{"id":9163,"date":"2026-03-27T11:42:29","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T11:42:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/?p=9163"},"modified":"2026-05-08T13:03:30","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T13:03:30","slug":"how-to-connect-and-troubleshoot-telegram-and-whatsapp-channels-in-openclaw-on-hostinger-vps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/how-to-connect-and-troubleshoot-telegram-and-whatsapp-channels-in-openclaw-on-hostinger-vps\/","title":{"rendered":"How to connect and troubleshoot Telegram and WhatsApp channels in OpenClaw on Hostinger VPS"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article explains how to connect Telegram and WhatsApp messaging channels to OpenClaw on your Hostinger VPS, and how to resolve common connection issues.<\/span><\/p>

Connecting channels during deployment<\/b><\/h2>

When deploying OpenClaw from hPanel, you can configure Telegram and WhatsApp directly in the deployment form.<\/span><\/p>

    \n
  1. In hPanel, go to <\/span>VPS<\/b> → <\/span>Manage<\/b> → <\/span>OS & Panel<\/b> → <\/span>Operating System <\/b> →<\/span> Docker Application<\/b>.
    \n\"OS
    \n<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Search for <\/span>OpenClaw<\/b> and click <\/span>Deploy<\/b>.
    \n\"OpenClaw
    \n<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Copy the required <\/span>Gateway Token<\/b> field.
    \n
    \n<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. To connect Telegram, enter your bot token in the <\/span>Telegram bot token<\/b> field. You can get this token from @BotFather on Telegram.
    \n\"Configuration
    \n<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. To connect WhatsApp, enter your phone number with country code in the <\/span>WhatsApp number<\/b> field (e.g., <\/span>+1234567890<\/span>).<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. Click <\/span>Deploy<\/b>.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>

     <\/p>

    NOTE<\/b> The WhatsApp number and Telegram bot token fields are optional. You can leave them empty and connect channels later through the OpenClaw dashboard.<\/span><\/div>

     <\/p>

     <\/p>

    After deployment, you still need to complete the WhatsApp pairing by scanning a Quick Response (QR) code. See the “Connecting WhatsApp after deployment” section below.<\/span><\/p>

    Connecting Telegram after deployment<\/b><\/h2>

    If you did not add your Telegram bot token during deployment, or want to connect a different bot:<\/span><\/p>

      \n
    1. Open the OpenClaw dashboard by clicking <\/span>Open<\/b> next to your OpenClaw container in hPanel.<\/span><\/li>\n
    2. Go to <\/span>Channels<\/b> in the left sidebar
      \n\"OpenClaw
      \n<\/span><\/li>\n
    3. In the Telegram<\/b> section, add your bot token to the OpenClaw configuration.
      \n\"Telegram<\/li>\n
    4. Scroll down, and click <\/span>Save. <\/b>The gateway will restart. Wait for it to finish.<\/span><\/span>\"OpenClaw<\/li>\n<\/ol>

      Once connected, the Telegram section displays the following status indicators:
      \n\"Telegram
      \n<\/span><\/p>

        \n
      • Configured<\/b> – Whether the bot token is set.<\/span><\/li>\n
      • Running<\/b> – Whether the Telegram channel is active.<\/span><\/li>\n
      • Mode<\/b> – The polling method (typically “polling”).<\/span><\/li>\n
      • Last start<\/b> – Time since the channel started.<\/span><\/li>\n
      • Last probe<\/b> – Time since the last health check.<\/span><\/li>\n
      • Probe ok<\/b> – Confirms the channel is responding.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>

        Connecting WhatsApp after deployment<\/b><\/h2>

        OpenClaw connects to WhatsApp using WhatsApp Web. You can use a regular WhatsApp account — WhatsApp Business is not required.<\/span><\/p>

        NOTE<\/b> OpenClaw recommends using a separate phone number for WhatsApp when possible. Personal number setups are supported, but a dedicated number provides better reliability.<\/span><\/div>

        To connect or complete WhatsApp pairing:<\/span><\/p>

          \n
        1. Open the OpenClaw dashboard.<\/span><\/li>\n
        2. Go to <\/span>Channels<\/b> in the left sidebar.<\/span><\/li>\n
        3. In the <\/span>WhatsApp<\/b> section, click <\/span>Show QR<\/b>. A QR code appears.
          \n\"WhatsApp
          \n\"OpenClaw
          \n<\/span><\/li>\n
        4. On your phone, open WhatsApp and go to <\/span>Settings<\/b> → <\/span>Linked Devices<\/b> → <\/span>Link a Device<\/b>.<\/span><\/li>\n
        5. Scan the QR code displayed in the OpenClaw dashboard.<\/span><\/li>\n
        6. Wait for the connection to complete. The status indicators update to show <\/span>Linked: Yes<\/b> and <\/span>Connected: Yes<\/b>.
          \n\"WhatsApp
          \n<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>

          The WhatsApp section displays these status indicators:<\/span><\/p>

            \n
          • Configured<\/b> – Whether WhatsApp is set up.<\/span><\/li>\n
          • Linked<\/b> – Whether a WhatsApp account is linked.<\/span><\/li>\n
          • Running<\/b> – Whether the WhatsApp channel is active.<\/span><\/li>\n
          • Connected<\/b> – Whether there is an active connection to WhatsApp servers.<\/span><\/li>\n
          • Last connect<\/b> – Time of the last successful connection.<\/span><\/li>\n
          • Last message<\/b> – Time of the last message received.<\/span><\/li>\n
          • Auth age<\/b> – How long the current authentication has been valid.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>

            Troubleshooting Telegram issues<\/b><\/h2>

            Telegram pairing loop<\/b><\/h3>

            If Telegram keeps sending new pairing codes instead of completing the connection, restart the OpenClaw container.<\/span><\/p>

            Using hPanel:<\/b><\/p>

              \n
            1. Go to <\/span>VPS<\/b> → <\/span>Manage<\/b> → <\/span>Docker Containers<\/b> in hPanel.<\/span><\/li>\n
            2. Find your OpenClaw container.<\/span><\/li>\n
            3. Click the three-dot menu and select <\/span>Restart<\/b>.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>

              [Screenshot: hPanel Docker Containers page showing the OpenClaw container with the three-dot menu expanded, displaying Restart, Update, Stop, View logs, and Delete options]<\/span><\/p>

              Using SSH:<\/b><\/p>

              Run the following command, replacing <\/span>container_name<\/span> with the correct name of your docker container:<\/span><\/p>

              docker restart [container_name]<\/span><\/p>

              Telegram bot does not respond<\/b><\/h3>

              If your Telegram bot is connected but not responding to messages:<\/span><\/p>

                \n
              1. Open the OpenClaw dashboard and check the <\/span>Health<\/b> indicator in the top-right corner. It should display <\/span>Health OK<\/b>.<\/span><\/li>\n
              2. Go to <\/span>Channels<\/b> and verify the Telegram section shows <\/span>Running: Yes<\/b> and <\/span>Probe ok<\/b>.<\/span><\/li>\n
              3. If the probe status shows an error, restart the OpenClaw container using the steps above.
                \n\"OpenClaw
                \n<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>

                Troubleshooting WhatsApp issues<\/b><\/h2>

                WhatsApp shows “not linked”<\/b><\/h3>

                If the WhatsApp channel shows <\/span>not linked<\/b> after previously being connected:<\/span><\/p>

                  \n
                1. In the OpenClaw dashboard, go to <\/span>Channels<\/b>.<\/span><\/li>\n
                2. In the WhatsApp section, click <\/span>Logout<\/b> to clear the previous session.<\/span><\/li>\n
                3. Click <\/span>Show QR<\/b> to generate a new QR code.<\/span><\/li>\n
                4. On your phone, go to WhatsApp → <\/span>Settings<\/b> → <\/span>Linked Devices<\/b> → <\/span>Link a Device<\/b> and scan the new QR code.
                  \n\"Account
                  \n<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>

                  WhatsApp QR code keeps refreshing<\/b><\/h3>

                  If the QR code refreshes repeatedly without completing the pairing:<\/span><\/p>

                    \n
                  1. On your phone, open WhatsApp and go to <\/span>Settings<\/b> → <\/span>Linked Devices<\/b>.<\/span><\/li>\n
                  2. Log out from all linked devices.<\/span><\/li>\n
                  3. In the OpenClaw dashboard, click <\/span>Logout<\/b> in the WhatsApp section to clear any pending sessions.<\/span><\/li>\n
                  4. Restart the OpenClaw container using hPanel or the <\/span>docker restart<\/span> command.<\/span><\/li>\n
                  5. Click <\/span>Show QR<\/b> immediately after the container restarts and scan the code promptly — QR codes expire quickly.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>

                     <\/p>

                    \n

                    NOTES<\/b><\/p>\n

                      \n
                    • WhatsApp pairing requests expire after 1 hour.<\/span><\/li>\n
                    • OpenClaw limits pending pairing requests to 3 per channel. Exceeding this limit can cause pairing loops.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>

                      WhatsApp connection drops frequently<\/b><\/h3>

                      If the WhatsApp connection is unstable:<\/span><\/p>

                        \n
                      1. Keep the phone running WhatsApp connected to the internet (Wi-Fi recommended).<\/span><\/li>\n
                      2. Keep the phone charged to prevent disconnections from battery-saving features.<\/span><\/li>\n
                      3. If you use a personal number, check that no other WhatsApp Web sessions conflict with the OpenClaw connection.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>

                        Troubleshooting Unsupported type issue<\/b><\/h2>

                        If your WhatsApp or Telegram connection display the error <\/span>“Unsupported type: … Use Raw mode.”<\/strong>, you can fix it by following these steps:<\/p>

                          \n
                        1. Install (or upgrade) the plugin oxylabs-ai-studio-openclaw to version 1.0.2<\/li>\n
                        2. Wait until it’s online, and restart the OpenClaw container<\/li>\n
                        3. The integration will work again<\/li>\n<\/ol>

                          Viewing logs<\/b><\/h2>

                          To investigate persistent issues, check the OpenClaw logs:<\/span><\/p>

                            \n
                          1. In hPanel, go to <\/span>VPS<\/b> → <\/span>Manage<\/b> → <\/span>Docker Containers<\/b>.
                            \n\"Docker
                            \n<\/span><\/li>\n
                          2. Find your OpenClaw container and click the three-dot menu.<\/span><\/li>\n
                          3. Select <\/span>View logs<\/b>.
                            \n\"Docker
                            \n<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>

                            Your Telegram and WhatsApp channels are now ready to use with OpenClaw. Once connected, you can start receiving and responding to messages through your AI assistant.<\/span><\/p>

                             <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                            This article explains how to connect Telegram and WhatsApp messaging channels to OpenClaw on your Hostinger VPS, and how to resolve common connection issues.Connecting channels…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":594,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"include_on_kodee":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[309],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-openclaw-vps"],"hreflangs":[],"include_on_kodee":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/594"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9163"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9163\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9283,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9163\/revisions\/9283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}