Connecting your AI agent to Telegram lets customers reach it through private messages or group chats. You create a bot through Telegram's BotFather, copy a token, and enter it in your agent's Telegram setup.
Note
Channels are connected inside your agent. On OpenClaw, open your agent and go to Settings > Channels, where each channel has a guided setup. On Hermes Agent, press Open my Hermes dashboard on your server page and connect your channels there. On OpenClaw servers, your OneClickClaw dashboard shows each channel's status.
Step-by-step setup
Open Telegram and search for @BotFather
Open the Telegram app on your phone or desktop. In the search bar, type @BotFather and open a conversation with it. Look for the blue checkmark next to the name to confirm you are talking to the official BotFather.
Send the /newbot command
Type /newbot and send it. BotFather asks you to choose a display name for your bot. This is the name your customers see when they chat with it (for example, "Acme Support").
Choose a name and username for your bot
After you pick a display name, BotFather asks for a username. The username must end with the word "bot" (for example, AcmeSupportBot or acme_support_bot). This username is unique across all of Telegram, so you may need to try a few options.
Tip
Your bot username must end with "bot". For example: MyCompanyBot or support_bot.
Copy the bot token
Once BotFather accepts your username, it replies with an HTTP API token. The token looks like 123456789:ABCDefGhIJKlmNOpQrSTUvWxYz. Copy this token and keep it safe. Anyone who has this token can control your bot.
Open your agent's channel settings
On OpenClaw: on your server page, click Add a channel in OpenClaw (or Manage channels in OpenClaw once you have one), or open your agent and go to Settings > Channels. Choose Telegram. On Hermes Agent: press Open my Hermes dashboard and open its channel settings.
Enter the token in the guided setup
Follow the guided setup and enter your bot token when it asks for it. Your agent checks the token and saves it on your server. On an OpenClaw server, your OneClickClaw dashboard shows the channel as Connected once it is live.
1. BotFather in Telegram
2. Inside your agent
3. OneClickClaw dashboard
Test by sending a message to your bot
Open Telegram and find your bot by searching for its username. Send a message like "Hello, are you there?". On OpenClaw, a new chat first gets a one-time pairing code, and the agent stays silent until you approve that code inside your agent. This stops a stranger who guesses your bot's username from talking to your agent. Once the code is approved, send a normal question. If you see an answer, the integration is working.
Test the connection
After setup, your bot handles both private messages and group chats. To add the bot to a group, open the group settings, add a member, and search for your bot's username.
Note
By default, Telegram's privacy mode lets a bot in a group see commands only. To let it read every message, send /setprivacy to BotFather and set it to Disable. Only do this in groups whose membership you control, since the agent then sees everything posted there.
For information on viewing channel status and connecting additional platforms, see Managing Channels.