Principle:Openclaw Openclaw Channel Registration
| Knowledge Sources | |
|---|---|
| Domains | Messaging, Configuration, Gateway |
| Last Updated | 2026-02-06 12:00 GMT |
Overview
Channel registration is the process of mapping platform credentials to a persistent configuration entry, validating the connection parameters, and writing the account configuration so the gateway can activate the channel.
Description
After credential acquisition, the operator must register the channel with the OpenClaw gateway. Registration involves three distinct steps: resolving which channel plugin handles the platform, mapping the raw credential inputs into the plugin's configuration schema, and persisting the resulting configuration to the OpenClaw config file.
Each channel is identified by a ChannelId (e.g., "telegram", "discord", "slack") and supports multiple named accounts under the same channel type. The account identifier defaults to "default" but can be customized to allow multiple bots of the same platform to run simultaneously. The registration pipeline normalizes the account ID, resolves the channel plugin from the plugin registry, validates the input via the plugin's validateInput hook, and then delegates to the plugin's applyAccountConfig hook to produce the final configuration object.
The configuration mutator (applyChannelAccountConfig) acts as the bridge between the generic CLI input and the platform-specific config shape. It constructs a ChannelSetupInput record and passes it to the plugin's setup adapter, which knows how to merge the new account credentials into the existing config without disturbing other channels or accounts. The resulting OpenClawConfig is then written atomically to disk via writeConfigFile.
Usage
Channel registration is invoked through the openclaw channels add CLI command. It is the primary entry point for connecting new messaging platforms to an OpenClaw gateway instance. The registration principle also applies when updating an existing channel's credentials, since the same applyAccountConfig pathway handles both creation and update.
Theoretical Basis
The registration model follows the plugin-delegated mutation pattern:
- Plugin resolution -- The channel ID is normalized and matched against the plugin registry. If the channel is an extension (not built-in), the plugin is installed on demand.
- Input validation -- The plugin's
validateInputhook checks that all required fields are present and correctly formatted. Validation errors halt registration before any config mutation occurs. - Config mutation -- The plugin's
applyAccountConfighook receives the current config, account ID, and setup input, then returns a new config object with the account entry added or updated. - Atomic persistence -- The mutated config is written to disk, completing registration. The gateway picks up the change on next reload or restart.
This architecture ensures that the core registration pipeline never needs to understand platform-specific credential shapes. All platform knowledge lives in the channel plugin, making the system extensible to new platforms via the extension mechanism.