🔐 Telegram Approval Buttons for OpenClaw

One-tap exec approvals in Telegram — no more typing /approve <uuid> allow-once.

What does this look like?

What does this do?

OpenClaw's Discord has built-in approval buttons. Telegram doesn't — you're stuck typing long /approve commands. This plugin fixes that.

Features:

• ✅ One-tap approvals — Allow Once · 🔏 Always · ❌ Deny
• 🔄 Auto-resolve — edits the message after decision (removes buttons, shows result)
• ⏰ Expiry handling — stale approvals auto-cleaned and marked as expired
• 🩺 Self-diagnostics — /approvalstatus checks health and stats
• 🛡️ Graceful fallback — if buttons fail, the original text goes through
• 📦 Zero dependencies — uses only Node.js built-in fetch

Quick Start

Step 1: Install the plugin

openclaw plugins install telegram-approval-buttons

That's it — OpenClaw downloads it from npm and enables it automatically.

Alternative: install from source (for development)

git clone https://github.com/JairFC/openclaw-telegram-approval-buttons.git

Then add the path manually to your openclaw.json:

{
  "plugins": {
    "load": {
      "paths": ["/path/to/openclaw-telegram-approval-buttons"]
    }
  }
}

Step 2: Configure approvals and plugin

Open your ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json and add two things:

1. Exec approvals targeting Telegram — without this, approvals stay as plain text
2. Plugin config with your bot token and chat ID — the plugin needs these to send buttons

{
  "approvals": {
    "exec": {
      "enabled": true,
      "mode": "targets",
      "targets": [
        {
          "channel": "telegram",
          "to": "<your_telegram_chat_id>"
        }
      ]
    }
  },
  "plugins": {
    "entries": {
      "telegram-approval-buttons": {
        "enabled": true,
        "config": {
          "botToken": "<your_bot_token>",
          "chatId": "<your_telegram_chat_id>"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

💡 Where to find these values:

• Bot token — the token you got from @BotFather when creating your bot. It's the same token OpenClaw uses for Telegram.
• Chat ID — your Telegram user ID. Send a message to @userinfobot to get it, or check openclaw logs --follow after sending a message to your bot.

Step 3: Restart and verify

openclaw gateway restart

Then send /approvalstatus in your Telegram chat. You should see:

🟢 Approval Buttons Status

Config: chatId=✓ · token=✓
Telegram: ✓ connected (@your_bot)
Pending: 0 · Processed: 0
Uptime: 1m

⚠️ If you see DISABLED — missing config, the plugin can't find your bot token or chat ID. Double-check that botToken and chatId are set in plugins.entries.telegram-approval-buttons.config in your ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json.

That's it! Next time the AI triggers an exec approval, you'll get inline buttons instead of text.

Prerequisites

• OpenClaw ≥ 2026.2.9 installed and running
• Node.js ≥ 20 (uses built-in fetch)
• Telegram configured in your openclaw.json (bot token + allowFrom)
• Exec approvals targeting Telegram — see Step 2 above

How it works

┌─────────────┐    message_sending     ┌──────────────────┐
│  OpenClaw    │ ── approval text ──→  │     Plugin        │
│  Gateway     │                       │                   │
│              │   cancel original     │  1. Parse text    │
│              │ ←──────────────────── │  2. Send buttons  │
└─────────────┘                        │  3. Track pending │
                                       └────────┬─────────┘
                                                │
                                    Telegram Bot API
                                                │
                                       ┌────────▼─────────┐
                                       │   Telegram Chat   │
                                       │                   │
                                       │  🔐 Exec Approval │
                                       │  [✅ Allow] [🔏]  │
                                       │  [❌ Deny]        │
                                       └──────────────────┘

When you tap a button, OpenClaw converts the callback_data into a synthetic text message — no webhook needed.

Configuration

The plugin auto-detects botToken and chatId from your Telegram channel config. Most setups need zero extra configuration.

Config resolution order

Setting	Priority 1 (explicit)	Priority 2 (shared config)	Priority 3 (env)
botToken	pluginConfig.botToken	channels.telegram.token	TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN
chatId	pluginConfig.chatId	channels.telegram.allowFrom[0]	TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID

Advanced options

{
  "plugins": {
    "entries": {
      "telegram-approval-buttons": {
        "enabled": true,
        "config": {
          "chatId": "123456789",       // Override auto-detected chat ID
          "botToken": "123:ABC...",     // Override auto-detected bot token
          "staleMins": 10,             // Minutes before stale cleanup (default: 10)
          "verbose": false             // Diagnostic logging (default: false)
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

FAQ

Q: I installed the plugin but I still get old text approvals.
A: Most likely your approvals.exec section is missing or doesn't target Telegram. Make sure you have "mode": "targets" with a target pointing to "channel": "telegram" — see Step 2 above. Restart the gateway after changing the config.

Q: I installed the plugin but no buttons appear at all.
A: Make sure tools.exec.ask is NOT set to "off" in your config. If it's "off", there are no approvals to buttonize. Set it to "on-miss" or "always".

Q: How do I find my Telegram Chat ID?
A: Send /start to @userinfobot on Telegram — it replies with your ID. Alternatively, check https://api.telegram.org/bot<TOKEN>/getUpdates after sending a message to your bot.

Q: Do I need to set up a webhook?
A: No! OpenClaw's Telegram integration automatically converts button taps into synthetic text messages. No extra setup needed.

Q: What happens if the plugin fails to send buttons?
A: The original plain-text approval message goes through normally. The plugin never blocks approvals.

Q: Does this work in group chats?
A: Yes, but the bot needs to be an admin or it needs permission to edit its own messages.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Fix
DISABLED — missing config in logs	Add botToken and chatId to plugins.entries.telegram-approval-buttons.config in your ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json. See Step 2.
Still getting old text approvals	Your approvals.exec config must target Telegram. See Step 2.
/approvalstatus says "unknown command"	Plugin didn't load. Run openclaw plugins install telegram-approval-buttons and restart the gateway.
No buttons appear	Check tools.exec.ask is not "off". Run /approvalstatus to check config.
Buttons show but nothing happens	Bot needs message editing permission. Use a private chat or make bot admin.
/approvalstatus says "token=✗"	Set botToken in plugin config. See Step 2.
/approvalstatus says "chatId=✗"	Set chatId in plugin config. See Step 2.
Buttons say "expired"	Approval timed out before you tapped. Adjust staleMins if needed.

Architecture

telegram-approval-buttons/
├── index.ts                  # Entry point — orchestration only
├── types.ts                  # Shared TypeScript interfaces
├── lib/
│   ├── telegram-api.ts       # Telegram Bot API client (isolated)
│   ├── approval-parser.ts    # Parse OpenClaw approval text format
│   ├── message-formatter.ts  # HTML formatting for Telegram messages
│   ├── approval-store.ts     # In-memory pending approval tracker
│   └── diagnostics.ts        # Config resolution, health checks
├── openclaw.plugin.json      # Plugin manifest
└── package.json

Contributing

Issues and PRs welcome. Each file in lib/ is self-contained with a single responsibility.

License

MIT