Bug description

channels.modelByChannel is defined in the Zod schema (ChannelsSchema) and documented in the Configuration Reference, but the runtime config validator rejects it with:

Invalid config at ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json:
- channels.modelByChannel: unknown channel id: modelByChannel

Root cause

The validator builds a whitelist of allowed channels keys:

const allowedChannels = new Set(["defaults", ...CHANNEL_IDS]);

CHANNEL_IDS = ["telegram", "whatsapp", "discord", "irc", "googlechat", "slack", "signal", "imessage"].

"modelByChannel" is missing from this set, so the validator rejects it — even though:

1. The Zod schema includes it: modelByChannel: ChannelModelByChannelSchema
2. The runtime resolver in reply-*.js reads from params.cfg.channels?.modelByChannel
3. The docs describe the feature with examples
4. openclaw doctor recognizes it: "modelByChannel configured, enabled automatically"

Suggested fix

Add "modelByChannel" to the allowed channels set:

const allowedChannels = new Set(["defaults", "modelByChannel", ...CHANNEL_IDS]);

Config used

{
  channels: {
    modelByChannel: {
      telegram: {
        "123456789": "anthropic/claude-opus-4-6",
      },
    },
  },
}

Environment

• OpenClaw version: 2026.2.21-2 (35a57bc)
• OS: Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS (x64)
• Node: v22.22.0

Changelog reference

Channels: allow per-channel model overrides via channels.modelByChannel and note them in /status. Thanks @thewilloftheshadow.