🪟 OpenClaw Telegram Tables Patch

Fix Telegram rich message tables to render with visible vertical column borders by sending raw Markdown instead of HTML through Bot API 10.1 sendRichMessage.

📋 Problem

OpenClaw converts Markdown tables to HTML internally before sending them via Telegram's sendRichMessage API as {html: "<table>..."}. However, Telegram's rich HTML renderer does not display vertical column borders on tables, making them look like plain text without visual separation between columns.

✅ Solution

This patch modifies OpenClaw's Telegram sending pipeline to send raw Markdown as {markdown: "..."} instead of converting to HTML. Telegram's Bot API 10.1 natively converts Markdown tables to RichBlockTable blocks with proper borders, alignment, and formatting — just like Telegram's own table rendering.

What Changed

Two functions in OpenClaw's send-*.js (in dist/) are patched:

Function	Before	After
buildTelegramRichMarkdown	Converts Markdown → HTML → sends {html}	Sends {markdown} directly
splitTelegramRichMessageTextChunks	Converts chunks to HTML	Passes Markdown chunks as-is

🚀 Installation

From GitHub (recommended)

openclaw skills install git:https://github.com/basil20100/openclaw-telegram-tables-patch

From Local Directory

openclaw skills install ./openclaw-telegram-tables-patch

📖 Usage

Step 1: Enable Rich Messages (one-time)

openclaw config patch --stdin <<'json'
{"channels": {"telegram": {"richMessages": true}}}
json

Step 2: Apply the Patch

node ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/openclaw-telegram-tables-patch/scripts/telegram-rich-markdown.patch.js

Step 3: Restart the Gateway

systemctl --user restart openclaw-gateway

Step 4: Verify

Send a Markdown table in Telegram — you should see vertical column borders.

| Feature | Status | Details |
|--------|--------|---------|
| Tables | ✅ | Working |
| Borders | ✅ | Visible |
| Alignment | ✅ | Centered |

⚠️ Important Notes

• Re-apply after every OpenClaw update — npm update -g openclaw overwrites the patched file
• The patch script auto-detects OpenClaw's installation path across systems
• If the patch can't find the target file (e.g., filename changed), it will warn you — manual patching may be needed
• A backup of the original file is saved as send-*.js.bak

🔧 How It Works

Before (broken):
  Markdown table → markdownToTelegramRichHtml() → HTML <table> → sendRichMessage({html}) → ❌ no borders

After (fixed):
  Markdown table → sendRichMessage({markdown}) → Telegram renders RichBlockTable → ✅ borders

🧪 Tested On

• OpenClaw 2026.6.11 (e085fa1)
• Telegram Bot API 10.1
• Node.js v22+
• Linux (systemd)

📄 License

MIT — free to use, modify, and distribute.

🤝 Contributing

If OpenClaw updates and the patch breaks, please open an issue with the new send-*.js filename and the relevant code section.

🙏 Credits

• Discovered by Basil Albishri while comparing OpenClaw's table rendering with Hermes Agent's approach
• Hermes sends {markdown} natively — this patch brings the same behavior to OpenClaw