Messaging Channels Overview - Supported Platforms

What You'll Learn

After completing this course, you will be able to:

• Understand all messaging channels supported by OpenClaw
• Select the appropriate communication platform based on your needs
• Understand the features and limitations of each channel
• Plan multi-channel deployment strategies

Core Concept

OpenClaw is a multi-channel AI gateway that supports integration with various communication platforms. You can connect multiple channels simultaneously, allowing your AI assistant to respond to messages across different platforms.

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                   OpenClaw Multi-Channel Architecture        │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                              │
│    ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────┐   │
│    │ WhatsApp │  │ Telegram │  │ Discord  │  │  Slack   │   │
│    └────┬─────┘  └────┬─────┘  └────┬─────┘  └────┬─────┘   │
│         │             │             │             │         │
│    ┌────┴─────┐  ┌────┴─────┐  ┌────┴─────┐  ┌────┴─────┐   │
│    │  Signal  │  │BlueBubble│  │MSTeams   │  │  Matrix  │   │
│    └────┬─────┘  └────┬─────┘  └────┬─────┘  └────┬─────┘   │
│         │             │             │             │         │
│         └─────────────┴─────────────┴─────────────┘         │
│                           │                                  │
│                           ▼                                  │
│              ┌────────────────────────┐                     │
│              │    Gateway Service     │                     │
│              │  Unified Message Routing│                     │
│              └───────────┬────────────┘                     │
│                          │                                  │
│                          ▼                                  │
│              ┌────────────────────────┐                     │
│              │    AI Agent (Pi)       │                     │
│              │ Message Processing &   │                     │
│              │ Response Generation    │                     │
│              └────────────────────────┘                     │
│                                                              │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Supported Channels

Core Channels (Built-in)

OpenClaw includes built-in support for the following core channels:

Channel	Technical Solution	Features	Use Cases
WhatsApp	Baileys	End-to-end encryption, global reach	Personal assistant, customer support
Telegram	grammY	Rich Bot API, powerful group features	Community management, team collaboration
Discord	discord.js	Gaming communities, voice channels	Gaming communities, developer groups
Slack	Bolt	Enterprise integrations, workflows	Internal teams, project collaboration
Signal	libsignal	High privacy, open source	Privacy-sensitive scenarios
iMessage	Native API	Apple ecosystem	macOS users

Extended Channels (Plugins)

Additional channels supported through extension plugins:

Channel	Extension Path	Status	Notes
BlueBubbles	extensions/bluebubbles/	✅ Stable	Enhanced iMessage solution
MS Teams	extensions/msteams/	✅ Stable	Microsoft Teams integration
Matrix	extensions/matrix/	✅ Stable	Decentralized messaging
Zalo	extensions/zalo/	✅ Stable	Popular in Vietnam
IRC	src/irc/	✅ Built-in	Classic chat protocol
Google Chat	src/googlechat/	✅ Built-in	Google Workspace

Hands-On Guide

Step 1: View Installed Channels

Why
To understand which channels are currently supported by your system.

# List all available channels
openclaw channels list

# Check channel status
openclaw channels status

# Check specific channel status
openclaw channels status whatsapp

Expected Output
A list of installed and available channels:

┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Available Channels                 │
├─────────────────────────────────────┤
│  ✅ whatsapp    - Ready             │
│  ✅ telegram    - Ready             │
│  ✅ discord     - Ready             │
│  ✅ slack       - Ready             │
│  ✅ signal      - Ready             │
│  🔧 bluebubbles - Extension         │
│  🔧 msteams     - Extension         │
└─────────────────────────────────────┘

Step 2: Understand Channel Configuration Structure

Why
Each channel has specific configuration requirements.

View the channel configuration type definition (src/config/types.channels.ts):

type ChannelsConfig = {
  defaults?: ChannelDefaultsConfig;
  whatsapp?: WhatsAppConfig;
  telegram?: TelegramConfig;
  discord?: DiscordConfig;
  irc?: IrcConfig;
  googlechat?: GoogleChatConfig;
  slack?: SlackConfig;
  signal?: SignalConfig;
  imessage?: IMessageConfig;
  msteams?: MSTeamsConfig;
  [key: string]: any;  // Extended channels
};

type ChannelDefaultsConfig = {
  groupPolicy?: GroupPolicy;
  heartbeat?: ChannelHeartbeatVisibilityConfig;
};

Step 3: Configure Default Channel Policies

Why
Default policies affect the basic behavior of all channels.

# Set default group policy
openclaw config set channels.defaults.groupPolicy "owner-only"

# Configure heartbeat visibility
openclaw config set channels.defaults.heartbeat.showOk false
openclaw config set channels.defaults.heartbeat.showAlerts true

Group Policy Options

Policy	Description
owner-only	Only the owner can send commands
admins	Admins and owners can send commands
everyone	All members can send commands
none	Agent disabled in groups

Step 4: Enable/Disable Channels

Why
To enable specific channels based on your requirements.

# Enable WhatsApp
openclaw config set channels.whatsapp.enabled true

# Disable specific channel
openclaw config set channels.discord.enabled false

# View channel configuration
openclaw config get channels

Channel Selection Guide

By Use Case

Scenario	Recommended Channels	Reason
Personal Assistant	WhatsApp / Telegram	Mobile-friendly, message sync
Team Collaboration	Slack / Discord	Channel management, rich integrations
Customer Support	WhatsApp / Telegram	High user adoption
Privacy-First	Signal	End-to-end encryption
Apple Ecosystem	BlueBubbles / iMessage	Native experience
Enterprise	MS Teams / Slack	Enterprise compliance

By Technical Requirements

Requirement	Recommended Channels	Technical Features
Quick Deployment	Telegram	Simple bot registration
Self-Hosted	Signal / Matrix	Open source, self-hostable
File Sharing	Discord / Telegram	Large file support
Voice Interaction	Discord	Native voice channel support

Checkpoint ✅

Verify channel configuration:

# Check all channel statuses
openclaw channels status --probe

# Expected output
whatsapp:   ✅ Connected
telegram:   ✅ Connected
discord:    ⚠️  Not configured
slack:      ✅ Connected

Common Pitfalls

Common Configuration Issues

1. Channel Conflicts
   Problem: Multiple channels respond to the same conversation
   Solution: Configure allowFrom to restrict access for specific channels

2. Duplicate Messages
   Problem: Same message processed multiple times
   Solution: Check deduplication configuration

3. Group Permissions
   Problem: Agent not responding in groups
   Solution: Check groupPolicy settings and permissions

4. Extension Channels Not Loading
   Problem: Extensions installed but not visible
   Solution: Restart the Gateway service

Summary

In this course, you learned:

• ✅ All messaging channels supported by OpenClaw
• ✅ Differences between core and extended channels
• ✅ Channel configuration structure and default policies
• ✅ How to select appropriate channels based on requirements
• ✅ Methods to enable/disable channels

Next Lesson

Next, we will learn WhatsApp Integration.

You will learn:

• Baileys connection configuration
• Pairing process and security settings
• Advanced WhatsApp channel features

---

Appendix: Source Code Reference

Click to expand source code locations

Last updated: 2026-02-14

Feature	File Path	Line Numbers
Channel Config Types	src/config/types.channels.ts	1-55
Channel Plugin Directory	src/channels/plugins/	-
Channel Registry	src/channels/registry.ts	-
Extension Directory	extensions/	-

Supported Channel Types (based on source code):

• WhatsApp: src/whatsapp/
• Telegram: src/telegram/
• Discord: src/discord/
• Slack: src/slack/
• Signal: src/signal/
• iMessage: src/imessage/
• Web: src/channels/web/