Channels Overview
Connect your agent to messaging apps, webhooks, and phone calls so it can operate beyond the dashboard.
Tip: Every channel reaches the same agent — with the same tools, skills, credentials, and governed context — through an interface suited to that channel.
Overview
Channels connect your agent to external text conversations, API triggers, and phone calls. People can message it through Telegram or WhatsApp, services can trigger it through Webhook, and callers can speak with it through Voice without opening the Communa dashboard.
The agent keeps the same capabilities across these surfaces, while delivery, history, and interaction patterns adapt to each channel.
Supported Channels
| Platform | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Telegram | ✅ Available | Full support — text, attachments, commands, inline actions |
| ✅ Available | Full support — text, attachments, inline actions, read receipts, outbound template messages | |
| Voice (Phone) | ✅ Available | Phone calls via Vapi — real-time spoken conversation with full agent capabilities |
| Webhook | ✅ Available | Authenticated API endpoint for external systems and automation tools |
The Channels Tab
The Channels tab in the agent detail page shows a grid of your connected channels. Each connection displays:
- Connection name and identifier — Such as a Telegram username, WhatsApp number, Voice phone number, or webhook endpoint
- Status badge — Active, Disabled, Error, or Pending
- Toggle switch — Enable or disable the connection without removing it
- Test button — Verify the bot token is still valid and the connection is healthy
- Disconnect — Remove the connection entirely (with confirmation)
Click Connect Channel to add a new connection.
How Channel Activity Flows
The exact interaction depends on the channel:
- Telegram and WhatsApp deliver incoming messages and attachments to the agent, then return its response to the same conversation.
- Voice transcribes the caller, speaks replies through Vapi, and adds the completed call transcript to the dashboard history.
- Webhook validates an incoming request, responds immediately, and lets the agent process the trigger in the background.
When work requires the agent's computer, it wakes automatically and runs with the same tools, skills, credentials, and context available in the dashboard. Text-channel conversations appear in the dashboard as they happen; Voice transcripts appear after the call.
Auto-Wake
When channel activity needs the agent's computer, Communa starts it automatically:
- Messaging channels can show a short waking-up status while the computer starts
- Voice plays the configured greeting while the full agent backend becomes ready
- The message, call action, or webhook trigger is processed without requiring a dashboard visit
This means your agent remains reachable through its connected channels even when its computer is shut down to save resources.
Info: Auto-wake respects your plan's concurrent agent limits. If the limit is reached, you'll receive a message asking you to stop another agent or upgrade.
Sending Attachments
Both Telegram and WhatsApp support sending files to your agent:
| Type | Telegram | |
|---|---|---|
| Photos | ✅ | ✅ |
| Documents | ✅ PDFs, spreadsheets, any file | ✅ PDFs, spreadsheets, any file |
| Videos | ✅ | ✅ |
| Voice messages | ✅ | ✅ |
| Audio files | ✅ | ✅ |
| Stickers | ✅ WebP, animated | ✅ WebP |
Attachments are automatically downloaded, included in the agent's context, and visible in the agent's Files tab.
Voice Message Transcription
Voice messages and audio files sent via Telegram or WhatsApp are automatically transcribed to text using AI. Your agent reads the transcript as a regular text message — it can understand and respond to voice naturally, without any extra setup.
Key details:
- 57+ languages supported — Hebrew, English, Arabic, Spanish, French, and many more. Language is auto-detected from the audio.
- Supported formats — OGG (Telegram/WhatsApp voice notes), Opus, MP3, M4A, WAV, WebM, FLAC
- Max file size — 20 MB
- Cost — ~$0.003 per minute of audio (billed from your credits). A typical 30-second voice message costs less than $0.002.
- Non-blocking — If transcription fails for any reason, the voice file is still delivered as an attachment so nothing is lost.
Info: Voice transcription works identically on both Telegram and WhatsApp. Your agent simply sees the spoken text as the message content.
Managing Connections
Enable / Disable
Use the toggle switch on a connection card to temporarily disable a channel without removing it. Disabled connections stop receiving messages. Re-enable anytime to resume.
Test Connection
Click Test to verify the bot token is still valid and the connection is working. Useful for debugging if messages stop flowing.
Disconnect
Click the Disconnect button (trash icon) to permanently remove a connection. This removes the connection and deletes the stored bot token. A confirmation dialog prevents accidental disconnects.
Status Meanings
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Active | Connection is live — messages are being received and processed |
| Disabled | Connection is paused — messages are not processed |
| Error | Something went wrong (invalid token, connection failure) — check and reconnect |
| Pending | Connection is being set up |
Security
Channel connections are designed with security in mind:
- Tokens and credentials are encrypted with AES-256 and stored in Supabase Vault — never exposed in logs, API responses, or to the AI agent
- Webhook signature verification — Telegram uses secret-based verification; WhatsApp uses HMAC-SHA256 signature validation (when App Secret is provided)
- Deduplication — Duplicate messages are automatically filtered to prevent double-processing
Tips & Best Practices
- Give channel-aware instructions — Add to your agent's custom instructions: "When responding via messaging channels, keep messages concise and well-formatted for mobile reading"
- Check the Files tab — Attachments sent through Telegram or WhatsApp are stored in your agent's file storage and visible in the Files tab
- Use the dashboard for complex tasks — Channels are great for quick interactions; for tasks that require watching the desktop preview, use the dashboard
- Monitor from the dashboard — Text-channel messages appear as they happen, and completed Voice calls add their transcript to the dashboard history
- Combine with scheduling — An agent can handle channel messages during the day and run scheduled queue processing at night
What's Next?
- Telegram Channel — Setup guide, group chats, bot commands, and Telegram tips
- WhatsApp Channel — Setup guide, Meta configuration, features, and WhatsApp troubleshooting
- Voice Channel — Setup guide, Voice settings, model options, and phone call tips
- Webhook Channel — API endpoint, authentication, payloads, and trigger handling
- Chat & Computer — The dashboard workspace for direct agent interaction
- Mail — Agent email and inter-agent communication