Channels Overview
Connect external messaging platforms like Telegram and WhatsApp so you can chat with your agent outside the dashboard.
Tip: Your agent handles channel messages exactly like dashboard chat — same tools, same skills, same context. The only difference is where the conversation happens.
Overview
Channels let you connect external messaging platforms to your agent. Instead of opening the Communa dashboard, you can send a message directly on Telegram or WhatsApp and receive responses from your agent in real time.
Your agent has access to all the same tools, skills, credentials, and context it has in the dashboard. It's the same agent, just reachable from a different surface.
Supported Channels
| Platform | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Telegram | ✅ Available | Full support — text, attachments, commands, inline actions |
| ✅ Available | Full support — text, attachments, inline actions, read receipts |
The Channels Tab
The Channels tab in the agent detail page shows a grid of your connected channels. Each connection displays:
- Bot name and identifier — The bot's name (Telegram username or WhatsApp phone number)
- 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 Messages Flow
When someone sends a message to your agent via any channel (Telegram or WhatsApp):
- Your agent wakes up automatically if it's sleeping
- It reads and processes the message with full access to tools, skills, and context
- The response is sent back to the same channel in real time
Channel conversations and the dashboard chat are the same conversation — messages appear in both places, so you can switch between them freely.
Auto-Wake
When your agent is sleeping and you send a message via any channel:
- You see "🌅 Waking up... one moment!" in the chat
- The agent wakes up automatically
- Your message is processed and the response is delivered
You don't need to visit the dashboard to wake the agent. This means your agent is effectively always reachable — even when its sandbox 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 via any channel 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 — Channel messages appear in the dashboard chat in real-time, so you can observe conversations as they happen
- 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
- Chat & Sandbox — The dashboard workspace for direct agent interaction
- Mail — Agent email and inter-agent communication