Messaging Channels
Messaging platforms OpenHuman talks back to you on: inbound dispatch into the agent loop, outbound replies and proactive delivery, and per-channel credentials.
A channel is a messaging platform OpenHuman uses to talk back to you. This is the mirror image of an integration: an integration is mostly a source the agent reads from (your inbox, your calendar, your CRM), while a channel is a two-way conversation surface. You message the agent on a platform you already use, and the agent replies there.
Under the hood every channel implements one small Rust contract (a send path for outbound messages and a listen path for inbound ones), so the same agent loop serves Telegram, Discord, the built-in web chat, and a dozen others without per-platform branching in the core.
What a channel does
Each channel does two things:
Inbound: when a message arrives, the channel normalizes it into a
ChannelMessage(sender, reply target, content, optional thread id) and hands it to the dispatch loop. Dispatch spawns or resumes an agent run, scopes its tools, and the agent works the request. Some platforms support a/modelsand/modelcommand to switch the model for that sender's session; Telegram additionally supports remote-control commands.Outbound: the agent's response is sent back through the same channel to your
reply_target, threaded when the platform supports it. Channels can also deliver proactively (no incoming message to reply to) when fired by a trigger, a cron job, or the subconscious loop. A channel only receives proactive sends if it advertises a default delivery target; channels without one are skipped rather than posted to an empty recipient.
Channels that support it can show a typing indicator, stream progressive draft updates, post threaded replies, and add emoji reactions. Capabilities are declared per channel, not assumed.
Supported channels
OpenHuman ships 18 channel provider modules (16 built by default plus two behind Cargo feature flags), of which 17 are real messaging platforms. The remaining one, presentation, is an internal response-rendering helper for the web chat, not a platform you connect to. A separate cli channel serves the openhuman-core terminal binary. Seven channels are exposed in the Settings UI; the rest are enabled through config.toml.
Telegram
Two-way
Bot API long-poll
Connect via OpenHuman (managed DM) or your own BotFather token
Yes
Discord
Two-way
Gateway
Your own bot token, OAuth install, or managed account link
Yes
Web
Two-way
In-app
Built-in, no setup (local)
Yes
iMessage
Two-way
macOS Messages (AppleScript)
Local-only, no credentials (needs Full Disk Access)
Yes
Lark / Feishu
Two-way
WebSocket or webhook
Your own app id + secret
Yes
DingTalk
Two-way
Stream Mode WebSocket
Your own client id + secret
Yes
ๅ ๅฎ (Yuanbao)
Two-way
WebSocket
Your own AppID + AppSecret
Yes
Slack
Two-way
Events/socket
Your own bot token
config.toml
Two-way
Meta Cloud webhook
Your own access token
config.toml
IRC
Two-way
Persistent socket
Your own server/nick
config.toml
Signal
Two-way
signal-cli REST events
Your own linked signal-cli account
config.toml
Mattermost
Two-way
WebSocket
Your own bot token
config.toml
Two-way
WebSocket
Your own bot credentials
config.toml
Linq
Two-way (SMS)
Webhook
Your own API token
config.toml
Two-way
IMAP IDLE + SMTP
Your own mailbox credentials
config.toml
WhatsApp also has an experimental peer-to-peer variant behind the whatsapp-web feature flag. Channels marked "webhook" keep a live connection alive but receive inbound messages by HTTP push, so they need a reachable HTTPS endpoint configured on the provider's side.
Telegram is the most fully featured channel. It supports typing indicators and live draft updates, and is currently the only channel wired to a per-channel approval surface, so Prompt-class tool calls can be answered inline rather than parked. Discord adds native threaded replies; Lark also threads. Web supports rich text and stays entirely local.
Email deserves a special mention: it is a fully native, self-hosted connector, with no third-party broker in the loop. Inbound mail arrives over IMAP with IMAP IDLE push (new mail reaches the agent in seconds, with the connection refreshed every ~29 minutes per the RFC), and replies go out over SMTP with full attachment/multipart support, from your own address on any provider you configure. An allowed_senders allowlist is the inbound security gate. Set it explicitly to the addresses you trust. (In config.toml an empty list means deny-all, but the Connections UI defaults a blank field to ["*"], which allows any sender. So don't leave it blank if strangers shouldn't be able to prompt your agent by email.)
Credential modes
Channels authenticate one of a few ways:
Connect via OpenHuman (managed): a one-click, encrypted connection brokered through the OpenHuman backend. Today this covers Telegram (message the managed bot directly) and Discord (link your account or install via OAuth). No tokens live on your machine.
Your own credentials: you supply a bot token, API key/secret, or app credentials. Telegram (BotFather token), Discord (bot token), Slack, WhatsApp, Lark/Feishu, DingTalk, Yuanbao, Matrix, Signal, Mattermost, QQ, Linq, IRC, and Email all support this. Maximum control; you own the platform account, rate limits, and any webhook endpoint.
Local, no credentials: the Web chat and iMessage need no tokens at all. Web runs inside the desktop app; iMessage drives the local macOS Messages app over an AppleScript bridge (grant Full Disk Access). Both keep messages on your machine.
Secrets supplied for any mode are stored through OpenHuman's credential layer and protected at rest by the encryption layer. They are never written to config.toml in plaintext for the UI-managed channels.
Where to connect a channel
Channels are set up under Connections โ Channels in the left sidebar โ not under Settings, and not under any "Automation & Channels" menu (no such menu exists). Open that tab, pick a platform tile, and follow its setup card:
Discord โ choose Connect via OpenHuman (link your account or install the bot via OAuth), or paste your own Discord bot token.
Telegram โ message the managed OpenHuman bot to link, or paste a BotFather bot token.
Slack is connected as an app under Connections โ OAuth (Composio) so the agent can read and act in Slack; it is not set up as a talk-back channel in the Channels tab.
Choosing the default channel
Open Connections โ Channels to pick which channel is the active route: the one OpenHuman uses for proactive, recipient-less delivery (cron, triggers, subconscious). The default is the in-app Web chat until you change it. Setting a new default takes effect immediately, without restarting the channel runtime, and the panel shows which channel is currently active. Inbound messages always get answered on whatever channel they arrived on, regardless of the default route.
See also
Integrations: the read-side catalog the agent pulls context from.
Triggers: live events that fire proactive channel delivery.
Subconscious Loop: the background loop that can reach you through the active channel.
Privacy & Security: where credentials live and the backend boundary.
OS Keyring & Secret Storage: at-rest protection for channel secrets.
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