Overview
OpenClaw is an open-source AI agent Gateway that acts as a bridge between chat applications and AI agents. Through a centralized Gateway process, it connects chat platforms like Telegram, WhatsApp, and Discord to AI coding agents, enabling direct AI programming interactions within chat windows.
By configuring EvoLink API as a custom model provider in OpenClaw and connecting a Telegram Bot, you can use EvoLink’s Claude models (such as Claude 4.6 Opus, Claude 4.5 Sonnet, Claude 4.5 Haiku) for AI-assisted coding conversations directly in Telegram.
This guide covers:
- Installing and configuring OpenClaw Gateway
- Creating a Telegram Bot and connecting it to OpenClaw
- Setting up EvoLink API as a custom model provider
- Verifying the connection and getting started
Prerequisites
Before configuring, make sure you have:
1. Install Node.js
OpenClaw is installed via npm. You need to install Node.js first.
2. Get EvoLink API Key
- Log in to EvoLink Dashboard
- Find API Keys in the dashboard, click ‘Create New Key’ button, then copy the generated Key
- API Key usually starts with
sk-
3. Prepare a Telegram Account
You will need it to create a Bot and test the integration.
Step 1: Install OpenClaw
Run the following command in your terminal:
npm install -g openclaw@latest
Step 2: Onboarding
Run the onboarding command. OpenClaw will guide you through the initial setup and install the background daemon service:
openclaw onboard --install-daemon
1. Confirm Installation
The system will display a risk disclaimer. Confirm to proceed:
2. Select Installation Mode
When prompted to choose an installation mode, select Quickstart:
3. Select Provider
When prompted to choose a model provider, select Skip. We will manually configure EvoLink as a custom provider later:
4. Select Models
When prompted to choose which models to enable, select All:
5. Select Default Model
When prompted to choose a default model, select Keep current:
Step 3: Create Telegram Bot
The onboarding flow will prompt you to select a chat channel. Select Telegram (Bot API).
1. Visit BotFather
Open Telegram and visit @BotFather, then click START BOT to begin:
2. Create Bot
Type /start in the chat. BotFather will reply with a list of available commands:
Type /newbot. Follow the prompt to set a unique Bot username that must end with bot (e.g., my_evolink_bot).
Once created, BotFather will return a message containing a Token in this format:
123456789:ABCdefGHIjklMNOpqrsTUVwxyz
3. Enter Token
Go back to the terminal onboarding flow, paste the Bot Token into the prompt and confirm:
4. Restart Gateway
After entering the Token, restart the Gateway to apply the configuration:
1. Locate Config File
Locate the openclaw.json configuration file in the OpenClaw installation directory and open it for editing:
In openclaw.json, find the models field and add EvoLink as a custom model provider:
"models": {
"providers": {
"anthropic": {
"api": "anthropic-messages",
"baseUrl": "https://code.evolink.ai",
"apiKey": "your-evolink-api-key",
"models": [
{
"id": "claude-opus-4-6",
"name": "Claude Opus 4.6",
"reasoning": false,
"input": ["text"],
"cost": {
"input": 0,
"output": 0,
"cacheRead": 0,
"cacheWrite": 0
},
"contextWindow": 200000,
"maxTokens": 8192
}
]
}
}
}
In the agents field, set model.primary to the EvoLink model you just added:
"model": {
"primary": "anthropic/claude-opus-4-6"
}
4. Verify Telegram Configuration
Verify the Telegram configuration in the channels field. The botToken was automatically filled in during the onboarding flow and does not need to be changed:
"channels": {
"telegram": {
"enabled": true,
"botToken": "your-bot-token (auto-filled)",
"dmPolicy": "pairing",
"groups": { "*": { "requireMention": true } }
}
}
enabled: Enable the Telegram channeldmPolicy: Set to "pairing", unauthorized users must verify via pairing code when sending DMsgroups: "*" allows all groups, requireMention set to true means the Bot only responds when @mentioned in groups
Step 5: Verify Connection
1. Visit Your Bot
Search for the Bot username you just created in Telegram and open the chat:
2. Get Pairing Code
Send /start to the Bot. It will return a pairing code:
3. Complete Pairing
Open a new terminal window and run the following command to complete pairing:
openclaw pairing approve telegram <pairing-code>
Replace <pairing-code> with the actual code returned by the Bot. Make sure to remove the angle brackets <>.
4. Test Connection
Go back to the original terminal window and type the following to test if the connection is working:
Once pairing is complete, sending messages to the Bot in Telegram will also receive AI responses, confirming the integration is successful.