How to Deploy an OpenClaw Agent to Telegram

What You'll Need

Before starting, make sure you have these three things ready.

1. 1
   A ClawMate account

   Sign up at clawmate.wtf — no credit card required.

2. 2
   A Telegram bot token

   You'll get this from @BotFather in Telegram (we'll walk you through it below).

3. 3
   An AI provider API key

   From Anthropic (Claude), OpenAI (GPT), Groq (Llama — has a free tier), or OpenRouter (300+ models).

Step 1: Create Your Telegram Bot

Open Telegram and search for @BotFather — it's Telegram's official bot for creating bots.

1. 1
   Open Telegram and search for @BotFather
2. 2
   Send /newbot to start the creation process
3. 3
   Enter a display name for your bot (e.g., "My AI Assistant")
4. 4
   Enter a username ending in "bot" (e.g., "my_ai_assistant_bot")
5. 5
   Copy the bot token BotFather gives you — you'll need it in Step 4

# Example conversation with @BotFather:
You: /newbot
BotFather: Alright, a new bot. How are we going to call it?
You: My AI Assistant
BotFather: Good. Now let's choose a username.
You: my_ai_assistant_bot
BotFather: Done! Use this token to access the HTTP API:
         123456789:ABCdefGHIjklMNOpqrsTUVwxyz

Step 2: Start the ClawMate Deploy Wizard

Log in to ClawMate and navigate to the deploy page. The wizard has 4 steps.

1. 1
   Go to clawmate.wtf and log in (or sign up)
2. 2
   Click "Deploy" in the dashboard sidebar
3. 3
   Enter a name for your agent (e.g., "telegram-assistant")
4. 4
   Select "OpenClaw" as the framework

   OpenClaw is the recommended choice — full Node.js runtime, 50+ integrations, MCP support. If you want ultra-fast startup and lower cost, choose ZeroClaw instead.

5. 5
   Choose deployment target: Local Docker or Cloud VM

   Cloud VM is recommended — ClawMate provisions and manages the server for you.

Step 3: Choose Your AI Model

Select which AI model will power your agent's responses.

1. 1
   Select your AI provider tab — Anthropic, OpenAI, Groq, or OpenRouter
2. 2
   Pick a model from the list

   Claude Sonnet 4.6 is great for general use. GPT-5.4 for OpenAI fans. Groq Llama 3.3 70B if you want a free tier.

3. 3
   Paste your API key in the field provided

   Your key is encrypted with AES-256-GCM and never exposed in logs.

4. 4
   (Optional) Add up to 3 fallback models

   If your primary model hits a rate limit, ClawMate automatically tries the fallback.

5. 5
   (Optional) Configure a heartbeat

   A cheap model that runs on a timer for monitoring tasks or scheduled posting.

Step 4: Connect Telegram

Wire up the Telegram bot token you created in Step 1.

1. 1
   Select "Telegram" as the channel
2. 2
   Paste the bot token from @BotFather
3. 3
   Set the DM policy

   "Everyone" lets any Telegram user message your bot. "Restricted" limits it to specific user IDs.

4. 4
   (Optional) Add a Groq Whisper API key for voice transcription

   Your bot will transcribe voice messages to text before processing. Free tier available at console.groq.com.

Step 5: Add Skills and Customize

This is where your agent becomes more than a chatbot — add skills to give it real capabilities.

1. 1
   Choose a system prompt template or write your own

   Templates available: Helpful Assistant, Customer Support, Technical Expert, X Content Creator.

2. 2
   Browse and enable built-in skills

   GitHub (repos, issues, PRs), Gmail (read/send), Notion (pages/databases), X/Twitter (posting), AI Image Generation (DALL-E), and 15+ more.

3. 3
   Browse community skills from ClawHub and skills.sh

   Web Search, Reddit, News Summary, Agent Browser, Excel/Word generation, and more.

4. 4
   Configure security

   Exec sandbox (ON by default) restricts commands. Network access (OFF by default) controls external API calls.

Step 6: Deploy

Click the Deploy button and watch your agent go live.

1. 1
   Review the deployment summary — name, framework, model, channel, skills
2. 2
   Click "Deploy Instance"
3. 3
   Watch the progress: Creating container → Pulling image → Starting runtime → Connecting channels → Agent is live
4. 4
   Open Telegram, find your bot by username, and send a message

Troubleshooting

Common issues and how to fix them.

1. 1
   Bot doesn't respond

   Check the dashboard for logs. Make sure your bot token is correct and your API key has credits.

2. 2
   "Rate limit" errors in logs

   Add fallback models in the wizard. ClawMate auto-retries with the next model in the list.

3. 3
   Voice messages not transcribed

   Add a Groq Whisper API key in the channel settings. Free tier available.

4. 4
   Bot responds but is slow

   Try a faster model like Claude Haiku 4.5 or Groq Llama. Or switch to ZeroClaw for lower overhead.