openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix [Bug] Telegram sendMessage fails with "chat not found" for supergroup forum topic despite admin permissions and working direct API

name: Bug report about: Telegram sendMessage fails with "chat not found" for supergroup forum topics despite bot being admin and API working directly title: "[Bug] Telegram sendMessage fails with "chat not found" for supergroup forum topic despite admin permissions and working direct API" labels: bug, bug:telegram assignees: ''

Description

Telegram sendMessage fails with 400: Bad Request: chat not found when OpenClaw attempts to send to a supergroup forum (Kitt HQ, chat_id -1003757652981). The bot IS an admin with all permissions, privacy mode is disabled, and a direct API call using the same bot token succeeds — but OpenClaw's Telegram provider fails with "chat not found".

This is NOT a permissions or privacy mode issue. The bot can send directly via curl to the Telegram Bot API successfully. The bug is in OpenClaw's outgoing message routing.

Environment

• OpenClaw: v2026.5.7
• Platform: macOS Darwin arm64
• Node: v25.8.1
• Bot: @decker_alfred_bot (token 8273972039:AAGAgdXIk...)
• Gateway config account: default
• Group: Kitt HQ supergroup forum, chat_id -1003757652981

Steps to Reproduce

1. Configure a Telegram bot as admin in a supergroup forum with topics
2. Set channels.telegram.groups.-1003757652981.requireMention: false
3. Attempt to send a message (e.g., heartbeat, cron announce) to the group or any topic
4. Observe: 400: Bad Request: chat not found
5. Note: Direct API call with the same bot token to sendMessage(chat_id=-1003757652981) succeeds

Observed Behavior

Failing (OpenClaw Telegram provider):

telegram message failed: Call to 'sendMessage' failed! (400: Bad Request: chat not found)
telegram typing failed: Call to 'sendChatAction' failed! (400: Bad Request: chat not found)
heartbeat failed: Telegram send failed: chat not found (chat_id=-1003757652981)

Working (direct curl with same bot token):

curl -X POST "https://api.telegram.org/bot<TOKEN>/sendMessage" \
  -d "chat_id=-1003757652981" \
  -d "text=test" 
# Returns: {"ok":true, "result":{"message_id":8743,...}}

Bot Permissions Verified

• Status: administrator
• can_manage_chat: true
• can_delete_messages: true
• can_invite_users: true
• can_restrict_members: true
• can_pin_messages: true
• can_manage_topics: true
• can_manage_video_chats: true
• Privacy mode: disabled (via @BotFather /setprivacy → Disable)
• Bot is member of the group
• DMs to user work fine (chat_id 8529388788 sends successfully)

Config

{
  "channels": {
    "telegram": {
      "accounts": {
        "default": {
          "botToken": "8273972039:AAGAgdXIk...",
          "commands": { "native": true, "nativeSkills": true },
          "groups": {
            "-1003757652981": { "requireMention": false }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Group Info (from Telegram API)

• Title: Kitt HQ
• Type: supergroup
• is_forum: true
• Permissions: bot has all standard permissions

Related Issues

• #61012 — "Telegram multi-bot routing: default account token ignored for outgoing messages" (very similar, same root cause suspected: wrong token being used for sends)
• #79364 — "Cron announce delivery silently fails for Telegram DM targets" (same class of issue — Telegram send path broken)
• #77576 — "[Regression] Telegram group session responses route to webchat instead of back to Telegram (v2026.5.3-1)"

Additional Notes

• Direct API test proves the bot CAN send to this chat_id
• OpenClaw's Telegram provider is constructing the request incorrectly OR using a cached wrong bot token
• Gateway restart did not resolve
• Bot re-add to group did not resolve
• Only DMs (bare user chat IDs) work; group sends from OpenClaw always fail
• The heartbeat cron job is continuously failing with this error every 30 minutes

Success Criteria

1. OpenClaw can successfully send messages to supergroup forum topics (chat_id -1003757652981)
2. Heartbeat delivery to the group succeeds
3. Outgoing sendMessage uses the correct bot token (matching the account's configured token)