fix(group-chat): default visibleReplies to automatic, not message_tool_only by Marvinthebored · Pull Request #77808 · openclaw/openclaw

Marvinthebored · 2026-05-05T10:49:39Z

Summary

resolveSourceReplyDeliveryMode had an inverted guard: it treated "automatic" as the only opt-in and silently mapped every unconfigured group/channel turn to message_tool_only
Any install without messages.groupChat.visibleReplies explicitly set — the default for most users — had automatic replies suppressed in Discord guild channels, Telegram groups, and WhatsApp groups
The bot appeared to receive and process messages normally; it just never posted a reply back to the channel, with no error logged

Root cause (src/auto-reply/reply/source-reply-delivery-mode.ts line 26):

// before (broken): undefined falls through to message_tool_only
return configuredMode === "automatic" ? "automatic" : "message_tool_only";

// after (fixed): only suppress when explicitly opted in
return configuredMode === "message_tool" ? "message_tool_only" : "automatic";

Workaround for affected users on 5.4:

openclaw config set messages.groupChat.visibleReplies automatic

Test plan

Updated unit tests in source-reply-delivery-mode.test.ts to assert automatic for unconfigured group/channel turns
Existing tests covering explicit "message_tool" opt-in and "automatic" override are unchanged and still pass
Verify Discord guild channel, Telegram group, and WhatsApp group replies restore without config changes on a clean install

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

…ge_tool_only resolveSourceReplyDeliveryMode inverted the guard condition, making "automatic" the only explicit opt-in and treating every unconfigured group/channel turn as message_tool_only. This silently broke Discord guild channels, Telegram groups, and WhatsApp groups for any install that did not have messages.groupChat.visibleReplies explicitly set — the bot would receive and process messages but never post a reply. Fix: only return message_tool_only when the config explicitly sets the mode to "message_tool"; leave undefined (the common case) as automatic. Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <[email protected]>

clawsweeper · 2026-05-05T10:52:56Z

Codex review: needs real behavior proof before merge.

Summary
The PR changes resolveSourceReplyDeliveryMode and its unit tests so unset group/channel turns resolve to automatic instead of message_tool_only.

Reproducibility: yes. Source inspection on current main shows empty-config group/channel turns resolve to message_tool_only and existing dispatch tests assert no automatic final send, but that reproduces documented intended behavior rather than a confirmed bug.

Real behavior proof
Needs real behavior proof before merge: The PR body has no after-fix real Discord, Telegram, WhatsApp, terminal, log, or linked artifact proof.

Next step before merge
Maintainer/product review is needed because the PR changes a documented group/channel privacy policy and has no live behavior proof; there is no narrow automated repair besides rejecting or redesigning the change.

Security
Needs attention: The diff broadens default group/channel reply visibility and can expose normal final replies in shared rooms.

Review findings

[P1] Preserve the tool-only default for unset group rooms — src/auto-reply/reply/source-reply-delivery-mode.ts:31

Review details

Best possible solution:

Preserve the current tool-only default; if maintainers want a narrower visible-reply exception, handle it as a product-approved policy change with docs, changelog, live proof, and alignment with related PR #75327.

Do we have a high-confidence way to reproduce the issue?

Yes. Source inspection on current main shows empty-config group/channel turns resolve to message_tool_only and existing dispatch tests assert no automatic final send, but that reproduces documented intended behavior rather than a confirmed bug.

Is this the best way to solve the issue?

No. This is not the narrowest maintainable fix because it turns a documented privacy default into automatic public delivery; any change here needs an explicit product/privacy decision and matching docs/changelog.

Full review comments:

[P1] Preserve the tool-only default for unset group rooms — src/auto-reply/reply/source-reply-delivery-mode.ts:31
This changes the unset group/channel path from message_tool_only to automatic. Current docs and regression tests define unset group/channel replies as private unless the agent uses message(action=send), so this would auto-post normal final replies into shared rooms and break the existing dispatch contract.
Confidence: 0.94

Overall correctness: patch is incorrect
Overall confidence: 0.93

Security concerns:

[medium] Broadens shared-room reply visibility by default — src/auto-reply/reply/source-reply-delivery-mode.ts:31
The one-line resolver change makes unconfigured group/channel sessions post normal final replies automatically, reversing the documented message-tool-only privacy model from fix(discord): make always-on auto replies more robust #73046 and test(auto-reply): guard message-tool-only reply privacy #76661.
Confidence: 0.93

Acceptance criteria:

pnpm test src/auto-reply/reply/source-reply-delivery-mode.test.ts src/auto-reply/reply/dispatch-from-config.test.ts src/auto-reply/reply/dispatch-acp.test.ts
Live group/channel proof on any accepted policy path, preferably Discord guild plus Telegram or WhatsApp group

What I checked:

Current resolver default: On current main, group/channel turns with no explicit messages.groupChat.visibleReplies or global override resolve to message_tool_only, not automatic. (src/auto-reply/reply/source-reply-delivery-mode.ts:31, 70d92b5e59df)
Current integration coverage: dispatchReplyFromConfig tests assert default group/channel turns are message-tool-only and do not call sendFinalReply. (src/auto-reply/reply/dispatch-from-config.test.ts:4649, 70d92b5e59df)
Documented user-facing contract: The group chat docs say group/channel rooms default to messages.groupChat.visibleReplies: "message_tool" and that automatic restores legacy visible final replies. Public docs: docs/channels/groups.md. (docs/channels/groups.md:43, 70d92b5e59df)
Config type contract: The config type comment documents GroupChatConfig.visibleReplies default as "message_tool", and global messages.visibleReplies as automatic for direct chats but message-tool for groups/channels. (src/config/types.messages.ts:7, 70d92b5e59df)
Feature provenance: Merged PR fix(discord): make always-on auto replies more robust #73046 / commit 3c636208b0a00ff325e4f48d048d1fd9820f3ea0 introduced the tool-only group/channel default and docs as an intentional behavior change. Public docs: docs/channels/groups.md. (docs/channels/groups.md:43, 3c636208b0a0)
Privacy regression provenance: Merged PR test(auto-reply): guard message-tool-only reply privacy #76661 / commit 6e2f394473e625a3039eb001b2b5f9ab63f7338f explicitly added tests to preserve message-tool-only privacy and avoid auto-routing normal final output. (src/auto-reply/reply/dispatch-from-config.test.ts:4673, 6e2f394473e6)

Likely related people:

scoootscooob: Authored merged PR fix(discord): make always-on auto replies more robust #73046 / commit 3c636208b0a00ff325e4f48d048d1fd9820f3ea0, which intentionally made group/channel visible replies message-tool-only by default, and later PR fix(doctor): persist group visible reply default #76513 persisted that default through doctor repair. (role: introduced behavior; confidence: high; commits: 3c636208b0a0, 85e4ec1fb1ac; files: docs/channels/groups.md, src/config/types.messages.ts, src/auto-reply/reply/dispatch-from-config.ts)
steipete: Authored merged PR test(auto-reply): guard message-tool-only reply privacy #76661 / commit 6e2f394473e625a3039eb001b2b5f9ab63f7338f, adding regression coverage that preserves message-tool-only privacy for same-provider group/channel final replies. (role: recent maintainer; confidence: high; commits: 6e2f394473e6, 70d92b5e59df; files: src/auto-reply/reply/dispatch-from-config.test.ts, src/auto-reply/reply/dispatch-acp.test.ts)

Remaining risk / open question:

Changing this default without maintainer approval can expose normal assistant final replies in shared group/channel rooms, reversing the current privacy contract.
The PR provides no after-fix real behavior proof from Discord, Telegram, or WhatsApp despite changing live channel delivery behavior.
The source branch is currently dirty/unmergeable, so it cannot merge as-is.

Codex review notes: model gpt-5.5, reasoning high; reviewed against 70d92b5e59df.

Marvinthebored · 2026-05-05T23:14:42Z

Closing — the reviewer is correct. The message_tool_only default is intentional (introduced in #73046 as a group chat privacy feature, preserved in #76661). This PR was based on a misread of the behavior as a regression. Affected users should set messages.groupChat.visibleReplies: "automatic" explicitly if they want the old auto-reply behavior in group/channel rooms.

openclaw-barnacle Bot added size: XS triage: needs-real-behavior-proof Candidate: external PR needs after-fix proof from a real setup. labels May 5, 2026

Marvinthebored closed this May 5, 2026

dalu610 mentioned this pull request May 6, 2026

fix: deliver group/channel replies automatically when bot is @mentioned #75327

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fix(group-chat): default visibleReplies to automatic, not message_tool_only#77808

fix(group-chat): default visibleReplies to automatic, not message_tool_only#77808
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Marvinthebored commented May 5, 2026

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