Summary

When a Telegram photo/screenshot is sent to the Openclaw bot, the bot replies ⚠️ Failed to download media. Please try again. even though Telegram media download is otherwise reachable from the host in standalone Node fetch tests.

Steps to reproduce

1. Start Openclaw gateway on macOS.
2. Ensure Telegram channel is connected.
3. Send a screenshot/photo to Openclaw bot.
4. Observe reply: ⚠️ Failed to download media. Please try again.

Expected behavior

The Openclaw bot should download and process the Telegram media attachment successfully.

Actual behavior

Openclaw bot repeatedly fails media processing with MediaFetchError:
• MediaFetchError: Failed to fetch media from https://api.telegram.org/file/.../photos/file_###.jpg: TypeError: fetch failed
• user-visible output: ⚠️ Failed to download media. Please try again.

OpenClaw version

2026.2.22-2

Operating system

macOS 26.2 (Apple Silicon)

Install method

Global npm install/rollback: • npm install -g openclaw@ --force

Logs, screenshots, and evidence

Observed in /tmp/openclaw/openclaw-2026-02-23.log:

• MediaFetchError: Failed to fetch media .../photos/file_212.jpg: TypeError: fetch failed
• module path: telegram-auto-reply
• methods seen: processInboundMessage
• stack locations observed:
  • reply-CdjLMJxg.js:38486
  • subagent-registry-BCf5fWt9.js:57260

Impact and severity

High impact for media-first workflows: every screenshot/photo sent to Openclaw bot is blocked from processing.

Additional information

• channels.telegram.streaming set to boolean false (not a string).
• channels.telegram.network.autoSelectFamily set to false.
• Direct Node fetch to the same Telegram file URL succeeds outside Openclaw runtime, suggesting an internal Openclaw Telegram media-fetch path issue.