openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix [Bug]: telegram-auto-reply sends "Failed to download media" in groups with requireMention: true

Bug type

Regression (worked before, now fails)

Beta release blocker

No

Summary

In Telegram groups configured with requireMention: true, the auto-reply module attempts to fetch media before checking mention status. When media download fails (ECONNRESET from WSL), it sends "Failed to download media" to the group, even when bot is not mentioned.

Steps to reproduce

1. Add bot to a Telegram group with requireMention: true
2. Someone sends a photo without mentioning the bot
3. Bot tries to download the photo, fails (ECONNRESET), replies with error
4. Gateway logs confirm: media fetch error BEFORE no-mention skip

Expected behavior

When requireMention: true and bot is not mentioned, media messages should be silently skipped without any media download attempt or error reply in the group.

Actual behavior

Bot downloads media before checking mention status in groups. When download fails (ECONNRESET from WSL), sends "Failed to download media" as reply. Checked in gateway logs: media fetch error happens BEFORE the "skipping group message (no-mention)" check.

OpenClaw version

2026.5.5

Operating system

WSL2 Ubuntu + Windows 11 host

Install method

npm global

Model

ollama/gemma3:12b-it-qat

Provider / routing chain

openclaw -> ollama (localhost:11434)

Additional provider/model setup details

No response

Logs, screenshots, and evidence

Impact and severity

Anyone with telegram groups requiring mention + imageModel configured. Spams group with error on every media post. Happens every time media download fails.

Additional information

Root cause: In bot-CnYuQAvM.js, processInboundMessage calls resolveMedia() before requireMention check in resolveTelegramInboundBody(). On fetch fail, error handler sends chat message and returns early, never reaching the mention check. Temp fix: patched compiled JS to silently log instead of sending error.