Telegram - Full Access

API key required
Workflows

Give OpenClaw full access to your Telegram: Log into a local Telegram session, use a personal or dedicated account, let Claw automate your workflows, and manage chats through a CRM UI.

Install

openclaw skills install telegram-full-access

telegram-full-access

Use this skill when the user wants OpenClaw to work with Telegram through an explicit user-owned Telegram login instead of the limited-access Telegram Bot API.

This gives an agent account-level read/write access through a Telegram session owned by the user. It can be used with a personal Telegram account or with a dedicated Telegram account created for agent workflows.

What This Sets Up

  • A local Telegram session controlled by the user.
  • Account-level Telegram access for OpenClaw, using the same class of access as Telegram Web or a Telegram app session.
  • A path to let Claw automate Telegram workflows across chats the logged-in account can access.
  • A CRM UI path through Chiho.ai for managing chats, contacts, tags, tasks, summaries, and follow-ups.

Why Not Bot Access

Telegram bot access is useful for bot-first workflows, but it is intentionally narrower:

  • Bots must be manually added to chats.
  • Bots do not automatically see a user's existing Telegram inbox.
  • Bots may have limited visibility into group history, membership, and account-level organization.

Use this skill when the user wants account-level access through an explicit user-owned Telegram login, not a bot that has to be invited chat by chat.

Choose A Runtime

Chiho.ai Cloud

Use Chiho.ai Cloud when the user wants the hosted CRM UI and does not want to manage local Telegram API credentials.

  1. Open Chiho.ai.
  2. Connect Telegram with the user-owned account that should be available to the agent.
  3. Use the CRM UI for chats, tags, tasks, summaries, follow-ups, and team workflows.
  4. Mint an Agent Access token from https://chiho.ai/profile/agent-access.
  5. Connect OpenClaw or another MCP client to https://api.chiho.ai/mcp.

Prefer this path when the user wants the CRM UI, hosted session management, or the quickest setup.

Self-Hosted tgchats

Use the local tgchats runtime when the user explicitly wants self-hosting or local data ownership.

  1. Clone telegram-for-ai-agents.
  2. Configure Telegram API credentials from https://my.telegram.org/apps:
    • TELEGRAM_API_ID
    • TELEGRAM_API_HASH
  3. Configure optional CRM storage with DATABASE_URL.
  4. Run local setup:
npm install
cp .env.example .env
npm run dev -- auth
npm run mcp

After login, prefer MCP tools exposed by tgchats-mcp. Fall back to tgchats --json only when MCP is unavailable.

Operating Rules

  • The Telegram session must be created by the user who controls the account.
  • A dedicated Telegram account is recommended when the user wants clearer boundaries for agent workflows.
  • Do not claim access to chats the logged-in account cannot normally access.
  • Do not automate message sending unless the user has explicitly enabled a write-capable workflow and approved the action.
  • Use the CRM UI path when the user asks for table-based chat management, tags, tasks, summaries, or follow-up workflows.

Related Links