Description

Intermittent TypeError: fetch failed when downloading photos from Telegram media groups (multiple photos sent at once). Single photo messages work fine.

Environment

• OpenClaw: 2026.3.1 (stable)
• Node.js: 25.6.1 (arm64, macOS 26.3)
• OS: macOS Sequoia 26.3 (Apple Silicon)

Error

[telegram] media group: skipping photo that failed to fetch: MediaFetchError: Failed to fetch media from https://api.telegram.org/file/bot<token>/photos/file_XXXX.jpg: TypeError: fetch failed

Frequency

• 5 failures across 8 days (Feb 26 – Mar 4)
• Only happens with media groups (multiple photos), never single photo messages
• 1 out of N photos in a group fails, rest download fine

Root cause suspicion

Node.js 25 undici HTTP client + IPv6 resolution. When multiple concurrent fetches hit api.telegram.org, one occasionally fails due to IPv6/IPv4 race condition.

Workarounds applied (partial fix)

1. /etc/hosts: 149.154.166.110 api.telegram.org (force IPv4)
2. NODE_OPTIONS=--dns-result-order=ipv4first in LaunchAgent plist
3. Patched all ssrf-*.js files: added family: 4 to dispatcher options
4. These reduced frequency but didn't eliminate it completely

Related

• [Bug]: Telegram photo/media download fails in Openclaw bot with MediaFetchError: TypeError: fetch failed #24854 (IPv6 media download bug)

Suggestion

Consider adding a retry mechanism for media group photo downloads — if one fetch fails, retry once before skipping. This would eliminate the user-visible error for intermittent network issues.