feat(signal): add Signal channel via signal-cli by achton · Pull Request #630 · sipeed/picoclaw

achton · 2026-02-22T08:01:31Z

📝 Description

Adds Signal as a messaging channel, implementing the signal-cli approach proposed in #41 (Option A). Rebased onto the channel refactor (#621 / #877).

PicoClaw connects to a signal-cli daemon running in HTTP mode. Inbound messages arrive via SSE (/api/v1/events), outbound messages are sent via JSON-RPC (/api/v1/rpc). No CGO or additional compiled dependencies are needed in PicoClaw itself.

Question for maintainers

signal-cli is a required external dependency (Java-based, ~50-100MB RAM). It runs as a separate daemon process — PicoClaw communicates with it over HTTP, so there's no compile-time coupling. Is this acceptable, or would you prefer a different approach? The alternative (native libsignal via CGO) adds significant build complexity and AGPL licensing concerns (see PR #603 for that approach).

Known upstream issue

signal-cli v0.13.24 has a bug (AsamK/signal-cli#1940) where the mentions array in JSON output is empty due to a binary ACI parsing issue. The fix is in AsamK/signal-cli#1944 but not yet released. Our mention detection code is correct and will work once the fix ships — until then, group_trigger.mention_only mode won't respond in groups (DMs work fine).

Key design points

Post-refactor architecture — subpackage at pkg/channels/signal/, factory registration via init(), BaseChannel embedding with functional options
Capability interfaces — implements TypingCapable (8s refresh loop), ReactionCapable (emoji reaction on inbound), MessageLengthProvider (6000 rune limit)
Structured identity — uses bus.SenderInfo with canonical signal:+phone format via the new pkg/identity package
Group trigger support — uses GroupTriggerConfig (mention_only, prefixes) with @mention detection via structured mention data from signal-cli
Markdown-to-Signal formatting — converts **bold**, *italic*, `code`, ```blocks```, ~~strike~~ to signal-cli textStyle ranges with correct UTF-16 code unit positions
Error classification — uses ErrTemporary / ErrNotRunning sentinels for Manager retry logic
Attachment support — downloads images, audio, and files from signal-cli; temp files cleaned up after processing
No license complications — signal-cli runs as a separate process, keeping PicoClaw fully MIT
Test coverage — 46 test cases across markdown conversion, MIME type mapping, SSE event deserialization, isGroupChat() heuristic, and parseMessageID()

🗣️ Type of Change

🐞 Bug fix (non-breaking change which fixes an issue)
✨ New feature (non-breaking change which adds functionality)
📖 Documentation update
⚡ Code refactoring (no functional changes, no api changes)

🤖 AI Code Generation

🤖 Fully AI-generated (100% AI, 0% Human)
🛠️ Mostly AI-generated (AI draft, Human verified/modified)
👨‍💻 Mostly Human-written (Human lead, AI assisted or none)

🔗 Related Issue

Closes #41

📚 Technical Context (Skip for Docs)

Reference URL: https://github.com/AsamK/signal-cli/wiki/HTTP-API
Reasoning: signal-cli provides a stable HTTP/JSON-RPC interface to Signal, avoiding the need for native libsignal compilation (Rust toolchain, CGO, platform-specific linking). This is especially important for embedded/ARM deployments where cross-compilation of native crypto libraries is impractical.

🧪 Test Environment

Hardware: Linux PC (x86_64), Raspberry Pi 5 (ARM64)
OS: Debian 12 (Bookworm)
Model/Provider: OpenRouter (various models)
Channels: Signal (DMs and groups, tested with real users)

📸 Evidence (Optional)

Click to view Logs/Screenshots

[INFO] signal: Starting Signal channel {signal_cli_url=http://127.0.0.1:8090, account=+***}
[INFO] signal: Signal channel started
[INFO] signal: SSE connected successfully
[INFO] agent: Processing message from signal:signal:+***: Hello {channel=signal, chat_id=+***, sender_id=signal:+***}
[INFO] agent: Routed message {agent_id=default, session_key=agent:default:signal:direct:+***, matched_by=binding.peer}
[INFO] agent: LLM response without tool calls (direct answer) {agent_id=default, iteration=1, content_chars=42}
[INFO] agent: Published outbound response {channel=signal, chat_id=+***, content_len=42}

☑️ Checklist

My code/docs follow the style of this project.
I have performed a self-review of my own changes.
I have updated the documentation accordingly.

nikolasdehor · 2026-02-23T00:40:31Z

Note: #603 also proposes native Signal support. Both address the same feature request. Suggesting the maintainer coordinate or pick one to avoid duplicated effort.

yinwm · 2026-02-28T06:31:10Z

@achton hi, could you please resolve conflicts, we just merged channel refactoring issue

Adapt the Signal channel (PR sipeed#630) to the upstream channel system refactor (sipeed#662, sipeed#877). Fresh implementation on current main rather than rebasing 5 commits across 155 upstream changes. Changes from the original sipeed#630: - Moved from flat pkg/channels/signal.go to pkg/channels/signal/ subpackage - Factory registration via init() + blank import in gateway - New HandleMessage signature with bus.Peer, bus.SenderInfo, identity.BuildCanonicalID - IsAllowedSender() replaces IsAllowed() for structured identity matching - Manager-handled message splitting via WithMaxMessageLength(6000) - Typed errors (ErrNotRunning, ErrTemporary) per Phase 4 lifecycle contract - Proper goroutine tracking with sync.WaitGroup in Start/Stop - TypingCapable interface wraps existing typing indicator feature - ReactionCapable interface (first channel to implement — 👀 on inbound, undo on reply) - WithReasoningChannelID() option for routing LLM reasoning to separate channel All original features preserved: SSE inbound, JSON-RPC sending, markdown-to-Signal text styles, voice transcription, attachment handling, group/DM filtering, typing indicators. 28 tests passing (24 ported + 4 new for parseMessageID).

achton · 2026-02-28T10:45:40Z

@yinwm I've rebased and reimplemented this feature on top of the channels refactor, ready for review now (again).

Adapt the Signal channel (PR sipeed#630) to the upstream channel system refactor (sipeed#662, sipeed#877). Fresh implementation on current main rather than rebasing 5 commits across 155 upstream changes. Changes from the original sipeed#630: - Moved from flat pkg/channels/signal.go to pkg/channels/signal/ subpackage - Factory registration via init() + blank import in gateway - New HandleMessage signature with bus.Peer, bus.SenderInfo, identity.BuildCanonicalID - IsAllowedSender() replaces IsAllowed() for structured identity matching - Manager-handled message splitting via WithMaxMessageLength(6000) - Typed errors (ErrNotRunning, ErrTemporary) per Phase 4 lifecycle contract - Proper goroutine tracking with sync.WaitGroup in Start/Stop - TypingCapable interface wraps existing typing indicator feature - ReactionCapable interface (first channel to implement — 👀 on inbound, undo on reply) - WithReasoningChannelID() option for routing LLM reasoning to separate channel All original features preserved: SSE inbound, JSON-RPC sending, markdown-to-Signal text styles, voice transcription, attachment handling, group/DM filtering, typing indicators. 28 tests passing (24 ported + 4 new for parseMessageID).

achton · 2026-03-04T08:09:33Z

I have rebased on main in order to resolve git conflicts in pkg/config/config.go.

CLAassistant · 2026-03-05T15:08:04Z

All committers have signed the CLA.

Adapt the Signal channel (PR sipeed#630) to the upstream channel system refactor (sipeed#662, sipeed#877). Fresh implementation on current main rather than rebasing 5 commits across 155 upstream changes. Changes from the original sipeed#630: - Moved from flat pkg/channels/signal.go to pkg/channels/signal/ subpackage - Factory registration via init() + blank import in gateway - New HandleMessage signature with bus.Peer, bus.SenderInfo, identity.BuildCanonicalID - IsAllowedSender() replaces IsAllowed() for structured identity matching - Manager-handled message splitting via WithMaxMessageLength(6000) - Typed errors (ErrNotRunning, ErrTemporary) per Phase 4 lifecycle contract - Proper goroutine tracking with sync.WaitGroup in Start/Stop - TypingCapable interface wraps existing typing indicator feature - ReactionCapable interface (first channel to implement — 👀 on inbound, undo on reply) - WithReasoningChannelID() option for routing LLM reasoning to separate channel All original features preserved: SSE inbound, JSON-RPC sending, markdown-to-Signal text styles, voice transcription, attachment handling, group/DM filtering, typing indicators. 28 tests passing (24 ported + 4 new for parseMessageID).

- Replace DMsEnabled/GroupsEnabled with GroupTrigger (mention_only, prefixes) - Add @mention detection for group chats (isBotMentioned, stripMention) - Fix sendReaction/sendTyping recipient type (string → []string) - Fix Send() error wrapping to preserve root cause - Add io.LimitReader guard on SSE error body read - Remove dead voice transcription code (deferred) - Remove compound senderID (redundant with SenderInfo) - Add isGroupChat safety comment - Update README config docs Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

The SSE client (no timeout, long-lived stream) was recreated on every reconnect, wasting connection pool resources. Hoist it to the struct alongside the RPC client (30s timeout) so connections can be reused. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

achton · 2026-03-09T10:51:00Z

I have rebased on main again in order to resolve git conflicts.

nikolasdehor mentioned this pull request Feb 23, 2026

feat(signal): integrate native Signal messenger support #603

Open

7 tasks

achton force-pushed the feat/signal-channel branch 2 times, most recently from 47b2569 to 4744c69 Compare February 24, 2026 21:31

github-actions bot mentioned this pull request Feb 28, 2026

🦞 OpenClaw 生态日报 2026-02-28 rollysys/agents-radar#4

Open

achton force-pushed the feat/signal-channel branch from 4744c69 to e682afa Compare February 28, 2026 10:36

achton force-pushed the feat/signal-channel branch from e682afa to b492ecd Compare February 28, 2026 10:39

achton force-pushed the feat/signal-channel branch from 988af27 to 47113b4 Compare February 28, 2026 11:07

sipeed-bot bot added type: enhancement New feature or request domain: channel domain: config labels Mar 3, 2026

achton force-pushed the feat/signal-channel branch from 47113b4 to c308fe6 Compare March 4, 2026 08:09

github-actions bot mentioned this pull request Mar 6, 2026

🦞 OpenClaw 生态日报 2026-03-06 duanyytop/agents-radar#83

Open

achton and others added 4 commits March 9, 2026 11:48

style: fix gci and golines lint errors in Signal channel

b5bd798

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

achton force-pushed the feat/signal-channel branch from c308fe6 to af25536 Compare March 9, 2026 10:49

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feat(signal): add Signal channel via signal-cli#630

feat(signal): add Signal channel via signal-cli#630
achton wants to merge 4 commits intosipeed:mainfrom
achton:feat/signal-channel

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📝 Description

Question for maintainers

Known upstream issue

Key design points

🗣️ Type of Change

🤖 AI Code Generation

🔗 Related Issue

📚 Technical Context (Skip for Docs)

🧪 Test Environment

📸 Evidence (Optional)

☑️ Checklist

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