> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.openlegion.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Channels > Connect agents to Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Webhook, and CLI Chat with your agent fleet via **CLI REPL**, **Telegram**, **Discord**, **Slack**, **WhatsApp**, or **Webhook**. Channels provide a unified interface for interacting with agents from any platform. ## Activation: token-presence, not a flag Channels auto-start as soon as the mesh resolves a usable token. There is no separate `enabled: true` flag — drop a token in and the channel comes up on next `openlegion start`. The mesh looks for each channel's bot token in this order: 1. `OPENLEGION_SYSTEM_` (mesh-tier env) 2. `OPENLEGION_CRED_` (agent-tier env) 3. Bare env (e.g., `TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN`) 4. `mesh.yaml` `channels..bot_token` ## Pairing On startup, each active channel prints a one-time pairing code to the console. Send `/start ` from your account in that channel to claim the channel — the first user to pair becomes the channel owner. After pairing, the channel persists the owner mapping (e.g., `config/telegram_paired.json` for Telegram). ## Supported Channels | Channel | Auth | Notes | | ------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **CLI REPL** | Built-in | Default channel. Full slash command set (see [CLI Reference](/reference/cli)). | | **Telegram** | `OPENLEGION_CRED_TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN` | Bot API. **4000-char chunks**. Optional `allowed_users` list. | | **Discord** | `OPENLEGION_CRED_DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN` | **1900-char chunks**. Native slash commands + `!` prefix fallback. **`/addkey` is intentionally NOT a slash command** — slash-command arguments are visible in the channel transcript, so `!addkey` (bang-prefix) is used instead. Requires Message Content Intent + `bot` and `applications.commands` OAuth scopes. | | **Slack** | `OPENLEGION_CRED_SLACK_BOT_TOKEN` (`xoxb-`) **and** `OPENLEGION_CRED_SLACK_APP_TOKEN` (`xapp-`) | Socket Mode only (via `slack-bolt`). No public URL needed. **3000-char chunks**. Per-user routing keyed on `user_id:thread_ts`. | | **WhatsApp** | `OPENLEGION_CRED_WHATSAPP_ACCESS_TOKEN` + `_PHONE_NUMBER_ID` | Cloud API on Graph v21.0. **Text only — non-text content (images, audio, documents) is dropped silently.** See caveats below. | | **Webhook** | Dashboard-created hook | `POST /webhook/hook/`. Body cap 1MB; payload truncated to 3000 chars on dispatch. Optional HMAC-SHA256 via `x-webhook-signature`. **Creation is dashboard-only** — there is no `/mesh/webhooks` endpoint. | ## Channel Configuration API tokens are stored as environment variables: ```bash theme={null} # Telegram OPENLEGION_CRED_TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=123456:ABC... # Discord OPENLEGION_CRED_DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN=MTIz... # Slack (both required) OPENLEGION_CRED_SLACK_BOT_TOKEN=xoxb-... OPENLEGION_CRED_SLACK_APP_TOKEN=xapp-... # WhatsApp OPENLEGION_CRED_WHATSAPP_ACCESS_TOKEN=EAAx... OPENLEGION_CRED_WHATSAPP_PHONE_NUMBER_ID=1234... WHATSAPP_APP_SECRET=... # REQUIRED in production OPENLEGION_SYSTEM_WHATSAPP_VERIFY_TOKEN=... # strongly recommended ``` Per-channel options (default agent, allowed users, etc.) live under `channels.` in `config/mesh.yaml`: ```yaml theme={null} channels: telegram: default_agent: assistant allowed_users: [12345678] discord: default_agent: assistant ``` ## WhatsApp caveats WhatsApp is the channel with the most operational gotchas: * **Graph v21.0** Cloud API only. * **Text-only.** Inbound non-text messages (images, audio, documents, stickers, locations) are dropped — the agent never sees them. * **`WHATSAPP_APP_SECRET` is required in production.** The webhook handler verifies inbound payloads with HMAC-SHA256. **If `MESH_AUTH_TOKEN` is set and `WHATSAPP_APP_SECRET` is missing, the channel raises `RuntimeError` at startup** — it will not silently run unauthenticated. * The verify token **regenerates on every restart** unless you set `OPENLEGION_SYSTEM_WHATSAPP_VERIFY_TOKEN` explicitly. Set it so your Meta-side webhook config stays stable. ## Channel Commands These commands work across all channels (CLI commands are documented in the [CLI Reference](/reference/cli)): | Command | Description | | --------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `@agent ` | Send message to a specific agent | | `/use ` | Switch your active agent for this channel/user | | `/status` | Show fleet status | | `/costs` | Show today's LLM spend | | `/reset` | Clear conversation with active agent | | `/broadcast ` | Send message to all agents (project-scoped in dashboard) | | `/steer ` | Inject a message into a busy agent's context (rate-limited) | | `/addkey [key]` | Add an API credential to the vault (Discord: bang-prefix `!addkey`) | | `/help` | Show available commands | | `/quit`, `/exit` | (CLI only) leave the REPL | CLI-only commands (not available in messaging channels): `/add`, `/agent`, `/remove`, `/restart`, `/history`, `/blackboard`, `/queue`, `/cron`, `/project`, `/credential`, `/removekey`, `/logs`, `/traces` (alias `/debug`). ## Per-channel routing semantics Routing semantics differ slightly per channel: * **Telegram / Discord**: per-user. Each user's messages route to the agent they've `/use`-d. * **Slack**: composite `user_id:thread_ts`. The same user gets a separate active-agent per thread. * **WhatsApp**: per-user, keyed on phone number. * **CLI**: single-user (the REPL session itself).