Claude Code Channels: Control Your AI Agent from Telegram and Discord

Imagine you kick off a long refactor session with Claude Code, step away from your desk, and then want to check in — or steer the work — from your phone. That’s exactly what Claude Code Channels enables.

Announced as a research preview (requires Claude Code v2.1.80+), Channels is a new feature that lets you push events and messages into your running Claude Code session from external platforms like Telegram or Discord. It’s a two-way bridge: you send a message, Claude reads it, does the work on your machine, and replies back to your phone.

Photo by Alexander Shatov on Unsplash

What Are Claude Code Channels?

A channel is an MCP server that pushes events into your running Claude Code session. Unlike traditional integrations that spawn a fresh session or poll on a timer, channels work with the session you already have open — with all your file context and conversation history intact.

Key characteristics:

Push-based: Events arrive when they happen, not when Claude polls for them
Two-way: Claude can read your message and reply back through the same channel
Context-preserving: Your existing session state, files, and tool context remain intact
Session-scoped: Events only arrive while the session window is open

Currently supported channels in the research preview:

Telegram (via telegram@claude-plugins-official)
Discord (via discord@claude-plugins-official)
Fakechat (localhost demo, no credentials needed)

How It Compares to Other Claude Code Features

Feature	How it works	Best for
Channels	Push events into your running local session	Chat-driven control, CI webhooks, remote steering
Remote Control	Drive your local session from claude.ai or mobile app	Visual steering while away from desk
Claude Code on the Web	Fresh cloud sandbox cloned from GitHub	Delegating self-contained async tasks
Claude in Slack	Spawns a web session from `@Claude` mention	Starting tasks from team chat context
Standard MCP	Claude queries it during a task (pull-based)	On-demand read/query access to systems

Channels are uniquely suited for scenarios where you want to stay in the loop on a long-running task without being at your terminal.

Setting Up Claude Code Channels with Telegram

Here’s the complete setup process:

Prerequisites

Claude Code v2.1.80 or later
Bun installed (bun --version to check)
A claude.ai account (API key auth is not supported for Channels)
Team/Enterprise users: admin must enable Channels in organization settings

Step 1: Create a Telegram Bot

Open BotFather in Telegram and send /newbot. Choose a display name and a unique username ending in bot. Copy the token BotFather returns — you’ll need it shortly.

Step 2: Install the Plugin

Inside a Claude Code session, run:

/plugin install telegram@claude-plugins-official

If you get “plugin not found in any marketplace”, refresh first:

/plugin marketplace add anthropics/claude-plugins-official
# or, if already added:
/plugin marketplace update claude-plugins-official

Then retry the install and reload:

/reload-plugins

Step 3: Configure Your Token

/telegram:configure <your-bot-token>

This saves the token to ~/.claude/channels/telegram/.env. Alternatively, set TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN in your shell environment before launching Claude Code.

Step 4: Launch with the Channel Enabled

Exit Claude Code and restart with the --channels flag:

claude --channels plugin:telegram@claude-plugins-official

This starts the Telegram plugin, which begins polling your bot for incoming messages.

Step 5: Pair Your Account

Open Telegram, find your bot, and send it any message. The bot will reply with a pairing code.

Back in Claude Code, approve the pairing:

/telegram:access pair <pairing-code>

Then lock it down so only you can send commands:

/telegram:access policy allowlist

That’s it. Now you can message your bot from anywhere and Claude Code will receive and act on your messages.

Setting Up with Discord

The Discord setup follows a similar flow:

Go to the Discord Developer Portal, create a new application, and get your bot token from the Bot section
Enable Message Content Intent in the bot’s Privileged Gateway Intents
Generate an invite URL via OAuth2 → URL Generator with bot scope + message/channel permissions
Install the plugin: /plugin install discord@claude-plugins-official
Configure: /discord:configure <token>
Restart: claude --channels plugin:discord@claude-plugins-official
DM your bot to get a pairing code, then /discord:access pair <code>

Practical Use Cases

1. Remote Code Review

You’re in a meeting and your colleague asks about a function. From your phone:

“Hey, what does the processPayment function in billing/index.ts do?”

Claude reads the file, understands the context, and replies back to Telegram — all while your session runs on your development machine.

2. Background Task Monitoring

Start a long-running migration or test suite, then step out. Set up Claude to notify you via Telegram when it finishes or hits an error. You can even ask follow-up questions from your phone.

3. CI/CD Webhook Integration

Build a custom channel that receives webhook events from your CI pipeline. When a build fails, the event arrives in your Claude Code session and Claude can immediately investigate the logs, suggest fixes, and even apply them.

4. Always-On AI Assistant

Run Claude in a persistent tmux or screen session on a server. Keep it connected to your Telegram bot. Now you have an AI assistant that has access to your codebase and files, reachable from your phone 24/7.

Security Considerations

Channels use a sender allowlist for security:

Only IDs you’ve explicitly paired can push messages into your session
Messages from unknown senders are silently dropped
You control which channel plugins are active per session with --channels
The allowlist also gates permission relay — anyone who can send messages can approve or deny tool-use prompts remotely, so only pair accounts you trust completely

For unattended use, you can use --dangerously-skip-permissions to bypass tool-use prompts, but only in trusted, controlled environments.

Enterprise Controls

For Team and Enterprise Claude Code users, channels are disabled by default and must be explicitly enabled by an organization admin:

Claude.ai → Admin Settings → Claude Code → Channels → Enable

Individual users can then opt in per session with --channels.

Research Preview Limitations

Channels are currently in research preview and have some limitations:

Requires --channels flag to activate per session (not persistent)
Only accepts plugins from Anthropic’s official allowlist during the preview
The flag syntax and protocol may change based on feedback
Events only arrive while the session window is open — no background daemon mode yet

To test a custom channel you’re building, use --dangerously-load-development-channels.

Quick Demo: Fakechat

Before connecting a real chat platform, try the built-in demo:

/plugin install fakechat@claude-plugins-official
claude --channels plugin:fakechat@claude-plugins-official

Then open http://localhost:8787 in your browser. Type a message and watch it arrive in your Claude Code session in real time.

What’s Next

Channels open up a new paradigm for working with Claude Code: instead of being tethered to your terminal, you can stay connected to your AI coding session from anywhere. As the research preview evolves, expect:

More platform plugins (Slack, SMS, etc.)
Persistent background session support
Richer webhook receiver templates
Tighter permission controls

For now, if you’re regularly running long Claude Code sessions and want to stay in the loop from your phone, Channels + Telegram is worth setting up today.

Resources

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