How to Enable Your Bot in Telegram Group Chats

By default, new Telegram bots are created with "Group Privacy" enabled. This prevents them from reading most messages in group chats, which means your OpenClaw bot might not respond when you invite it to a group.

To unleash your AI assistant in your family or work group chats, you need to turn off this privacy setting. Don't worry—it's very easy to do, and your AI quota is completely safe! Here is the step-by-step guide.

How to Disable Group Privacy

You can change this setting by talking to Telegram's official @BotFather, and it takes less than a minute.

1. Open @BotFather: Search for @BotFather in Telegram (look for the blue verified checkmark) and send the message /setprivacy.
2. Select Your Bot: A list of your bots will appear at the bottom. Tap the username of the bot you want to add to a group.
3. Disable Privacy: BotFather will tell you the current status (it usually says ENABLED). Tap the Disable button.
4. Success: You should see a message saying Success! The new status is: DISABLED.

That's it! Now, when you invite your bot to a Telegram group chat, it will be able to read messages and participate in the conversation.

Why Your AI Tokens Are Safe

You might be thinking: "If I add my bot to a massive group, won't strangers talking in the group drain all my API tokens and AI Quota?"

The absolute answer is: No.

Your OpenClaw server comes with a robust Group Policy built right in. Here's how it protects you:

• Strict Allowlist: Your bot is programmed to completely ignore everyone except you (and any other "Allowed User IDs" you configured in ClawSimple).
• Invisible to Strangers: If a stranger in the group tries to chat with the bot, the bot simply drops the message. It never processes it and never sends it to the AI model, costing you exactly $0.00.
• Seamless Interaction: Thanks to our latest updates, when you (the boss) speak in the group, the bot will recognize you and reply intelligently—you don't even need to type an @ mention!

So go ahead, safely add your personal AI assistant to your group chats with friends, family, or colleagues. You have total control over who gets to use it!