Set Up Telegram

Create a Telegram bot and choose the direct-message and group behavior before you enable the channel.

Create the Bot Token

Open Telegram, send /newbot to @BotFather, follow the prompts, and copy the token into TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN. For Telegram group chats, disable privacy mode before testing group replies.

In @BotFather, run /setprivacy, choose the bot, then choose Disable. After changing privacy mode, remove the bot from each Telegram group and add it back so Telegram applies the new delivery setting.

Configure Access

TELEGRAM_ALLOWED_IDS is a comma-separated list of Telegram user or private-chat IDs for DM access. For compatibility with older QA scripts, NemoClaw also accepts TELEGRAM_AUTHORIZED_CHAT_IDS and TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID as aliases, but new automation should use TELEGRAM_ALLOWED_IDS. Keep these aliases until QA automation and public repro templates have stopped exporting them for at least one full release.

Group chats stay open by default so rebuilt sandboxes do not silently drop Telegram group messages because of an empty group allowlist. Hermes does not have an equivalent disable-groups policy. TELEGRAM_ALLOWED_IDS maps to Hermes TELEGRAM_ALLOWED_USERS, which authorizes those users across DMs, groups, and forums.

NemoClaw defaults TELEGRAM_REQUIRE_MENTION to 1, so the bot replies in Telegram groups only when users mention it. Set TELEGRAM_REQUIRE_MENTION=0 when you want the bot to reply to all group messages. Pairing and TELEGRAM_ALLOWED_IDS still govern direct messages.

Enable Telegram

Export the settings before onboarding or channels add telegram:

$
export TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN="<your-bot-token>"
$
export TELEGRAM_ALLOWED_IDS="<your-telegram-user-id>"
$
export TELEGRAM_REQUIRE_MENTION=1

Continue with Enable Channels During Onboarding or Add Channels After Onboarding.