Bug: Telegram plugin setGlobalDispatcher breaks Anthropic API calls (HTTP 403)

Version

• OpenClaw: 2026.2.26 (bc50708)
• Node.js: v22.22.0
• OS: macOS (Apple Silicon)

Summary

When the Telegram plugin starts with a valid botToken, it calls setGlobalDispatcher() from undici, replacing the global HTTP dispatcher. This causes all subsequent HTTP requests — including Anthropic API calls — to fail with HTTP 403 Forbidden.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Configure Telegram channel with botToken and proxy:

{
  "channels": {
    "telegram": {
      "enabled": true,
      "botToken": "<valid-token>",
      "dmPolicy": "pairing",
      "proxy": "http://127.0.0.1:29758"
    }
  }
}

2. Restart gateway: openclaw gateway --force
3. Agent embedded runs fail with: error=HTTP 403 forbidden: Request not allowed

Root Cause

In dist/send-DslMV0Oj.js (and other send-*.js files), the function applyTelegramNetworkWorkarounds() calls:

setGlobalDispatcher(new Agent({ connect: {
    autoSelectFamily: autoSelectDecision.value,
    autoSelectFamilyAttemptTimeout: 300
} }));

This replaces the global Node.js undici dispatcher, affecting all HTTP clients in the process — not just Telegram. The Anthropic SDK (and any other HTTP client) then uses this modified dispatcher, which causes 403 errors.

Workaround

Patch all send-*.js files to disable the global dispatcher override:

# Find and patch all affected files
for f in /opt/homebrew/lib/node_modules/openclaw/dist/send-*.js \
         /opt/homebrew/lib/node_modules/openclaw/dist/plugin-sdk/send-*.js; do
  if grep -q "setGlobalDispatcher" "$f"; then
    cp "$f" "$f.bak"
    python3 -c "
with open('$f', 'r') as fh:
    c = fh.read()
old = 'if (autoSelectDecision.value !== null && autoSelectDecision.value !== appliedGlobalDispatcherAutoSelectFamily) try {'
new = 'if (false && autoSelectDecision.value !== null && autoSelectDecision.value !== appliedGlobalDispatcherAutoSelectFamily) try {'
c = c.replace(old, new)
with open('$f', 'w') as fh:
    fh.write(c)
print(f'patched: $f')
"
  fi
done

Suggested Fix

Instead of calling setGlobalDispatcher(), create a scoped undici Agent and pass it only to the Telegram bot's fetch/HTTP client. This avoids polluting the global dispatcher that other subsystems (Anthropic SDK, etc.) depend on.

Additional Context

• This issue did not exist in v2026.2.22
• Without botToken, the Telegram plugin doesn't fully start, so the bug doesn't trigger
• The proxy configuration itself is not the issue — even without proxy, adding botToken alone triggers the 403
• Affected files: send-DslMV0Oj.js, send-7Nj0TwhR.js, send-CpkY_YZv.js, send-DWL38WYk.js, plugin-sdk/send-DH8cfz_-.js