[Bug] Group messages blocked with `not-allowed` — all bots, plain group OpenClaw version: v2026.5.6 Gateway: ai.openclaw.gateway, port 18789, managed via launchctl Proxy port: 18790 #195125

Alphaisinthewild · 2026-05-07T09:05:52Z

Alphaisinthewild
May 7, 2026

🏷️ Discussion Type

Bug

Body

Issue

All 6 bots are refusing to post to a plain Telegram group. Every message is silently skipped with:

skipping group message — reason: not-allowed — chatId: -5281937474

DMs to the bots work perfectly. The issue is isolated to the group.

Setup

Plain group (not supergroup/forum): TheWolfPack, group ID -5281937474
All 6 bots are admins in the group
Pairing is approved for all bots
Bot tokens are configured in openclaw.json
Tried a supergroup with forum/topics mode first — that's a known OpenClaw bug, so we switched to a plain group. Same result.

What we've ruled out

Not a DM issue (DMs work fine)
Not a pairing issue (all approved)
Not a forum-mode issue (this is a plain group)
No config change has resolved it

Bots affected
@AlphasJuno_bot, @minerva_wolfpack_bot, @calypso_wolfpack_bot, @atlas_wolfpack_bot, @ares_wolfpack_bot, @titan_wolfpack_bot

here is my json (minus sensitive info)

{
"agents": {
"defaults": {
"workspace": "/Users/alpha/.openclaw/workspace",
"model": {
"primary": "ollama/qwen2.5:32b"
},
"models": {
"ollama/llama3.1:8b": {},
"ollama/qwen2.5:32b": {},
"ollama/qwen2.5:14b": {},
"ollama/deepseek-coder:33b": {},
"ollama/qwen2.5:72b-instruct-q2_K": {}
},
"params": {
"name": "Juno"
}
},
"list": [
{ "id": "main" },
{ "id": "minerva", "name": "minerva", "model": "ollama/qwen2.5:32b" },
{ "id": "calypso", "name": "calypso", "model": "ollama/qwen2.5:14b" },
{ "id": "atlas", "name": "atlas", "model": "ollama/qwen2.5:32b" },
{ "id": "ares", "name": "ares", "model": "ollama/qwen2.5:72b-instruct-q2_K" },
{ "id": "tuesday", "name": "tuesday", "model": "ollama/qwen2.5:32b" },
{ "id": "titan", "name": "titan", "model": "ollama/qwen2.5:32b" }
]
},
"gateway": {
"mode": "local",
"auth": { "mode": "token", "token": "[REDACTED]" },
"port": 18789,
"bind": "loopback",
"tailscale": { "mode": "off", "resetOnExit": false },
"nodes": {
"denyCommands": [
"camera.snap", "camera.clip", "screen.record",
"contacts.add", "calendar.add", "reminders.add",
"sms.send", "sms.search"
]
},
"http": {
"endpoints": { "chatCompletions": { "enabled": true } }
}
},
"session": {
"dmScope": "per-channel-peer"
},
"tools": {
"profile": "messaging",
"alsoAllow": ["message", "message.send", "chat.send"],
"agentToAgent": {
"enabled": true,
"allow": ["main", "minerva", "calypso", "atlas", "ares", "titan"]
}
},
"models": {
"mode": "merge",
"providers": {
"ollama": {
"baseUrl": "http://192.168.50.50:11434",
"api": "ollama",
"apiKey": "[REDACTED]",
"models": [
{ "id": "deepseek-coder:33b", "contextWindow": 131072, "maxTokens": 8192 },
{ "id": "qwen2.5:32b", "contextWindow": 131072, "maxTokens": 8192 },
{ "id": "qwen2.5:14b", "contextWindow": 131072, "maxTokens": 8192 },
{ "id": "qwen2.5:72b-instruct-q2_K", "contextWindow": 131072, "maxTokens": 8192 }
]
}
}
},
"plugins": {
"entries": {
"ollama": { "enabled": true },
"anthropic": { "enabled": true },
"telegram": { "enabled": true },
"discord": { "enabled": true }
},
"allow": ["discord", "telegram", "ollama", "anthropic", "memory-core"],
"bundledDiscovery": "compat"
},
"channels": {
"telegram": {
"enabled": true,
"accounts": {
"default": {
"botToken": "[REDACTED]",
"groups": {
"-1003961752231": {
"enabled": true,
"requireMention": false,
"groupPolicy": "open",
"topics": {
"1": { "requireMention": false, "enabled": true },
"3": { "enabled": false },
"4": { "enabled": false },
"5": { "enabled": false },
"6": { "enabled": false },
"7": { "enabled": false }
}
},
"-5281937474": {
"enabled": true,
"requireMention": false,
"groupPolicy": "open"
}
},
"groupPolicy": "open",
"dmPolicy": "open",
"allowFrom": ["[REDACTED_USER_ID]", "*"]
},
"minerva": {
"botToken": "[REDACTED]",
"groups": {
"-1003961752231": {
"enabled": true, "requireMention": true, "groupPolicy": "open",
"topics": { "3": { "requireMention": false, "enabled": true } }
}
}
},
"calypso": {
"botToken": "[REDACTED]",
"groups": {
"-1003961752231": {
"enabled": true, "requireMention": true, "groupPolicy": "open",
"topics": { "6": { "requireMention": false, "enabled": true } }
}
}
},
"atlas": {
"botToken": "[REDACTED]",
"groups": {
"-1003961752231": {
"enabled": true, "requireMention": true, "groupPolicy": "open",
"topics": { "4": { "requireMention": false, "enabled": true } }
}
}
},
"ares": {
"botToken": "[REDACTED]",
"groups": {
"-1003961752231": {
"enabled": true, "requireMention": true, "groupPolicy": "open",
"topics": { "5": { "requireMention": false, "enabled": true } }
}
}
},
"titan": {
"botToken": "[REDACTED]",
"groups": {
"-1003961752231": {
"enabled": true, "requireMention": true, "groupPolicy": "open",
"topics": { "7": { "requireMention": false, "enabled": true } }
}
}
}
},
"groupPolicy": "open",
"groups": {
"-5281937474": {
"enabled": true,
"requireMention": false,
"groupPolicy": "open"
}
}
}
},
"messages": {
"groupChat": { "visibleReplies": "message_tool" }
},
"bindings": [
{ "agentId": "main", "match": { "channel": "telegram", "accountId": "default" } },
{ "agentId": "minerva", "match": { "channel": "telegram", "accountId": "minerva" } },
{ "agentId": "calypso", "match": { "channel": "telegram", "accountId": "calypso" } },
{ "agentId": "atlas", "match": { "channel": "telegram", "accountId": "atlas" } },
{ "agentId": "ares", "match": { "channel": "telegram", "accountId": "ares" } },
{ "agentId": "titan", "match": { "channel": "telegram", "accountId": "titan" } }
],
"commands": {
"ownerAllowFrom": ["telegram:[REDACTED_USER_ID]"]
},
"wizard": {
"lastRunVersion": "2026.5.6",
"lastRunCommand": "doctor",
"lastRunMode": "local"
},
"meta": {
"lastTouchedVersion": "2026.5.6",
"lastTouchedAt": "2026-05-07T08:49:52.820Z"
}
}

Question
Is there a known setting, permission flag, or config key that controls whether bots are allowed to receive or respond to group messages? Is shouldSkipGroupMessage configurable? Any guidance appreciated.

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2026-05-07T09:06:30Z

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Bot May 7, 2026

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0 replies

maheerCodes · 2026-05-09T07:17:01Z

maheerCodes
May 9, 2026

This is a very well-documented bug report.

The environment details, compose setup, reproducibility notes, and observed behavior make it much easier to reason about the issue compared to the average “it doesn’t work” report.

A few things that stand out technically:

The separation between direct chats vs group chats was useful
Including nat.allowed context probably narrowed the surface area significantly
The managed launcher + proxy combination detail is likely important
Nice job providing config snippets instead of screenshots only

One thing that may help maintainers even more:

capture startup logs with debug verbosity enabled
compare traffic/events between a working private chat and blocked group chat
verify whether the issue happens before or after gateway session registration

Feels like a networking/session-state edge case rather than a simple permission problem.

Solid report overall — this is the kind of issue post maintainers can actually work with.

0 replies

blaze0089 · 2026-05-11T09:54:05Z

blaze0089
May 11, 2026

Looking at the config carefully, the real issue is visible right there in the JSON that nobody pointed out yet.

Only the default account has -5281937474 configured under its groups. Every other bot (minerva, calypso, atlas, ares, titan) only has -1003961752231 in their groups config, so when they receive a message from -5281937474 they have no entry for it and silently skip it with not-allowed.

You need to add the group entry to each bot account individually like this:

"minerva": {
  "botToken": "[REDACTED]",
  "groups": {
    "-1003961752231": { ... },
    "-5281937474": {
      "enabled": true,
      "requireMention": false,
      "groupPolicy": "open"
    }
  }
}

Do the same for calypso, atlas, ares and titan. The top level channels.telegram.groups block you have for -5281937474 looks like it might be intended as a global fallback but it's not being picked up per-account, each account needs its own explicit group entry.

Also worth checking, the other accounts are missing dmPolicy, groupPolicy and allowFrom at the account level that your default account has. Adding those might help too if the above doesn't fully resolve it.

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[Bug] Group messages blocked with `not-allowed` — all bots, plain group OpenClaw version: v2026.5.6 Gateway: ai.openclaw.gateway, port 18789, managed via launchctl Proxy port: 18790 #195125

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GitHub Community

**[Bug] Group messages blocked with not-allowed — all bots, plain group** **OpenClaw version:** v2026.5.6 **Gateway:** ai.openclaw.gateway, port 18789, managed via launchctl **Proxy port:** 18790 #195125

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Alphaisinthewild May 7, 2026

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Replies: 3 comments

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maheerCodes May 9, 2026

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blaze0089 May 11, 2026

[Bug] Group messages blocked with `not-allowed` — all bots, plain group OpenClaw version: v2026.5.6 Gateway: ai.openclaw.gateway, port 18789, managed via launchctl Proxy port: 18790 #195125

Alphaisinthewild
May 7, 2026

github-actions[bot]
Bot May 7, 2026

maheerCodes
May 9, 2026

blaze0089
May 11, 2026