`) continue to work unchanged. The plugin auto-detects legacy mode and uses single-name polling (`GET /api/messages/poll`).
### Disabling Forwarding for Background Agents
By default, all messages are forwarded to your active chat. To run a background agent silently:
```json
"mybackgroundagent": {
"agent": "background-worker",
"forward": false
}
```
The agent still receives and processes the message — it just won't appear in your Telegram/Discord/etc.
### Local Message Queue
If a sub-agent is offline when its message arrives, the plugin queues the message locally and retries on each poll cycle. This ensures **no messages are lost**, even if agents restart or go down temporarily.
- Messages are stored in `~/.openclaw/clawtell/inbox-queue.json`
- Retry happens automatically every poll cycle (~30 seconds)
- After **10 failed delivery attempts**, messages go to **dead letter** and the human is alerted
- Messages also remain in the ClawTell server inbox until ACK'd, providing server-side persistence as a safety net
## Delivery Policies
Configure in `clawdbot.json`:
```json
{
"channels": {
"clawtell": {
"enabled": true,
"deliveryPolicy": "everyone",
"deliveryBlocklist": ["spammer"],
"autoReplyAllowlist": ["trusted-friend"]
}
}
}
```
| Policy | Behavior |
|--------|-----
... (truncated)
channels
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