Manage SandboxesMessaging Channels

Manage Messaging Channels

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Use host-side channel commands to change a configured messaging channel.

Rotate Credentials

Running channels add for a channel that is already configured overwrites stored tokens and registers the updated bridge provider. Rebuild the sandbox after the update so the image reflects the current channel set.

For WeChat, the cached-token shortcut applies. Remove WeChat first when you intend to acquire a fresh account through a new QR scan.

For Google Chat, re-add the channel and paste the replacement service-account JSON. NemoClaw updates the gateway-side refresh material. The sandbox keeps only the OpenShell credential placeholder. OpenShell keeps refreshed access tokens at the gateway and substitutes them at approved egress boundaries.

For detailed token rotation procedures, refer to Credential Rotation.

Remove a Channel

Remove the channel and clear its stored credentials:

$nemoclaw my-assistant channels remove telegram
$nemoclaw my-assistant channels remove wechat
$nemoclaw my-assistant channels remove teams

channels remove wechat clears the bot token, deletes the <sandbox>-wechat-bridge provider, and removes wechat from the enabled-channel set. The next rebuild omits WeChat configuration and per-account state files.

channels remove googlechat detaches and deletes the <sandbox>-googlechat-bridge provider before the rebuild removes Google Chat configuration and the matching policy preset.

It also stops the dedicated cloudflared process and webhook proxy for that sandbox. nemoclaw <name> destroy also stops both host-side processes. If endpoint teardown fails, the command exits nonzero without changing the channel credentials, bridge provider, policy preset, or durable messaging plan so you can fix the host service and retry removal.

For in-sandbox QR-paired channels such as WhatsApp, channels remove destructively clears the session directory before rebuild so stale auth files do not reconnect the channel.

The cleanup targets /sandbox/.openclaw/<channel>/.

It tries openshell sandbox exec and falls back to SSH if the first transport does not produce the success sentinel. If neither transport can reach a running sandbox, the command exits nonzero and asks you to start the sandbox and rerun it.

NemoClaw leaves the registry, policy preset, and session.policyPresets unchanged on that failure path so a later retry can complete cleanly.

channels remove whatsapp clears the client-side Baileys session but cannot deregister the linked device with WhatsApp’s servers after the local connection is gone. The phone continues to list the sandbox as a Linked Device until you remove it manually or WhatsApp’s 14-day inactivity timeout expires.

Remove the phone entry before pairing the same account with another sandbox.

Pause and Resume a Channel

Use channels stop when you want to pause a bridge without deleting credentials:

$nemoclaw my-assistant channels stop telegram
$nemoclaw my-assistant channels start telegram
$nemoclaw my-assistant channels stop wechat
$nemoclaw my-assistant channels start wechat

For WeChat, channels stop wechat followed by rebuild keeps the per-account state under /sandbox/.openclaw/openclaw-weixin/accounts/ even though the bridge is no longer wired into openclaw.json. A later channels start wechat plus rebuild revives the bridge against the same iLink account without a fresh QR scan. The bot token remains in the OpenShell provider across the stop and start cycle.

Google Chat stop and start cycles also preserve the bridge provider and its gateway-side refresh material.

They preserve the dedicated public webhook endpoint so the Google Cloud configuration can keep the same URL. The next rebuild reuses that provider without requiring the service-account JSON again. nemoclaw tunnel stop does not stop the dedicated Google Chat endpoint. It controls the separate full-dashboard tunnel.

When channels start re-enables a channel, NemoClaw records the channel as enabled in the messaging plan. The rebuild attaches the existing bridge provider before applying its matching built-in policy preset to the replacement sandbox. While a channel remains stopped, the rebuild omits its runtime configuration, token upsert, and channel startup effects. Generic providers and refresh bridges remain detached. If the command queues the change without rebuilding, the running sandbox keeps its existing bridge and network policy until you rebuild it.

Avoid Cross-Sandbox Conflicts

Conflict Detection Scope

NemoClaw checks only the sandboxes recorded in the selected OpenShell gateway’s sandbox registry. It cannot detect or prevent Slack credential reuse across independent OpenShell gateways.

Use distinct credentials and resources for each active messaging sandbox. Follow these channel-specific rules:

  • Use a distinct iLink accountId for each WeChat sandbox.
  • Run only one active Slack sandbox on each OpenShell gateway.
  • Use distinct bot and Socket Mode app tokens across OpenShell gateways.
  • Use a different local webhook port for each Microsoft Teams sandbox.

When you onboard, rebuild, or add a channel, the command aborts on a conflict or an incomplete required check within the selected OpenShell gateway’s sandbox registry. Legacy entries without credential hashes count as incomplete. An unreadable messaging registry also causes onboarding and rebuild to abort. Onboarding and rebuild have no conflict override.

For channels add only, --force overrides conflict and incomplete-check aborts. Use it only when you accept the duplicate-consumer or shared-resource risk. Rerun channels add <channel> with the intended token to refresh stored non-secret identity metadata.

Before a rebuild, NemoClaw checks the messaging plan before backup or deletion. A conflict leaves the original sandbox intact. Resolve any conflict, then rerun the operation. nemoclaw status reports cross-sandbox overlaps within the selected OpenShell gateway’s sandbox registry.

Stop All Delivery

Use channels stop for an individual bridge or stop the sandbox when you need to stop the complete supervised runtime.

nemoclaw tunnel stop stops the dashboard tunnel services that nemoclaw tunnel start created and asks NemoClaw to stop the OpenClaw gateway inside the selected sandbox. The deprecated full nemoclaw stop command also attempts to release an unshared OpenShell gateway port whose ownership NemoClaw can verify.

Stopping the in-sandbox gateway stops all channel delivery for that sandbox until you restart the sandbox or gateway.

Full stop preserves a shared gateway and fails closed without releasing its port when ownership is ambiguous.