openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix [Bug]: Telegram group chat replies silently dropped in v2026.5.20 (same as #78417)

Bug type

Regression (worked in 2026.5.18, broken in 2026.5.20)

Summary

After upgrading from 2026.5.18 to 2026.5.20, Telegram group chat replies are silently dropped. The agent receives and processes messages correctly (typing indicator shows), but the final reply is never delivered. Gateway log shows no outbound send for the group chat. Same queuedFinal=false, replies=0 pattern as #78417 (Feishu).

Direct messages work normally. Manual message tool sends to groups also work — only automatic turn-completion reply delivery is broken.

Steps to reproduce

1. OpenClaw v2026.5.20 on macOS (npm install)
2. Telegram channel configured with group chat bindings (requireMention: false, tools: ["*"])
3. Send a message in the Telegram group
4. Bot receives the message, typing indicator appears, agent generates a response (visible in session transcript)
5. No outbound send occurs — gateway log shows inbound but zero outbound for the group chat ID

Expected behavior

Bot should reply in the Telegram group chat as it did in v2026.5.18 and earlier.

Actual behavior

• Gateway log: [telegram] Inbound message telegram:group:-5179524087 appears • Session transcript: assistant response is generated and written to .jsonl • Gateway log: no outbound send ok entry for the group chat ID • User sees typing indicator then nothing

Environment

• OpenClaw version: 2026.5.20 (e510042) • OS: macOS 26.1 (Darwin 25.5.0, arm64) • Install method: npm • Model: ollama/deepseek-v4-pro:cloud • Channel: Telegram (bot token)

Suspected cause

PR #84289 (Agents/messages: stop message-tool-only turns after a successful source-channel message send). The new message-tool-terminal.js hook appears to incorrectly classify group chat automatic reply delivery as a message-tool-only turn and stops before the reply payload dispatches.

Workaround

Manual message tool sends to group chat IDs work. The bug only affects the automatic turn-completion reply path.