Summary

• Problem: openclaw onboard channel wizard can report “telegram plugin not available” and block setup even when Telegram is a built-in channel, due to the plugin registry not being populated during onboarding in some environments (as reported in [Bug]: Telegram plugin not available on v2026.2.22-2 #25545).
• Why it matters: Users can’t onboard Telegram at all (major onboarding reliability failure) even after manually enabling Telegram in openclaw.json.
• What changed: Onboarding adapter lookup now has a built-in fallback for core channels (Telegram/WhatsApp/Discord/Slack/Signal/iMessage) so onboarding can proceed even if the plugin registry is empty; wizard messaging is adjusted to continue when an onboarding adapter exists; added a regression test covering the “empty registry” scenario.
• What did NOT change (scope boundary): No changes to Telegram runtime transport, polling, message handling, or plugin loading behavior at gateway startup—this is onboarding resiliency + messaging only.

Change Type (select all)

• Bug fix
• Feature
• Refactor
• Docs
• Security hardening
• Chore/infra

Scope (select all touched areas)

• Gateway / orchestration
• Skills / tool execution
• Auth / tokens
• Memory / storage
• Integrations
• API / contracts
• UI / DX
• CI/CD / infra

Linked Issue/PR

• Closes [Bug]: Telegram plugin not available on v2026.2.22-2 #25545

User-visible / Behavior Changes

• openclaw onboard no longer hard-blocks Telegram setup with “telegram plugin not available” when the plugin registry is empty; it proceeds with onboarding using built-in adapters and shows an actionable note if the registry is missing.

Security Impact (required)

• New permissions/capabilities? No
• Secrets/tokens handling changed? No
• New/changed network calls? No
• Command/tool execution surface changed? No
• Data access scope changed? No

Repro + Verification

Environment

• OS: macOS (dev)
• Runtime/container: Node 22.x
• Model/provider: N/A
• Integration/channel (if any): Telegram onboarding
• Relevant config (redacted): N/A

Steps

1. Run openclaw onboard and select Telegram.
2. Simulate/encounter an environment where the plugin registry is empty during onboarding.
3. Attempt to proceed through Telegram setup.

Expected

• Onboarding should allow Telegram configuration to proceed.

Actual (before)

• Wizard stops with “telegram plugin not available.”

Evidence

• Failing behavior described in [Bug]: Telegram plugin not available on v2026.2.22-2 #25545
• Added regression test: src/commands/onboard-channels.test.ts (“continues Telegram onboarding even when plugin registry is empty…”)
• Local checks: pnpm check passed; targeted test pnpm test src/commands/onboard-channels.test.ts passed

Human Verification (required)

• Verified scenarios: Ran pnpm check; ran pnpm test src/commands/onboard-channels.test.ts; confirmed the new test covers the reported failure mode.
• Edge cases checked: Onboarding still works when plugin registry is populated; fallback adapters are overridden by registry adapters when present.
• What you did not verify: End-to-end onboarding against a real Telegram bot token in the exact macOS 26.3 environment reported.

Compatibility / Migration

• Backward compatible? Yes
• Config/env changes? No
• Migration needed? No

Failure Recovery (if this breaks)

• How to disable/revert this change quickly: Revert this PR.
• Files/config to restore: src/commands/onboarding/registry.ts, src/commands/onboard-channels.ts, src/commands/onboard-channels.test.ts
• Known bad symptoms reviewers should watch for: Onboarding wizard showing the wrong adapter for a channel, or failing to detect installed plugins.

Risks and Mitigations

• Risk: Built-in adapter fallback could mask deeper plugin registry loading problems during onboarding.
• Mitigation: Fallback is limited to onboarding adapter resolution; registry adapters still take precedence when present; added a regression test for the failure mode.

Greptile Summary

Adds built-in fallback adapters for core channels (Telegram/WhatsApp/Discord/Slack/Signal/iMessage) to prevent onboarding failures when the plugin registry fails to populate during openclaw onboard. The Map construction in registry.ts:31 correctly ensures registry adapters override built-ins when present (last entry wins). The change is scoped to onboarding adapter resolution only and doesn't affect runtime plugin loading or gateway startup behavior.

• Fixed false "telegram plugin not available" blocking during onboarding ([Bug]: Telegram plugin not available on v2026.2.22-2 #25545)
• Added comprehensive regression test covering empty registry scenario
• Wizard messaging updated to provide actionable guidance when registry is missing
• No impact on runtime transport, polling, or message handling

Confidence Score: 5/5

• This PR is safe to merge with minimal risk
• The change is well-scoped to onboarding adapter lookup with clear fallback logic, includes a targeted regression test covering the reported failure mode, and the Map construction correctly preserves registry adapter precedence. The fix doesn't touch runtime behavior or plugin loading at gateway startup.
• No files require special attention

_{Last reviewed commit: 68cab42}

_{(4/5) You can add custom instructions or style guidelines for the agent here!}