OpenClaw Setup Guide | Local Coordinator + Telegram Execution

OPENCLAW 2026.2.25

OpenClaw Local Coordinator + Telegram Remote Ordering + Codex/Claude Execution Flow

Environment: Mac Studio M4 Max / 36GB RAM. Local model: Ollama + qwen3:8b. Execution engines: OpenAI Codex CLI and Claude Code CLI.

Goal: mobile Telegram order -> automatic execution on Mac -> result report to Telegram with auditability and control.

Core takeaway: Telegram provider does not support message read; the stable production path is hook-based event triggering.

System Architecture

Core Components

OpenClaw Gateway: ws://127.0.0.1:18789
OpenClaw Agent(main): Ollama qwen3:8b
Telegram channel via Bot API polling + DM pairing
run_task.sh / dispatch_task.sh / tg_send.sh
Hook pack: tg-exec listening to message:received

Execution Chain

Telegram receives /execjob
Hook triggers dispatch_task.sh
Task file is generated and routed to run_task.sh
Codex/Claude executes work
tg_send.sh returns result to Telegram

Telegram -> Hook(tg-exec) -> dispatch_task.sh -> run_task.sh -> Codex/Claude -> tg_send.sh -> Telegram

Timeline Summary (From Issues to Success)

1) Gateway pairing-required loop (1008)

App was repeatedly kicked with pairing required until pending device requests were approved as operator.

openclaw devices list
openclaw devices approve <request-id>

2) Cloud model switched to local Ollama

DeepSeek 32b failed tool support; qwen3:8b became stable after provider config was correctly registered.

Verification: TUI shows ollama/qwen3:8b and no OpenAI/Claude token burn.

3) Telegram replaced iMessage integration

Fixed plugin enablement, JSON syntax, token validity, and pairing flow to reach ping/pong reliability.

4) Local execution pipeline wired

Codex/Claude execution stabilized only after converting script calls to absolute paths due to launchd PATH gaps.

5) Polling dropped, hooks adopted

Because Telegram provider does not support read, the final reliable path is event-driven hook triggering.

Final Usage Method (Only /execjob)

Send this in Telegram:

/execjob
run: codex
repo: /Users/macstudio_alexxon/dev/Kircerta
task:
<Your task text...>

Supported engines: codex, claude
repo must exist locally and include .git
Outputs are returned via Telegram and persisted under ~/.openclaw/workspace/reports/

Key Files and Directories

Main config: ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json

Agent workspace: ~/.openclaw/agents/main/agent/ + USER.md

Tools: ~/.openclaw/workspace/tools/{run_task.sh,dispatch_task.sh,tg_send.sh}

Task queue: ~/.openclaw/workspace/tasks/

Reports: ~/.openclaw/workspace/reports/

Managed hooks: ~/.openclaw/hooks/openclaw-hook-tg-exec/

Key Command List

Basic health checks

openclaw gateway status
openclaw gateway health
openclaw channels status --probe
openclaw hooks list
openclaw hooks check

Telegram pairing

openclaw channels list
openclaw channels status --probe
openclaw pairing approve telegram <CODE>

Allowlist hardening

openclaw approvals allowlist add --agent main "~/.openclaw/workspace/tools/run_task.sh"
openclaw approvals allowlist add --agent main "~/.openclaw/workspace/tools/dispatch_task.sh"
openclaw approvals allowlist add --agent main "~/.openclaw/workspace/tools/tg_send.sh"
openclaw approvals allowlist add --agent main "/usr/bin/git"
openclaw approvals allowlist add --agent main "~/.nvm/versions/node/v24.13.1/bin/codex"
openclaw approvals allowlist add --agent main "~/.local/bin/claude"

Hook and web search

openclaw hooks install ~/.openclaw/hooks/tg-exec
openclaw hooks enable tg-exec
openclaw gateway restart

openclaw configure --section web
openclaw gateway restart

Common Pitfalls and Fixes

pairing required / 1008

Approve pending device requests and role-upgrade before debugging anything else.

Unknown channel: telegram

Verify channels.telegram and plugins.entries.telegram in config.

deleteWebhook 404

Token is wrong/expired; validate with Telegram getMe first.

message read unsupported

Do not use cron polling for Telegram. Use hooks only.

Codex/Claude command not found

launchd may not inherit shell PATH. Use absolute binary paths.

Claude login issue

Run ~/.local/bin/claude, then execute interactive /login.

Current Capability Boundaries

Done

Telegram remote ordering
Ollama qwen3:8b local coordinator
Codex/Claude CLI execution
Telegram callback + local report auditing
Brave Search + web_fetch