Bug type

Behavior bug (incorrect output/state without crash)

Summary

Internal hooks registered for message:sent via HOOK.md never fire for normal agent replies on any channel (Telegram, Discord, Signal, Slack, iMessage). They only fire for message tool sends (action=send). Each channel's delivery path bypasses deliverOutboundPayloads / emitMessageSent entirely.

Steps to reproduce

1. Create a HOOK.md in workspace with events: ["message:sent"]
2. Create handler.ts that logs when event fires:
   console.log([hook] message:sent fired: ${event.context?.content?.slice(0, 50)});
3. Restart gateway — hook registers successfully in logs
4. Send a message to the agent via Telegram (or any channel)
5. Agent replies normally
6. Check gateway logs — no hook log lines appear
7. Use message tool (action=send) to send a message — hook DOES fire

Expected behavior

message:sent hook should fire after every successful outbound message, including normal agent replies — not just message tool sends. The docs describe this event as firing for outbound messages generally.

Actual behavior

Hook is registered at startup (Registered hook: nmem-reply-save -> message:sent) but zero events are emitted for agent replies. The emitMessageSent function exists in deliverOutboundPayloads but is never called from channel-specific delivery paths:

• Telegram: deliverReplies → bot.api.sendMessage (bypasses deliverOutboundPayloads)
• Discord: deliverDiscordInteractionReply (bypasses deliverOutboundPayloads)
• Signal: deps.deliverReplies (bypasses deliverOutboundPayloads)
• Slack: ctx.app.client.chat.update (bypasses deliverOutboundPayloads)

Only the message tool path (action=send) goes through deliverOutboundPayloads → emitMessageSent → hook fires.

Meanwhile, message:received fires correctly for every inbound message.

OpenClaw version

2026.2.26

Operating system

MacOS Tahoe 26.3

Install method

npm global

Logs, screenshots, and evidence

Gateway startup log shows hook registered:
  "Registered hook: nmem-reply-save -> message:sent"
  "nmem-reply-save: handler loaded, listening for message:sent"

Debug logging added to handler — zero log lines appear despite many agent replies.

Comparison: `message:received` hook (nmem-autosave) fires correctly for every inbound message.

Code trace in deliver-DzVpHq63.js:
- emitMessageSent() is defined inside deliverOutboundPayloads() (line ~1138)
- It correctly calls both hookRunner.runMessageSent AND triggerInternalHook
- BUT deliverOutboundPayloads is only called from the `message` tool send path
- Channel-specific agent reply delivery (Telegram/Discord/Signal/Slack/iMessage) all use their own direct delivery functions that never call emitMessageSent

Impact and severity

Affected: All users using message:sent hooks via HOOK.md on any channel
Severity: Medium (hooks silently non-functional for primary use case)
Frequency: 100% repro — agent replies never trigger message:sent hooks
Consequence: Cannot capture outbound agent replies via hooks. Breaks use cases like conversation logging, memory sync, analytics. Users may not realize hooks aren't firing since registration succeeds without error.

Additional information

Suggested fix: Add hook emission to createReplyDispatcher / createReplyDispatcherWithTyping (single change point). After the deliver callback succeeds, call emitMessageSent with the payload content. This way all channels benefit without per-channel modifications:

// In createReplyDispatcher, wrap the deliver callback:
sendChain = sendChain.then(async () => {
await options.deliver(normalized, { kind });
// Fire message:sent hook after successful delivery
if (options.onDelivered) options.onDelivered(normalized);
});

Workaround: Using a cron job (every 30 min, Gemini Flash) to extract replies from daily notes and sync to NeuralMemory.

Channel: Telegram (tested), but code analysis shows all channels are affected.