picoclaw/docs/channels/telegram

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Telegram

The Telegram channel uses long polling via the Telegram Bot API for bot-based communication. It supports text messages, media attachments (photos, voice, audio, documents), voice transcription (setup), and built-in command handling.

Configuration

{
  "channels": {
    "telegram": {
      "enabled": true,
      "token": "123456789:ABCdefGHIjklMNOpqrsTUVwxyz",
      "allow_from": ["123456789"],
      "proxy": ""
    }
  }
}

Field	Type	Required	Description
enabled	bool	Yes	Whether to enable the Telegram channel
token	string	Yes	Telegram Bot API Token
allow_from	array	No	Allowlist of user IDs; empty means all users are allowed
proxy	string	No	Proxy URL for connecting to the Telegram API (e.g. http://127.0.0.1:7890)

Setup

1. Search for @BotFather in Telegram
2. Send the /newbot command and follow the prompts to create a new bot
3. Obtain the HTTP API Token
4. Fill in the Token in the configuration file
5. (Optional) Configure allow_from to restrict which user IDs can interact (you can get IDs via @userinfobot)