openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix [Bug]: Telegram channel missing runtime dependencies (grammy, abort-controller) since 2026.4.22 — must be installed manually after every update, openclaw doctor --fix does nothing [1 comments, 2 participants]

Bug type

Regression (worked before, now fails)

Beta release blocker

No

Summary

Since at least 2026.4.22, the Telegram channel requires grammy, abort-controller and related @grammyjs/* packages to be installed manually after every openclaw update. These dependencies are not bundled or declared in the package, and openclaw doctor --fix does not resolve them. Without manual installation, the Telegram channel fails to start.

Steps to reproduce

1. Fresh install or update of OpenClaw 2026.4.22 or 2026.4.24 on Windows 11 via npm install -g openclaw
2. Configure Telegram channel with a valid bot token
3. Start the gateway: openclaw gateway start
4. On 2026.4.22: gateway log shows Cannot find module 'grammy' (and similar for abort-controller, @grammyjs/* packages)
5. Run openclaw doctor --fix — no change, missing deps remain
6. Manually install: npm install grammy abort-controller @grammyjs/runner @grammyjs/transformer-throttler @grammyjs/parse-mode @grammyjs/hydrate @grammyjs/files
7. Telegram channel starts successfully
8. Run openclaw update to next version → missing deps return, step 6 must be repeated

Expected behavior

All required Telegram runtime dependencies (grammy, abort-controller, @grammyjs/*) are bundled with the openclaw package and installed automatically, so the Telegram channel works out-of-the-box after npm install -g openclaw without any manual intervention. openclaw doctor --fix should also be able to restore any missing deps.

Actual behavior

Telegram channel fails to start with Cannot find module 'grammy' (and similar errors for abort-controller, @grammyjs/* packages). On 2026.4.24 this is additionally masked by the ESM URL error (see #72040), but the underlying missing dep issue is present since 2026.4.22. openclaw doctor --fix runs without error but does not install the missing packages. Manual npm install is required after every update.

OpenClaw version

2026.4.22 (first observed), also present in 2026.4.24

Operating system

Windows 11

Install method

npm global (npm install -g openclaw)

Model

moonshot/kimi-k2.6

Provider / routing chain

openclaw -> moonshot/kimi-k2.6

Additional provider/model setup details

No response

Logs, screenshots, and evidence

On 2026.4.22 (gateway log excerpt):

[telegram] [default] starting provider (@centralpc_openclaw_bot)
[telegram] [default] channel exited: Cannot find module 'grammy'
[telegram] [default] auto-restart attempt 1/10 in 5s

After manual `npm install grammy abort-controller @grammyjs/*`:

[telegram] [default] starting provider (@centralpc_openclaw_bot)
[telegram] [default] connected

On 2026.4.24 the ESM URL error masks this: see #72040

Impact and severity

Affected: All Windows users using the Telegram channel Severity: High — Telegram channel is broken out-of-the-box after every update Frequency: 100% reproducible, every version since 2026.4.22 Consequence: Users must manually install npm packages after every update, openclaw doctor --fix is useless for this

Additional information

Last known good version for Telegram without manual dep install: unknown (possibly never worked correctly on Windows with npm global install). Related issues: #72040 (ESM URL error masking this on 2026.4.24), #72042 (postinstall pruning bug on 2026.4.24).