Telegram is the quickest channel to set up: one bot token, no plugins, and it works from behind a firewall — Crew reaches out to Telegram, so there's nothing to expose. Replies stream back live with tappable option buttons.

Setup

From the dashboard (recommended)

Open Settings → Channels → Telegram in the dashboard
Message @BotFather on Telegram, send /newbot, follow the prompts to get a token
Message @userinfobot to get your numeric user ID
Paste the bot token into the dashboard panel
Add your user ID to the Allowed users list
Click Save — the gateway restarts and connects

The status badge turns green when connected.

From the CLI

bash

# Save token to ~/.kiro/crew/.env
echo "TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=123456789:AA…" >> ~/.kiro/crew/.env

In ~/.kiro/crew/config.json:

json

{
  "telegram": {
    "enabled": true,
    "allowed_user_ids": [123456789]
  }
}

Then: kirocrew restart

Who can reach it

Crew only talks to people you name — and only in private chats.

Trusted numeric IDs go in allowed_user_ids; an empty list means nobody
Group messages are ignored — replies happen in DMs only
Anyone else is silently dropped and recorded in the audit log

Commands

Command	Effect
`/new` (or `/start`)	Start a fresh conversation
`/compact`	Free up context when it fills
`/steer <msg>`	While a reply is generating, fold this message into the current turn
`/queue <msg>`	While a reply is generating, hold this message for after the current turn
`/help`	List commands

Configuration

Key	Default	Purpose
`telegram.enabled`	`false`	Turns the channel on
`telegram.allowed_user_ids`	`[]`	Numeric IDs allowed to chat (empty = nobody)
`telegram.soft_threshold_pct`	`80`	Context % where the bot suggests `/compact`
`telegram.bot_token`	`""`	Token fallback if `TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN` isn't set

Prefer the TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN env var over bot_token — it keeps your secret out of config.json.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Fix
No reply	Your ID isn't in `allowed_user_ids` or `enabled` is `false`
No `Telegram channel started` in logs	Token isn't set or is invalid
Slow replies behind a proxy	Set `HTTPS_PROXY` for the gateway process

Page updated: August 4, 2026

Discord

Teams

Command

Effect

/new (or /start)

Start a fresh conversation

/compact

Free up context when it fills

/steer <msg>

While a reply is generating, fold this message into the current turn

/queue <msg>

While a reply is generating, hold this message for after the current turn

/help

List commands

Key

Default

Purpose

telegram.enabled

false

Turns the channel on

telegram.allowed_user_ids

[]

Numeric IDs allowed to chat (empty = nobody)

telegram.soft_threshold_pct

80

Context % where the bot suggests /compact

telegram.bot_token

""

Token fallback if TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN isn't set

Problem

Fix

No reply

Your ID isn't in allowed_user_ids or enabled is false

No Telegram channel started in logs

Token isn't set or is invalid

Slow replies behind a proxy

Set HTTPS_PROXY for the gateway process