chat-group-behavior

# Chat Group Behavior This skill covers the full lifecycle of group chat participation: joining, behaving well while active, and leaving cleanly. ## Prerequisites `channels.<platform>.groupPolicy`, `groupAllowFrom`, and `groups.*.requireMention` are set so that only the owner can wake you in any group by default. Trigger phrases are defined in `agents.list[main].groupChat.mentionPatterns`. This applies to WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, and other supported platforms. --- ## Joining a Group When the owner @mentions you in a group chat, follow these steps in order. **Step 1 — Capture context** From the inbound message metadata: platform (e.g. `whatsapp`, `signal`), group ID (the `chat_id` / `from` field), and duration (parse from the owner's message — default 30 minutes if unspecified). **Step 2 — Open the gate** Patch `channels.<platform>.groups.<group_id>.requireMention` to `false` in `openclaw.json`. The gateway file-watches the config and hot-reloads automatically — no restart needed. **Step 2b — Open the sender filter** ⚠️ Critical — easy to miss `groupAllowFrom` controls not just *who can wake you* in a group, but also *which senders' messages are delivered to you* once active. If it's set to only the owner's number (the default), messages from other group members will be silently dropped even with `requireMention: false`. Fix: patch `channels.<platform>.groupAllowFrom` to `["*"]` so all group members' messages are delivered. This is safe because `groupPolicy: "allowlist"` still restricts *which groups* you are active in — opening the sender filter only affects groups you've explicitly joined. Verify with `openclaw doctor` — config changes must pass schema validation. **Step 3 — Signal before going quiet** Before doing any work (research, lookups, etc.) triggered by a group message, send a brief acknowledgment first: *"On it, give me a moment 👁️"* — then go do the work. Silence looks like a crash. **Step 4 — Introduce yourself** Say hi, introduce yourself briefly if it's a new group. Participate like a human — use judgment about when to contribute. Do not respond to every message. **Step 5 — Set a closing cron job** Create a one-shot cron job (`kind: "at"`) for the parsed duration. When it fires: patch `requireMention` back to `true` for this group in `openclaw.json`, then send a brief goodbye. The gateway hot-reloads and the gate closes — no owner action needed. **Step 6 — Confirm to owner** Tell the owner the window is open and when it closes: _"Joined! I'll be here for 60 minutes — going quiet at 4:19 PM."_ --- ## Behavior While Active - **One response per message** — don't triple-tap with different reactions - **Signal before working** — acknowledge first, deliver second (see Step 3) - **Don't dominate** — respond when you add value; stay quiet for casual banter between humans - **Be present, not performative** — contribute naturally, like a human participant --- ## Leaving a Group **Timed close (automatic):** When the closing cron fires: patch `requireMention: true` back for this group in `openclaw.json`, send a brief goodbye to the group. Gateway hot-reloads. **Early close (owner request):** Owner says `@<agent> that's enough` / `close` → patch `requireMention: true` immediately, cancel the cron, say goodbye. **Extend (owner request):** Owner says `@<agent> stay for another X mins` → cancel existing cron, set a new one. --- ## Troubleshooting **Messages from group members not reaching me:** Check `groupAllowFrom` — if it's restricted to the owner's number, non-owner messages are silently filtered. Set to `["*"]` (see Step 2b). **"thinking/redacted_thinking blocks cannot be modified" errors:** This happens when the session has reasoning tokens in its history and a subsequent API call tries to re-process them. Fix: clear the session transcript file (find it via `sessions.json` in the agent sessions directory). The session will restart clean on the next message. --- ## Notes - Group ID is in inbound message metadata (`chat_id` / `from` field) - Config changes hot-reload — no gateway restart or Docker restart needed - When closing, set `requireMention: true` for the specific group entry (or remove it to fall back to the wildcard default) - `groupAllowFrom: ["*"]` combined with `groupPolicy: "allowlist"` is the correct secure pattern — open sender filter, restricted group allowlist