OpenClaw Codex

Recipe

Multi-Channel Routing

Run a single OpenClaw gateway and connect it to Telegram, Discord, Slack, and WhatsApp simultaneously. You can either share context across channels or isolate agents per platform.

Prerequisites

  • A running OpenClaw gateway (see VPS Deploy Recipe)
  • Relevant Bot tokens for the platforms you want to connect (e.g., Discord Bot Token, Telegram Bot API Token)

How OpenClaw Routing Works

OpenClaw uses an AGENTS.md file or a standard JSON config to define how incoming messages from channels are handled. Every incoming message has a source (e.g., telegram, discord) and a context_id (usually the chat ID or user ID).

Step 1 — Configure API Tokens

Add the tokens for your desired platforms to your secrets.env.

bash ~/.config/openclaw/secrets.env 
# Telegram
TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=123456789:ABCdefGHIjklMNOpqrSTUvwxYZ

# Discord
DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN=MTA... (your long token)

# Slack
SLACK_BOT_TOKEN=xoxb-your-slack-token
SLACK_SIGNING_SECRET=your-slack-signing-secret

Step 2 — Define the Routing Config

Create or edit the openclaw.json file in your config directory. Here's a multi-channel example that maps different platforms to specific agent configurations.

json ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json 
{
  "channels": {
    "telegram": {
      "enabled": true,
      "mode": "polling"
    },
    "discord": {
      "enabled": true,
      "mode": "websocket"
    },
    "slack": {
      "enabled": true,
      "mode": "socket_mode"
    }
  },
  "routes": [
    {
      "source": "telegram",
      "agent": "personal_assistant"
    },
    {
      "source": "discord",
      "agent": "community_mod"
    },
    {
      "source": "slack",
      "agent": "devops_bot"
    }
  ]
}

Step 3 — Creating Specialized Agents (Optional)

In the routing configuration above, we referenced three different agents. You can define these agents in your AGENTS.md or separate identity files (like SOUL.md).

markdown ~/.openclaw/AGENTS.md 
# personal_assistant
You are my personal assistant on Telegram. Keep responses short and casual.

# community_mod
You are the moderator for our Discord server. Issue warnings to rule-breakers.

# devops_bot
You are a DevOps assistant on Slack. You have permission to read server logs.

Step 4 — Shared Memory Across Channels (Advanced)

If you want the same agent to remember you regardless of whether you message it on Telegram or Discord, you can consolidate the context_id.

Currently, OpenClaw isolates sessions based on provider_id + chat_id. To unify them, you would map both your Telegram User ID and Discord User ID to a single identity in your configuration, though this requires a custom plugin or writing a routing script depending on your OpenClaw version.

Step 5 — Apply Changes

Restart your OpenClaw gateway to apply the new tokens and routing rules.

bash 
systemctl --user restart openclaw-gateway
journalctl --user -u openclaw-gateway -f

Check the logs to ensure the gateway successfully connects to Discord (via WebSocket) and Telegram (via polling).

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