> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://e2b.manicule.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
> For every page in one file, fetch https://e2b.manicule.dev/llms-full.txt (large).
> To search and read these docs as tools, connect the MCP server at https://e2b.manicule.dev/api/mcp.
> Every agent surface: https://e2b.manicule.dev/.well-known/llms-manifest.json

# OpenClaw Telegram (/docs/agents/openclaw/openclaw-telegram)

<!-- agent-signals: reading_time_min: 4 · est_tokens: 1584 · updated: 2026-07-30 -->
Related: [Deploy OpenClaw](/docs/agents/openclaw/openclaw-gateway.md), [OpenCode](/docs/agents/opencode.md)

> Connect OpenClaw to Telegram in an E2B sandbox, approve pairing, and chat through your bot.

OpenClaw supports Telegram as a chat channel. In E2B you can run OpenClaw in a sandbox, attach your bot token, and approve user pairing from the terminal.

This guide covers the working flow we used:

1. Start OpenClaw in a sandbox.
2. Enable the Telegram plugin.
3. Add Telegram channel credentials.
4. Start the channel runtime in background.
5. Approve Telegram pairing.

## Prerequisites

* A Telegram bot token from [@BotFather](https://t.me/BotFather). There's instructions to follow there, it runs /newbot for you and walks you through naming and creating your bot.
* An OpenAI API key for the OpenClaw model.
* E2B API key configured locally.

## Quick start

<CodeGroup>
```typescript title="JavaScript & TypeScript"
import { Sandbox } from 'e2b'

const GATEWAY_PORT = 18789
const GATEWAY_TOKEN = process.env.OPENCLAW_APP_TOKEN || 'my-openclaw-token'

const sandbox = await Sandbox.create('openclaw', {
  envs: {
    OPENAI_API_KEY: process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY,
    TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN: process.env.TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN,
  },
  timeoutMs: 3600_000,
})

await sandbox.commands.run('openclaw config set agents.defaults.model.primary openai/gpt-5.2')

// Enable the Telegram plugin (required before adding the channel)
await sandbox.commands.run('openclaw config set plugins.entries.telegram.enabled true')
await sandbox.commands.run('openclaw channels add --channel telegram --token "$TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN"')

await sandbox.commands.run(
  `bash -lc 'openclaw config set gateway.controlUi.allowInsecureAuth true && ` +
    `openclaw config set gateway.controlUi.dangerouslyDisableDeviceAuth true && ` +
    `openclaw gateway --allow-unconfigured --bind lan --auth token --token ${GATEWAY_TOKEN} --port ${GATEWAY_PORT}'`,
  { background: true }
)

for (let i = 0; i < 45; i++) {
  const probe = await sandbox.commands.run(
    `bash -lc 'ss -ltn | grep -q ":${GATEWAY_PORT} " && echo ready || echo waiting'`
  )
  if (probe.stdout.trim() === 'ready') break
  await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 1000))
}
```

```python title="Python"
import os
import time
from e2b import Sandbox

GATEWAY_PORT = 18789
GATEWAY_TOKEN = os.environ.get("OPENCLAW_APP_TOKEN", "my-openclaw-token")

sandbox = Sandbox.create("openclaw", envs={
    "OPENAI_API_KEY": os.environ["OPENAI_API_KEY"],
    "TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN": os.environ["TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN"],
}, timeout=3600)

sandbox.commands.run("openclaw config set agents.defaults.model.primary openai/gpt-5.2")

# Enable the Telegram plugin (required before adding the channel)
sandbox.commands.run("openclaw config set plugins.entries.telegram.enabled true")
sandbox.commands.run('openclaw channels add --channel telegram --token "$TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN"')

sandbox.commands.run(
    f"bash -lc 'openclaw config set gateway.controlUi.allowInsecureAuth true && "
    f"openclaw config set gateway.controlUi.dangerouslyDisableDeviceAuth true && "
    f"openclaw gateway --allow-unconfigured --bind lan --auth token --token {GATEWAY_TOKEN} --port {GATEWAY_PORT}'",
    background=True,
)

for _ in range(45):
    probe = sandbox.commands.run(
        f"bash -lc 'ss -ltn | grep -q \":{GATEWAY_PORT} \" && echo ready || echo waiting'"
    )
    if probe.stdout.strip() == "ready":
        break
    time.sleep(1)
```
</CodeGroup>

<Info>For Telegram setup, you do **not** need to open the gateway URL in a browser. The gateway process is used here as a long-running channel runtime.</Info>

## Pair your Telegram user

1. Open your bot in Telegram and send a message (for example: `hi`).
2. Telegram will return a pairing prompt similar to:

```text
OpenClaw: access not configured.

Your Telegram user id: ...
Pairing code: XXXXXXXX

Ask the bot owner to approve with:
openclaw pairing approve telegram XXXXXXXX
```

3. Approve that pairing code via `sandbox.commands.run(...)`:

<CodeGroup>
```typescript title="JavaScript & TypeScript"
const PAIRING_CODE = 'XXXXXXXX' // from Telegram

await sandbox.commands.run(
  `openclaw pairing approve --channel telegram ${PAIRING_CODE}`
)
```

```python title="Python"
PAIRING_CODE = "XXXXXXXX"  # from Telegram

sandbox.commands.run(
    f"openclaw pairing approve --channel telegram {PAIRING_CODE}"
)
```
</CodeGroup>

`openclaw pairing approve telegram <PAIRING_CODE>` also works if you prefer that form.

## Verify channel status

<CodeGroup>
```typescript title="JavaScript & TypeScript"
const channels = await sandbox.commands.run('openclaw channels list --json')
const status = await sandbox.commands.run('openclaw channels status --json --probe')
const pairing = await sandbox.commands.run('openclaw pairing list --json --channel telegram')

console.log(JSON.parse(channels.stdout))
console.log(JSON.parse(status.stdout))
console.log(JSON.parse(pairing.stdout))
```

```python title="Python"
import json

channels = sandbox.commands.run("openclaw channels list --json")
status = sandbox.commands.run("openclaw channels status --json --probe")
pairing = sandbox.commands.run("openclaw pairing list --json --channel telegram")

print(json.loads(channels.stdout))
print(json.loads(status.stdout))
print(json.loads(pairing.stdout))
```
</CodeGroup>

If you need logs from channel handlers:

<CodeGroup>
```typescript title="JavaScript & TypeScript"
const logs = await sandbox.commands.run(
  'openclaw channels logs --channel telegram --lines 200'
)
console.log(logs.stdout)
```

```python title="Python"
logs = sandbox.commands.run(
    "openclaw channels logs --channel telegram --lines 200"
)
print(logs.stdout)
```
</CodeGroup>

## Troubleshooting

* `Unknown channel: telegram`
  * The Telegram plugin is not enabled. Run `openclaw config set plugins.entries.telegram.enabled true` before adding the channel.
* `OpenClaw: access not configured`
  * Pairing has not been approved yet. Run `openclaw pairing approve ...`.
* `No API key found for provider ...`
  * This guide uses `openai/gpt-5.2`. Set `OPENAI_API_KEY` in sandbox envs.
* No pending pairing requests from `pairing list`
  * Send a fresh message to the bot first, then retry `pairing list --channel telegram`.

## Related

<CardGroup cols="1">
<Card title="OpenClaw gateway" icon="globe" href="/docs/agents/openclaw/openclaw-gateway">Run OpenClaw's web gateway with token auth</Card>
</CardGroup>