openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix [Bug]: WhatsApp plugin doesn't allow group communication [1 participants]

Bug type

Behavior bug (incorrect output/state without crash)

Beta release blocker

No

Summary

Version: 2026.4.15-beta.1 Log line: Listening for personal WhatsApp inbound messages Config showing groupPolicy: "open" and groups defined No group messages appearing in logs

Steps to reproduce

1. Install OpenClaw 2026.4.15 (WhatsApp plugin: 2026.4.15-beta.1)

2. Link a WhatsApp account via: openclaw channels login --channel whatsapp

3. Configure group support in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json: { "channels": { "whatsapp": { "enabled": true, "dmPolicy": "allowlist", "allowFrom": ["+420xxxxxxx68"], "groupPolicy": "open", "groupAllowFrom": ["+420xxxxxxx68"], "groups": { "[email protected]": { "requireMention": true } } } } }

4. Start the gateway: openclaw gateway restart

5. Observe the startup log: "Listening for personal WhatsApp inbound messages."

6. Add the WhatsApp account (+420xxxxxxx25) to a WhatsApp group

7. Send a message in the group (with or without @mention)

8. Observe: No log entries appear for the group message. Direct messages (DMs) to the same number work correctly.

Expected behavior

1. After configuring groupPolicy and groups in openclaw.json, the gateway startup log should show: "Listening for personal and group WhatsApp inbound messages." (instead of "Listening for personal WhatsApp inbound messages.")

2. When a message is sent in a configured WhatsApp group, it should appear in the logs as: "Inbound message <sender> -> <group_jid> (group, XX chars)"

3. When the bot is @mentioned in the group (requireMention: true), Samwise should process the message and reply in the group chat.

4. Group sessions should be created separately from DM sessions, with session keys like: agent:main:whatsapp:group:<jid>

5. The groupPolicy, groupAllowFrom, and groups config should be respected by the WhatsApp plugin at runtime, not just parsed and ignored.

Actual behavior

1. Gateway startup log always shows: "Listening for personal WhatsApp inbound messages." regardless of groupPolicy or groups configuration.

2. When a message is sent in a WhatsApp group, zero log entries appear — the message is completely silently dropped before reaching the logging layer. No "filtered", "blocked" or "ignored" entries either.

3. No group sessions are ever created.

4. Direct messages (DMs) to the same WhatsApp number work correctly and appear in logs as: "Inbound message +420720704868 -> +420791933025 (direct, XX chars)"

5. The groupPolicy, groupAllowFrom and groups config values are parsed without errors but have no effect on runtime behavior — the WhatsApp plugin appears to have the group inbound listener hardcoded as disabled or not implemented despite the config schema supporting it.

6. Re-linking the WhatsApp session, restarting the gateway, and trying multiple config combinations (groupPolicy: "open", groupPolicy: "allowlist", explicit group JID in groups object) all produce the same result — group messages never arrive.

OpenClaw version

OpenClaw: 2026.4.15 (041266a) WhatsApp plugin: @openclaw/whatsapp 2026.4.15-beta.1 Node.js: 24.14.1 OS: Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS (Linux 6.17.0-20-generic x86-64) Gateway mode: local (loopback)

Operating system

OS: Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS Kernel: Linux 6.17.0-20-generic (x86-64) Hardware: Intel NUC10i3FNH Node.js: 24.14.1 Architecture: x86-64

Install method

npm (global install via pnpm) Install command: npm install -g openclaw Install path: /home/assistent/.npm-global/lib/node_modules/openclaw Update channel: stable Update method: openclaw update

Model

Primary model: openai-codex/gpt-5.4 (via OAuth subscription) Fallback model: anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6 Provider: OpenAI Codex (ChatGPT subscription OAuth) Context window: 272k tokens

Provider / routing chain

WhatsApp Web (Baileys) → OpenClaw WhatsApp plugin (@openclaw/whatsapp 2026.4.15-beta.1) → OpenClaw Gateway (local loopback ws://127.0.0.1:18789) → OpenClaw Agent (main) → OpenAI Codex / GPT-5.4 (OAuth) Note: The bug occurs at the WhatsApp plugin inbound listener layer — group messages never reach the gateway routing layer, the agent, or the AI model provider. Channel transport: WhatsApp Web (Baileys/web socket) Gateway binding: loopback (127.0.0.1:18789) Channel account: +420791933025 (dedicated Samwise number) Group tested: Boháči family group (JID: [email protected])

Additional provider/model setup details

No response

Logs, screenshots, and evidence

Impact and severity

No response

Additional information

No response