Bug type

Behavior bug (incorrect output/state without crash)

Summary

When configuring a Telegram forum supergroup with multiple bot accounts, per-topic requireMention: false is ignored when the group-level requireMention is set to true. The expected behavior is that topic-level settings override group-level settings, allowing bots to auto-respond in their designated topic while requiring @mentions elsewhere.

{
"lark": {
"groups": {
"-100XXXXXXXXXX": {
"enabled": true,
"requireMention": true,
"topics": {
"4294967298": {
"agentId": "main",
"requireMention": false
}
}
}
}
}
}

Steps to reproduce

Set up a Telegram forum supergroup with multiple topics
Configure a bot account with requireMention: true at the group level
Add a topics entry with requireMention: false for one specific topic
Restart gateway (systemctl --user restart openclaw-gateway.service)
Send a message in the designated topic without @mentioning the bot
Bot does not respond (expected: bot auto-responds)

Expected behavior

Messages in topic 4294967298 (Main): bot auto-responds without @mention (requireMention: false at topic level)
Messages in all other topics: bot requires @mention (requireMention: true at group level)

Actual behavior

Messages in all topics (including 4294967298): bot requires @mention
The topic-level requireMention: false is completely ignored
Group-level requireMention is the only value that takes effect

OpenClaw version

2026.3.13 (61d171a)

Operating system

Ubuntu on Hetzner VPS

Install method

npm global

Model

sonnet-4-6

Provider / routing chain

openclaw > anthropic api

Config file / key location

No response

Additional provider/model setup details

No response

Logs, screenshots, and evidence

{"module":"telegram-auto-reply"} {"chatId":-100XXXXXXXXXX,"reason":"no-mention"} skipping group message
The no-mention skip applies even for messages in the topic where requireMention: false is set.

Impact and severity

The primary use case for forum supergroups with multiple bots is topic-based routing: each bot owns a topic and auto-responds there, while staying silent (or requiring @mention) everywhere else. Without per-topic override support, the only options are:

requireMention: false → bot responds in every topic (cross-talk chaos)
requireMention: true → bot requires @mention even in its own topic (unnecessary friction)

Additional information

Set requireMention: true on all accounts and @mention each bot explicitly. This works but adds friction in a multi-bot forum supergroup where each bot owns a topic.