Summary

• Problem: Telegram DM context assembly used a hardcoded recent history limit of 10, and the Conversation Context block was injected without a config-level control.
• Why it matters: Telegram DM could include prior user messages in the current agent input, unlike the expected behavior observed in Discord DM where only the current user message is delivered.
• What changed: Added Telegram configuration options to control DM history injection and Conversation Context injection.
• What did NOT change (scope boundary): Existing behavior is preserved by default. If the new options are not set, the previous hardcoded history limit of 10 remains the default, and Conversation Context injection remains enabled.

Change Type (select all)

• Bug fix
• Feature
• Refactor required for the fix
• Docs
• Security hardening
• Chore/infra

Scope (select all touched areas)

• Gateway / orchestration
• Skills / tool execution
• Auth / tokens
• Memory / storage
• Integrations
• API / contracts
• UI / DX
• CI/CD / infra

Linked Issue/PR

• Closes #
• Related #
• This PR fixes a bug or regression

Real behavior proof (required for external PRs)

External contributors must show after-fix evidence from a real OpenClaw setup. Unit tests, mocks, lint, typechecks, snapshots, and CI are supplemental only. Screenshots are encouraged even for CLI, console, text, or log changes; terminal screenshots and copied live output count. Be mindful of private information like IP addresses, API keys, phone numbers, non-public endpoints, or other private details when providing evidence.

• Behavior or issue addressed:

  • Telegram DM context assembly could inject prior recent messages and the Conversation Context block into the current agent input.
  • The recent DM history limit was hardcoded to 10.
  • There was no config-level control to disable the Conversation Context block.

• Real environment tested:

  • OS: Linux Host
  • OpenClaw version: main as of 2026-05-17
  • Runtime/container: Host runtime, built locally from source
  • Integration/channel: Telegram DM
  • Relevant config:
    • channels.telegram.dmRecentLimit: 0
    • channels.telegram.conversationContext: false

• Exact steps or command run after this patch:

  1. Built OpenClaw locally from the patched source.
  2. Started OpenClaw with Telegram DM configured.
  3. Set channels.telegram.dmRecentLimit to 0.
  4. Set channels.telegram.conversationContext to false.
  5. Sent a Telegram DM message to the agent.
  6. Verified that only the current user message was delivered, matching the expected behavior observed in Discord DM.

• Evidence after fix (screenshot, recording, terminal capture, console output, redacted runtime log, linked artifact, or copied live output):

  • Screenshot attached to this PR.

• Observed result after fix:

  • Telegram DM delivered only the current user message.
  • Previous Telegram DM history was not injected.
  • The Conversation Context block was not injected.
  • This matches the expected behavior observed in Discord DM.

• What was not tested:

  • Telegram group/channel behavior was not manually verified.
  • Non-Telegram integrations were not manually verified beyond the Discord DM comparison.

• Before evidence (optional but encouraged):

  • Screenshot attached if available.

Root Cause (if applicable)

For bug fixes or regressions, explain why this happened, not just what changed. Otherwise write N/A. If the cause is unclear, write Unknown.

• Root cause:

  • Telegram DM context assembly used a hardcoded recent history limit of 10 and always injected the Conversation Context block.

• Missing detection / guardrail:

  • There was no config-level guardrail to tune or disable Telegram DM history/context injection.

• Contributing context (if known):

  • The original behavior is preserved by default.
  • This PR follows the existing implementation rule and only exposes configuration controls for operators.

Regression Test Plan (if applicable)

For bug fixes or regressions, name the smallest reliable test coverage that should catch this. Otherwise write N/A.

• Coverage level that should have caught this:

  • Unit test
  • Seam / integration test
  • End-to-end test
  • Existing coverage already sufficient

• Target test or file:

  • Context/config assembly tests for Telegram DM history and conversation context behavior.

• Scenario the test should lock in:

  • Default config preserves the existing recent DM history limit of 10.
  • channels.telegram.dmRecentLimit: 0 disables Telegram DM history injection.
  • channels.telegram.conversationContext: false disables Conversation Context injection.
  • Configured behavior applies without changing other channel defaults.

• Why this is the smallest reliable guardrail:

  • The behavior is determined at the Telegram DM context assembly/config boundary, so validating that boundary is enough to catch regressions without requiring a full Telegram network E2E test.

• Existing test that already covers this (if any):

  • None known.

• If no new test is added, why not:

  • Manual verification was performed against a real Telegram DM setup. Automated coverage should be added at the Telegram DM context assembly/config boundary where this behavior is determined.

User-visible / Behavior Changes

Existing defaults are unchanged.

New Telegram config options allow operators to:

• configure Telegram DM history injection with channels.telegram.dmRecentLimit
• disable Telegram Conversation Context injection with channels.telegram.conversationContext: false

No migration is required. Existing deployments keep the same behavior unless the new config options are explicitly set.

Diagram (if applicable)

Before:
[Telegram DM user message]
  -> [Telegram DM context assembly]
  -> [hardcoded 10 recent DM messages + Conversation Context injected]
  -> [agent input]

After:
[Telegram DM user message]
  -> [Telegram DM context assembly]
  -> [Telegram config checked]
  -> [configured DM history + optional Conversation Context injection]
  -> [agent input]

Security Impact (required)

• New permissions/capabilities? (Yes/No): No
• Secrets/tokens handling changed? (Yes/No): No
• New/changed network calls? (Yes/No): No
• Command/tool execution surface changed? (Yes/No): No
• Data access scope changed? (Yes/No): Yes
• If any Yes, explain risk + mitigation:
  • The amount of Telegram DM history and conversation context injected into the agent input is now configurable.
  • Defaults preserve existing behavior.
  • Operators can reduce injected context by setting channels.telegram.dmRecentLimit.
  • Operators can disable the Conversation Context block with channels.telegram.conversationContext: false.

Repro + Verification

Environment

• OS: Linux Host
• Runtime/container: Host runtime, built locally from source
• Model/provider: N/A
• Integration/channel (if any): Telegram DM
• Relevant config (redacted):
  • channels.telegram.dmRecentLimit: 0
  • channels.telegram.conversationContext: false

Steps

1. Build OpenClaw locally from the patched source.
2. Start OpenClaw with Telegram DM configured.
3. Set channels.telegram.dmRecentLimit to 0.
4. Set channels.telegram.conversationContext to false.
5. Send a Telegram DM message to the configured agent.
6. Compare the resulting agent input with the expected Discord DM behavior.

Expected

• Telegram DM should deliver only the current user message when channels.telegram.dmRecentLimit: 0.
• Telegram DM should not inject the Conversation Context block when channels.telegram.conversationContext: false.
• The result should match the expected Discord DM behavior where only the current user message is delivered.

Actual

• OpenClaw built successfully from patched source.
• With channels.telegram.dmRecentLimit: 0, Telegram DM history was not injected.
• With channels.telegram.conversationContext: false, the Conversation Context block was not injected.
• Telegram DM input contained only the current user message, matching the expected Discord DM behavior.

Evidence

Attach at least one:

• Failing test/log before + passing after
• Trace/log snippets
• Screenshot/recording
• Perf numbers (if relevant)

Human Verification (required)

What you personally verified (not just CI), and how:

• Verified scenarios:

  • Built OpenClaw from patched source.
  • Sent a real Telegram DM to the configured agent.
  • Verified channels.telegram.dmRecentLimit: 0 disables Telegram DM history injection.
  • Verified channels.telegram.conversationContext: false disables the Conversation Context block.
  • Verified the resulting Telegram DM behavior matches Discord DM behavior where only the current user message is delivered.
  • Verified that leaving the new options unset preserves the original default behavior, including the previous history limit of 10.

• Edge cases checked:

  • Missing config uses existing defaults.
  • The previous hardcoded limit of 10 remains the default.
  • Setting channels.telegram.dmRecentLimit: 0 disables Telegram DM history injection.
  • Setting channels.telegram.conversationContext: false disables the Conversation Context block.

• What you did not verify:

  • Telegram group/channel behavior.
  • All non-Telegram integrations.

Review Conversations

• I replied to or resolved every bot review conversation I addressed in this PR.
• I left unresolved only the conversations that still need reviewer or maintainer judgment.

If a bot review conversation is addressed by this PR, resolve that conversation yourself. Do not leave bot review conversation cleanup for maintainers.

Compatibility / Migration

• Backward compatible? (Yes/No): Yes
• Config/env changes? (Yes/No): Yes
• Migration needed? (Yes/No): No
• If yes, exact upgrade steps:
  • No migration is required.
  • Existing deployments keep the same behavior unless the new config options are explicitly set.
  • If the new options are not set, Telegram DM history continues to use the previous default limit of 10 and Conversation Context injection remains enabled.

Risks and Mitigations

• Risk:

  • Operators may set a larger Telegram DM history limit than necessary, increasing token usage or exposing more prior conversation context to the model.
  • Mitigation:
    • Existing default remains 10.
    • Operators can reduce the value or set it to 0 when Telegram DM history injection is not desired.

• Risk:

  • Disabling Telegram Conversation Context injection may reduce continuity for some Telegram DM conversations.
  • Mitigation:
    • The setting is opt-in.
    • Existing behavior remains enabled by default.

AI Assistance Disclosure

AI-assisted: Used Codex for implementation assistance and ChatGPT for PR wording/review planning. I manually reviewed the code, built OpenClaw locally, and verified the behavior in a real Telegram DM setup.