OpenClaw becomes far more useful when you can talk to it from your phone. Connecting it to Telegram takes about ten minutes with a bot token; WhatsApp pairing takes a little longer and comes with caveats you should know first. This guide covers both on a Hostinger setup.
New to OpenClaw on Hostinger? Start with our OpenClaw hub: you can run it as a managed app on the AI Automation plan or as a one-click template on a VPS. The chat integrations below work on either.
How OpenClaw chat channels work
OpenClaw supports messaging “channels” — connectors that let an agent send and receive messages through Telegram, WhatsApp, Discord, and others. You enable a channel in OpenClaw’s configuration, provide that channel’s credentials, and restart. Each channel is independent: you can run Telegram and WhatsApp side by side and talk to the same agent from both.
Part 1 — Connect Telegram
Step 1 — Create a bot with BotFather
- Open Telegram and start a chat with @BotFather (the official bot-creation bot).
- Send /newbot, choose a display name, then choose a username ending in bot (for example, myclaw_bot).
- BotFather replies with an HTTP API token — a long string. Copy it immediately and treat it like a password: anyone with the token controls your bot.
Step 2 — Add the token to OpenClaw
In your OpenClaw configuration file, enable the Telegram channel with your token:
{
"channels": {
"telegram": {
"enabled": true,
"botToken": "PASTE_YOUR_BOTFATHER_TOKEN_HERE"
}
}
}On the managed Hostinger app, look for the channels or integrations section in the app’s settings panel rather than editing files by hand. On the VPS template, the config file is wherever your OpenClaw install keeps it — check the template’s documentation.
Step 3 — Start the conversation
- Restart OpenClaw so it picks up the new channel.
- In Telegram, open your bot and press Start (or send /start).
- Send a test message like “hello”. If the agent replies, the channel works.
- Lock it down: restrict the bot to your own Telegram user ID (an allowlist setting in most OpenClaw builds). A public bot that anyone can message is a security hole — do this before anything else.
Part 2 — Connect WhatsApp
WhatsApp works differently: instead of a bot token, OpenClaw links to WhatsApp the way the WhatsApp Web client does — by pairing your OpenClaw instance as a linked device on a phone number.
Step 1 — Enable the WhatsApp channel
In the OpenClaw configuration, enable the WhatsApp channel:
{
"channels": {
"whatsapp": {
"enabled": true
}
}
}Step 2 — Pair with your phone number
- Restart OpenClaw. On first start with WhatsApp enabled, it generates a pairing code (shown in the logs or the app panel).
- On your phone, open WhatsApp → Settings → Linked Devices → Link a Device, and enter the pairing code.
- OpenClaw appears as a linked device. Messages you send to the paired number (or that the agent sends) now flow through OpenClaw.
Step 3 — Test and secure
Send a message to the paired number and confirm the agent responds. As with Telegram, restrict which chats the agent answers — an agent that replies to every incoming WhatsApp message will surprise you at 3 a.m.
Important caveats for WhatsApp
- Unofficial automation risk: WhatsApp does not offer a free official bot API for this use case, so OpenClaw connects like a regular device. WhatsApp has banned numbers for automation-like behavior. Use a secondary number, not your main personal or business line, and keep message volumes human.
- Session expiry: linked-device sessions can expire and need re-pairing. If the agent suddenly stops answering on WhatsApp, check the pairing first.
- Telegram is the safer default: Telegram’s Bot API is official and designed for bots. If you only need one channel, choose Telegram.
Security checklist for both channels
- Never share your BotFather token or pairing codes publicly, and never commit them to Git.
- Allowlist your own user/chat IDs so strangers cannot command your agent.
- Be careful what powers you give an agent reachable by chat — an agent that can run shell commands and answers messages is powerful in the wrong hands.
- On the managed Hostinger plan, keep the app updated; on the VPS template, update OpenClaw itself regularly.
Useful first automations once chat works
With a channel connected, start with read-only tasks to build trust in the setup before granting real powers. Good first automations: a morning briefing message (calendar events, unread email count, today’s tasks), server health summaries from your Hostinger VPS (disk, memory, Docker status) delivered to Telegram each evening, and n8n workflow failure alerts forwarded to WhatsApp so you notice breakages fast. Keep the agent’s permissions narrow at first — reading and summarizing — and only expand to actions like restarting services after the basics have run reliably for a couple of weeks. Each new capability should come with its own allowlist review: who can trigger it, and what is the worst case if it triggers wrongly?
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a second phone number for the WhatsApp connection?
Strongly recommended. Because WhatsApp may restrict numbers that behave like bots, pair a secondary or dedicated number rather than the personal or business number you cannot afford to lose.
Can one Telegram bot serve a group chat?
Yes — add the bot to the group and configure OpenClaw to listen there. Be deliberate about permissions: a group-visible agent with broad powers and many members is a risk. Start with a private chat.
Is it safe to let OpenClaw read my WhatsApp messages?
Understand the tradeoff: the agent needs message access to be useful, which means sensitive chat content passes through it. Keep the instance private, allowlist chats, and do not connect an agent with destructive powers to message history you care about.
Telegram or WhatsApp — which should I set up first?
Telegram. The Bot API is official, setup is a single token, sessions do not expire, and there is no ban risk. Add WhatsApp later only if you specifically need to reach people where they already chat.