Coding

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

Complete guide to Claude Code Channels — how to push messages into your running Claude Code session from Telegram or Discord, setup steps, use cases, and security.

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

Kick off a long coding session with Claude Code, step away from your desk, and stay in full control from your phone. That’s the promise of Claude Code Channels — a research preview feature that lets you push messages into your running Claude Code session from Telegram, Discord, or any custom platform.

Claude Code Channels Photo by Alexander Shatov on Unsplash

What Is Claude Code Channels?

A channel is an MCP server that pushes events into your already-running Claude Code session. It’s fundamentally different from other remote access patterns:

  • Not a fresh session: Claude keeps your full file context and conversation history
  • Push-based: Messages arrive the moment you send them, not on a polling schedule
  • Two-way: Claude reads your message, does the work on your machine, and replies back to your chat app

Currently available in the research preview (Claude Code v2.1.80+):

  • Telegram
  • Discord
  • Fakechat (localhost demo)

Requirements: claude.ai login (not API key), Bun installed, Claude Code v2.1.80+

Telegram Setup: Step by Step

1. Create a Telegram Bot

Open BotFather, send /newbot, choose a name and username (must end in bot), and copy the token.

2. Install the Plugin

Inside Claude Code:

/plugin install telegram@claude-plugins-official
/reload-plugins

If “plugin not found”:

/plugin marketplace add anthropics/claude-plugins-official
# then retry install

3. Configure Your Token

/telegram:configure YOUR_BOT_TOKEN

4. Launch with Channel Enabled

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

5. Pair Your Account

Send any message to your bot on Telegram → bot replies with a pairing code → back in Claude Code:

/telegram:access pair <code>
/telegram:access policy allowlist

Done! Now messages you send to your Telegram bot will arrive directly in your Claude Code session.

Discord Setup

  1. Create a bot at Discord Developer Portal
  2. Enable Message Content Intent
  3. Invite the bot to your server (OAuth2 → URL Generator, bot scope)
  4. In Claude Code: /plugin install discord@claude-plugins-official
  5. Configure: /discord:configure <token>
  6. Restart: claude --channels plugin:discord@claude-plugins-official
  7. DM your bot → get pairing code → /discord:access pair <code>

What Can You Do with Channels?

Ask questions about your codebase remotely

You → Telegram: "What does the auth middleware do in src/middleware/auth.ts?"
Claude → Telegram: "The auth middleware validates JWT tokens and checks role permissions..."

Monitor long-running tasks

Start a database migration or test suite, go to a meeting, check results on your phone. Ask Claude follow-up questions without returning to your desk.

Receive CI/CD alerts

Build a custom webhook channel that forwards GitHub Actions failures directly into your Claude Code session. Claude can immediately inspect the error and suggest fixes.

Always-on assistant via tmux

# Run Claude in a persistent terminal session
tmux new-session -d -s claude-session
tmux send-keys -t claude-session "claude --channels plugin:telegram@claude-plugins-official" Enter

Your Telegram bot stays active as long as the tmux session runs — giving you an AI coding assistant accessible from anywhere.

Comparing Channel Options

Feature Channels Remote Control Claude.ai Web
Session type Your existing local session Your existing local session Fresh cloud session
Trigger External push (Telegram, Discord) You drive from claude.ai You drive from claude.ai
File access Your local files ✅ Your local files ✅ GitHub clone only
Best for Remote steering, webhooks, chat Visual control while mobile Async delegated tasks

Security

  • Sender allowlist: Only paired accounts can push messages
  • Unknown senders are silently dropped
  • You activate channels per-session with --channels (not always-on)
  • The allowlist also controls permission relay — paired users can approve/deny Claude’s tool-use prompts remotely

For fully unattended use: --dangerously-skip-permissions (only in trusted environments)

Team and Enterprise

Channels are disabled by default for Team/Enterprise organizations. Admins must enable them at:

Claude.ai → Admin Settings → Claude Code → Channels

Try It First: Fakechat Demo

No credentials needed:

/plugin install fakechat@claude-plugins-official
claude --channels plugin:fakechat@claude-plugins-official
# Open http://localhost:8787 in your browser

Type a message in the browser → watch it appear in your Claude Code terminal → see Claude’s reply back in the browser. Great way to understand the flow before connecting Telegram or Discord.

Current Limitations (Research Preview)

  • Requires --channels flag every session (no persistent background daemon)
  • Only plugins from Anthropic’s official allowlist accepted
  • Events only arrive while session is open
  • API key auth not supported — requires claude.ai login

Summary

Claude Code Channels is a genuinely useful feature for developers who run long AI coding sessions. The ability to check in, ask questions, and steer work from your phone — while Claude operates on your actual local files — is a meaningful upgrade over spawning fresh cloud sessions.

Setting up Telegram takes about 10 minutes. The Fakechat demo takes 2. Both are worth trying if you regularly work with Claude Code.

Useful Links

Tags: #claude-code #channels #telegram #discord #mcp #anthropic #ai-agent