How to Connect OpenClaw to WhatsApp, Telegram & Discord

Your AI Assistant, On Every Platform

One of OpenClaw's biggest strengths is its multi-channel support. You can run your AI assistant on Telegram, Discord, WhatsApp — or all three at once. But the setup process is different for each platform, and it can get confusing fast.

This guide walks you through connecting OpenClaw to each messaging platform, whether you're self-hosting or using SetupClaw's managed platform.

Telegram: The Most Popular Choice

Telegram is the #1 channel for OpenClaw deployments, and for good reason: it's fast, has a great bot API, supports rich formatting, and works on every device.

Getting Your Telegram Bot Token

1. Open Telegram and search for @BotFather
2. Send the command /newbot
3. Choose a name for your bot (e.g., "My AI Assistant")
4. Choose a username ending in "bot" (e.g., "myai_assistant_bot")
5. BotFather will give you a token — it looks like 7123456789:AAHdqTcvCH1vGWJxfSeofSAs0K5PALDsaw
6. Copy this token — you'll need it for OpenClaw

Pro Tips for Telegram Bots

• Set a profile picture with /setuserpic
• Add a description with /setdescription
• Enable inline mode with /setinline if you want users to use your bot in any chat
• Set commands with /setcommands for quick actions

Discord: Perfect for Communities

Discord bots are ideal for community servers, team workspaces, and gaming groups. OpenClaw on Discord can answer questions, moderate, summarize conversations, and more.

Setting Up a Discord Bot

1. Go to the Discord Developer Portal
2. Click New Application and give it a name
3. Go to the Bot tab and click Add Bot
4. Under the bot settings, click Reset Token to generate a new token
5. Copy the token
6. Under Privileged Gateway Intents, enable:

• Message Content Intent
• Server Members Intent (if you want the bot to see member lists)

1. Go to OAuth2 > URL Generator:

• Select scopes: bot, applications.commands
• Select permissions: Send Messages, Read Message History, Embed Links
• Copy the generated URL and open it to invite the bot to your server

Pro Tips for Discord Bots

• Keep the bot in a dedicated channel to avoid noise
• Set a custom status to tell users what the bot does
• Use channel-specific permissions to control where the bot responds

WhatsApp: For Business & Personal Use

WhatsApp integration brings OpenClaw to the world's most popular messaging app. This is especially powerful for businesses that want to offer AI-powered customer support.

WhatsApp Setup Options

WhatsApp bot setup is more involved than Telegram or Discord due to Meta's API requirements:

Option A: WhatsApp Business API (Recommended for businesses)

1. Create a Meta Business account at business.facebook.com
2. Set up a WhatsApp Business Platform account
3. Create a WhatsApp Business app in the Meta Developer Dashboard
4. Generate a permanent access token
5. Configure webhooks to point to your OpenClaw instance
6. Verify your business (required for production)

Option B: WhatsApp Web Bridge (Simpler for personal use)

Some OpenClaw configurations support connecting via WhatsApp Web bridges, which is simpler but less reliable for production use.

Pro Tips for WhatsApp Bots

• Use WhatsApp message templates for initial outreach
• Keep response times fast — WhatsApp users expect quick replies
• Set up quick replies for common questions

Using SetupClaw? It's Even Easier

If you're deploying through SetupClaw, the channel connection process is simplified:

1. Pick your channel during setup (Telegram, Discord, or WhatsApp)
2. Follow the in-app guide — SetupClaw provides step-by-step instructions with screenshots
3. Paste your token — SetupClaw handles all the webhook configuration, encryption, and connection setup
4. Deploy — your bot is connected and running

No webhook configuration. No reverse proxy setup. No SSL certificates. SetupClaw handles all the infrastructure so you just need to provide the bot token.

Multi-Channel Setup

Want your AI assistant on multiple platforms? With SetupClaw, each instance connects to one channel. If you want OpenClaw on both Telegram and Discord, you'd run two instances — one for each channel. This ensures dedicated resources and independent configuration for each platform.

Which Platform Should You Choose?

Our recommendation? Start with Telegram. It's the fastest to set up, has the best developer experience, and most OpenClaw features work out of the box. You can always add Discord or WhatsApp later.

Get Started

Ready to connect OpenClaw to your messaging app? Deploy through setupclaw.io and have your AI assistant running in under 60 seconds.