Choose Messaging Channels

NemoClaw supports Telegram, Discord, Slack, WeChat, WhatsApp, and Microsoft Teams for OpenClaw and Hermes sandboxes. Google Chat is available for OpenClaw sandboxes only. OpenShell-managed processes and gateway resources carry channel traffic.

For token-based channels, NemoClaw registers credentials with OpenShell providers. WeChat uses a host-side QR scan during onboarding to capture a token.

WhatsApp pairs inside the sandbox through a QR scan and intentionally stores mutable session state there. Microsoft Teams uses Bot Framework credentials plus a public HTTPS webhook that forwards to the sandbox.

NemoClaw writes the selected channel configuration into the sandbox image and keeps runtime delivery under OpenShell control.

Experimental Channels

Google Chat, WeChat, WhatsApp, and Microsoft Teams are experimental. WeChat and WhatsApp rely on QR-based pairing flows that are more fragile than token-based bots.

Google Chat and Microsoft Teams require externally reachable webhook paths that depend on your host networking setup. Interfaces, defaults, and supported features can change, and NVIDIA does not recommend these channels for production use.

Compare Channel Requirements

Channel	Required credentials or pairing	Optional settings	Setup guide
Telegram	`TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN`	DM allowlist, group policy, mention mode	Set Up Telegram
Discord	`DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN`	Server ID, user ID, mention mode	Set Up Discord
Slack	`SLACK_BOT_TOKEN`, `SLACK_APP_TOKEN`	User and channel allowlists	Set Up Slack
WeChat	Host-side QR scan	DM allowlist	Set Up WeChat
WhatsApp	In-sandbox QR pairing	Hermes sender allowlist and non-interactive channel selection	Set Up WhatsApp
Microsoft Teams	`MSTEAMS_APP_ID`, `MSTEAMS_APP_PASSWORD`, `MSTEAMS_TENANT_ID`	User allowlist, webhook port, mention mode	Set Up Microsoft Teams

Google Chat requires a service-account JSON key and a public HTTPS endpoint for the OpenClaw webhook. Refer to Set Up Google Chat for the interactive tunnel, audience, and account-principal flow.

Prepare the Host and Policy

Use a machine where you can run nemoclaw onboard.
Prepare the token, app credentials, or paired phone required by each selected channel.
Select the matching network policy preset or equivalent custom egress rules for each channel.
Confirm Docker is running and your user can access the Docker socket through the docker group or the documented sudo workflow.

Use host-side nemoclaw <sandbox> channels commands. Do not run openclaw channels add or openclaw channels remove inside the sandbox because NemoClaw generates /sandbox/.openclaw/openclaw.json at image build time, and changes inside the running container do not persist across rebuilds.

nemoclaw tunnel start does not start chat bridges. It starts optional host services such as a cloudflared tunnel when that binary is present. Refer to Run Sandboxes for tunnel management.

Next Steps

Enable Channels During Onboarding for a new sandbox.
Add Channels After Onboarding for an existing sandbox.
Manage Messaging Channels to rotate, pause, resume, or remove a channel.