Summary

The current Telegram draft streaming (channels.telegram.streamMode) only works in private chats with topics enabled (forum topic mode), which requires message_thread_id in incoming messages. This is a Telegram Bot API constraint.

However, the primary way users interact with Clawdbot via Telegram is regular 1:1 DMs, which don't support topics. This makes the draft streaming feature effectively unusable for the main use case.

Proposal

Implement edit-based streaming as an alternative streaming mode for Telegram:

1. Send an initial message with partial content (e.g., "▌" or first chunk)
2. Edit the message repeatedly as more tokens arrive
3. Final edit removes any cursor indicator

Suggested config

{
  channels: {
    telegram: {
      streamMode: "edit"  // new mode alongside "partial" | "block" | "off"
    }
  }
}

Or a separate setting to decouple from draft streaming:

{
  channels: {
    telegram: {
      editStreaming: {
        enabled: true,
        minChars: 50,      // don't edit until buffer >= N chars
        intervalMs: 500,   // minimum time between edits (rate limit protection)
        showCursor: true   // append ▌ while generating
      }
    }
  }
}

Considerations

• Rate limits: Telegram Bot API limits editMessageText calls. Need throttling (e.g., max 1 edit per 500ms or adaptive based on 429 responses).
• UX: Edited messages don't trigger notifications, so this is clean for the user.
• Fallback: If edit fails (e.g., message too old, rate limited), fall back to sending final message normally.
• Compatibility: Should work in both DMs and groups.

References

• Current streaming docs: https://docs.clawd.bot/concepts/streaming
• Telegram channel docs: https://docs.clawd.bot/channels/telegram