PR #78646: fix(telegram): keep polling watchdog on getUpdates liveness

• Repository: openclaw/openclaw
• Author: ai-hpc
• State: closed | merged: True
• Link: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/pull/78646

Description (problem / solution / changelog)

Summary

• Problem: Telegram polling stall recovery treated unrelated outbound Bot API activity as liveness for inbound getUpdates polling.
• Why it matters: active sendMessage traffic could mask a wedged inbound polling loop, leaving Telegram replies silent until a manual restart.
• What changed: make the stall watchdog depend on completed/stuck getUpdates liveness only, while keeping unrelated API elapsed time in diagnostics.
• What did NOT change (scope boundary): this does not redesign Telegram transport rebuild behavior beyond ensuring the watchdog fires when inbound polling is stale.

Change Type (select all)

• Bug fix
• Feature
• Refactor required for the fix
• Docs
• Security hardening
• Chore/infra

Scope (select all touched areas)

• Gateway / orchestration
• Skills / tool execution
• Auth / tokens
• Memory / storage
• Integrations
• API / contracts
• UI / DX
• CI/CD / infra

Linked Issue/PR

• Closes #78422
• Related #78473
• This PR fixes a bug or regression

Root Cause (if applicable)

• Root cause: TelegramPollingLivenessTracker.detectStall() returned no stall when either getUpdates elapsed time or generic Bot API elapsed time was still within the threshold.
• Missing detection / guardrail: tests covered stale polling and stale unrelated API calls, but not the case where stale getUpdates coincides with recent or in-flight non-polling API traffic.
• Contributing context (if known): outbound Telegram API success proves the Bot API path is alive, but it does not prove inbound long-polling is still progressing.

Regression Test Plan (if applicable)

• Coverage level that should have caught this:
  • Unit test
  • Seam / integration test
  • End-to-end test
  • Existing coverage already sufficient
• Target test or file: extensions/telegram/src/polling-liveness.test.ts, extensions/telegram/src/polling-session.test.ts
• Scenario the test should lock in: stale getUpdates still triggers watchdog restart even when sendMessage recently succeeded or a non-getUpdates API call is in flight.
• Why this is the smallest reliable guardrail: the regression is in the polling liveness decision and session watchdog behavior, so targeted tracker/session tests catch it without live Telegram credentials.
• Existing test that already covers this (if any): existing stale polling tests covered the baseline restart path but not unrelated API masking.
• If no new test is added, why not: N/A

User-visible / Behavior Changes

Telegram polling recovery now restarts stale inbound polling even if unrelated outbound Telegram API calls are active or recently succeeded.

Diagram (if applicable)

Before:
stale getUpdates + recent sendMessage -> watchdog suppressed -> inbound polling stays wedged

After:
stale getUpdates + recent sendMessage -> watchdog restart -> polling cycle recovers

Security Impact (required)

• New permissions/capabilities? No
• Secrets/tokens handling changed? No
• New/changed network calls? No
• Command/tool execution surface changed? No
• Data access scope changed? No
• If any Yes, explain risk + mitigation: N/A

Repro + Verification

Environment

• OS: Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS
• Runtime/container: Node 22 / pnpm
• Model/provider: N/A
• Integration/channel (if any): Telegram plugin polling watchdog
• Relevant config (redacted): targeted regression tests do not require a live token; live proof used TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN env fallback from a local redacted token file

Steps

1. Create a stale getUpdates liveness state.
2. Record unrelated Telegram API activity such as sendMessage success or an in-flight non-getUpdates API call.
3. Fire the polling stall watchdog.

Expected

• Watchdog reports a polling stall and restarts the polling cycle.

Actual

• Before this fix, recent unrelated API activity suppressed the watchdog.
• After this fix, stale getUpdates liveness controls the watchdog and restart proceeds.

Evidence

• Failing test/log before + passing after
• Trace/log snippets
• Screenshot/recording
• Perf numbers (if relevant)

Validation on the rebased branch:

pnpm exec oxfmt --check --threads=1 CHANGELOG.md extensions/telegram/src/polling-liveness.ts extensions/telegram/src/polling-liveness.test.ts extensions/telegram/src/polling-session.test.ts
All matched files use the correct format.

pnpm test extensions/telegram/src/polling-liveness.test.ts extensions/telegram/src/polling-session.test.ts -- --reporter=verbose
Test Files 2 passed (2)
Tests 23 passed (23)

Real behavior proof

• Behavior or issue addressed: Telegram polling watchdog recovery should fire from stale getUpdates liveness even when unrelated outbound Bot API calls are active.
• Real environment tested: Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS, PR branch fix/telegram-polling-watchdog-getupdates, commit e301533582, Node v22.22.1, pnpm 10.33.2, real Telegram Bot API token from a local redacted token file, and a private DM chat with the bot.
• Exact steps or command run after this patch: Called real Telegram Bot API getMe, read a recent private DM via getUpdates, sent a disabled-notification proof message with sendMessage, exercised the PR liveness code to verify stale getUpdates returns STALL after outbound Telegram activity, then ran an isolated source-mode Gateway on port 19986 across the watchdog window with TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN supplied via env fallback.
• Evidence after fix: Copied live output from Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS, token omitted:

telegram_getMe=ok botId=8656041674 username=set
telegram_recent_chat=found chatType=private updateId=198414331
telegram_sendMessage=ok source=updates chatId=6599824666 messageId=70
live_sendMessage_stale_getUpdates=STALL
live_liveness_message=Polling stall detected (active getUpdates stuck for 120s); forcing restart. [diag inFlight=1 outcome=started startedAt=0 finishedAt=n/a durationMs=n/a offset=123 apiElapsedMs=60001]

Telegram client also showed the real round trip:

[5/6/2026 3:30 PM] Crazy Cat: test
[5/6/2026 3:30 PM] Orinclaw Assistant: OpenClaw PR #78646 live watchdog proof 2026-05-06T22:30:53.827Z

Additional isolated Gateway live proof after the same patch:

branch=fix/telegram-polling-watchdog-getupdates
commit=e301533582
os=Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS
mode=isolated source-mode Gateway, port 19986, real Telegram bot token from env fallback
telegram_provider_start=[default] starting provider (@orinclaw_ai_bot)
inbound_updates=real pending Telegram DM updates consumed by Gateway poller
window=2026-05-06T22:51:45+00:00..2026-05-06T22:55:47+00:00
samples=5
health=live on every sample
ready=true failing=[] on every sample
polling_stall_count=0
getupdates_conflict_count=0
telegram_provider_start_count=1
final_health={"ok":true,"status":"live"}
final_ready={"ready":true,"failing":[]}
shutdown=clean SIGINT after validation

Before-fix long-lived reproduction on parent commit d05415d603:

scenario=active getUpdates started at t=0, unrelated non-getUpdates API success every 30s, watchdog threshold=120000ms
sample_0 t=0s result=NO_STALL
sample_1 t=30s result=NO_STALL
sample_2 t=60s result=NO_STALL
sample_3 t=90s result=NO_STALL
sample_4 t=120s result=NO_STALL
sample_135s t=135s result=NO_STALL
final_expected=STALL
final_actual=NO_STALL
reproduced_bug=stale getUpdates exceeded threshold but watchdog stayed suppressed by unrelated API liveness

• Observed result after fix: The bot successfully handled real getMe, getUpdates, and sendMessage; the watchdog returned STALL after real outbound Telegram activity; the isolated Gateway stayed live/ready across the watchdog window with one Telegram provider start, zero false Polling stall detected logs, and zero getUpdates conflict logs.
• What was not tested: I did not run a multi-hour production soak or model-response verification in the isolated test home. The isolated home intentionally had no OpenAI auth, so agent replies failed after Telegram polling consumed inbound DM updates; that auth failure is separate from Telegram polling liveness.

Human Verification (required)

• Verified scenarios: stale getUpdates with recent non-polling API success, stale getUpdates with recent in-flight non-polling API activity, stale getUpdates with newer in-flight non-polling activity, existing stale polling restart paths, pre-fix long-lived suppression reproduction, real Telegram Bot API getMe/getUpdates/sendMessage, and an isolated live Gateway Telegram polling run across the watchdog window.
• Edge cases checked: diagnostic output keeps apiElapsedMs for debugging while not using generic API liveness to suppress stale polling recovery.
• What was not tested: I did not run a multi-hour production soak or model-response verification in the isolated test home; live Telegram polling startup, real update consumption, and watchdog-window stability were verified with a real token.

Review Conversations

• I replied to or resolved every bot review conversation I addressed in this PR.
• I left unresolved only the conversations that still need reviewer or maintainer judgment.

Compatibility / Migration

• Backward compatible? Yes
• Config/env changes? No
• Migration needed? No
• If yes, exact upgrade steps: N/A

Risks and Mitigations

• Risk: Telegram polling may restart while outbound API traffic is healthy.
  • Mitigation: this is intentional; outbound API health is not inbound getUpdates health, and the watchdog threshold/throttling still bounds restarts.

Changed files

• CHANGELOG.md (modified, +1/-0)
• extensions/telegram/src/polling-liveness.test.ts (modified, +10/-6)
• extensions/telegram/src/polling-liveness.ts (modified, +31/-20)
• extensions/telegram/src/polling-session.test.ts (modified, +19/-22)