openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix [Bug]: Telegram channel fails to initialize after gateway restart - silent failure [1 comments, 1 participants]

Bug Report: Telegram channel fails to initialize silently after gateway restart in v2026.3.24+

Bug Summary

Telegram channel fails to start during gateway startup. No error is logged, but the channel simply never initializes. This happens consistently after gateway restarts.

Environment

• OpenClaw version: 2026.3.24+
• Platform: Ubuntu (ARM64), Oracle Cloud VM
• Node: 22.x
• Gateway mode: systemd user service

Steps to Reproduce

1. Have a working Telegram configuration with botToken set as an environment variable reference (SecretRef)
2. Restart the gateway (via systemctl --user restart openclaw-gateway or after config changes)
3. Observe: Telegram channel never starts - no [telegram] [default] starting provider log appears
4. openclaw health shows empty channels: {}

Root Cause Analysis

The issue has multiple contributing factors:

1. Environment Variable Reference Conflict: When botToken is configured as an env reference (e.g., "botToken": {"source": "env", "provider": "default", "id": "TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN"}), there's a race condition between:

   • The .env file being loaded
   • The systemd service's hardcoded Environment variables
   • The gateway reading the config

2. Plugin Loading Race Condition (Related - Issue #56626): External plugin loading (via plugins.load.paths or plugins.installs) can interfere with channel initialization. The Telegram channel silently fails to start when plugins are loaded.

3. Stale Webhook: After regenerating a bot token, the old token's webhook remains registered. The gateway tries to deleteWebhook with the new token but fails with 401, causing auto-restart loops.

What Works

• Setting botToken directly as a plaintext string in openclaw.json (not as env reference)
• Removing all plugin configurations (plugins: {})
• Manually clearing the webhook via Telegram API before starting the gateway

Workaround

1. Remove plugins from config:

   openclaw config unset plugins

2. Set botToken directly (not as env reference):

   # Edit openclaw.json directly
   "channels": {
     "telegram": {
       "enabled": true,
       "botToken": "YOUR_NEW_TOKEN_HERE"
     }
   }

3. Clear stale webhook before starting gateway:

   curl "https://api.telegram.org/bot<NEW_TOKEN>/deleteWebhook"

4. Restart gateway cleanly:

   systemctl --user stop openclaw-gateway
   systemctl --user start openclaw-gateway

Expected Behavior

• Telegram channels should initialize reliably on every gateway restart
• Either work with env references or provide clear error when env var is not accessible
• Plugin loading should not interfere with channel initialization

Related Issues

• #56626 - External plugin loading prevents Telegram channel from initializing
• #55304 - Telegram channels fail to initialize silently after gateway restart in v2026.3.24
• #55844 - Channels not initializing on gateway startup (channels: {} in health)

Reported on: 2026-04-06 OpenClaw Version: 2026.3.31