📱 Quick way to verify your Telegram channel is working

If your OpenClaw bot stops responding on Telegram, the first thing to check is whether the channel is still connected. Instead of digging through logs, run:

openclaw channels status --probe

This probes each enabled channel and reports health. For Telegram, you should see something like telegram: ok if the bot is connected and reachable. If you see telegram: error or a timeout, the most common causes are:

1. Gateway not running — Restart with openclaw start or your daemon (LaunchAgent, systemd).
2. Bot token invalid — Re-check your channels.telegram.botToken in openclaw.json. Make sure there are no extra spaces or typos.
3. DM policy blocking you — If you're using paired-only or an allowlist, ensure your Telegram user ID is included.

Once the status shows ok, send a test message to your bot. If it still doesn't respond, check openclaw logs --follow while you send a message to see the raw events.