| name | telegram-auth-troubleshooting |
| description | Diagnose and fix cases where the Hermes Telegram bot silently ignores messages from group members (auth allowlist issues). |
Telegram Bot: Bot Not Responding in Groups
When to Use
Diagnose and fix cases where the Hermes Telegram bot silently ignores messages from group members (auth allowlist issues).
Overview
This skill contains a reusable operational workflow. Follow the existing task-specific steps and examples in the sections below.
Pitfalls
- Do not hardcode credentials, tokens, or personal secrets.
- Verify external service URLs, paths, and permissions before making changes.
- Keep generated outputs reproducible and record input assumptions.
Verification
- Confirm required inputs and credentials are available.
- Run the smallest safe command or example before scaling up.
- Check produced files, API responses, or plots before reporting success.
Diagnose and fix cases where the Hermes Telegram bot silently ignores messages from group members.
Symptoms
- Bot works in DM but ignores messages in groups
- Bot only responds when explicitly mentioned (
@botname)
- Logs show
Unauthorized user warnings
- Privacy mode is already disabled (checked in BotFather)
Diagnosis Steps
1. Check logs for authorization rejections
grep "Unauthorized user" ~/.hermes/logs/errors.log | tail -20
If you see lines like:
WARNING gateway.run: Unauthorized user: 8093676393 (Tom Tong) on telegram
→ This confirms the authorization allowlist is blocking users.
2. Verify privacy mode is disabled (BotFather)
In Telegram, message @BotFather:
/mybots → select your bot- Bot Settings → Bot Privacy → ensure Disable is ON
3. Check the allowlist in ~/.hermes/.env
grep TELEGRAM_ALLOWED_USERS ~/.hermes/.env
If it lists only your username (e.g., TELEGRAM_ALLOWED_USERS=arm2arm), other users will be blocked.
Fix
Edit ~/.hermes/.env — add the Telegram user ID(s) to the allowlist:
# Before:
TELEGRAM_ALLOWED_USERS=arm2arm
# After (add comma-separated IDs):
TELEGRAM_ALLOWED_USERS=arm2arm,8093676393
Find a user's Telegram ID by sending them to a bot that reports IDs (like @userinfobot on Telegram).
Allow all users (less secure, simpler)
Set in .env:
TELEGRAM_ALLOW_ALL_USERS=true
Restart Gateway
hermes gateway restart
Key Files
~/.hermes/.env — TELEGRAM_ALLOWED_USERS env var (comma-separated Telegram user IDs or usernames)~/.hermes/.env — TELEGRAM_ALLOW_ALL_USERS (true = no restrictions)~/.hermes/.env — TELEGRAM_HOME_CHANNEL (default delivery chat)
Gotchas
.env changes require a gateway restart — they are not hot-reloaded- Usernames in the allowlist work (e.g.,
arm2arm) but user IDs are more reliable
- Privacy mode disabled in BotFather is required for the bot to see group messages at all — without it, the bot only sees
/start, /help, mentions, and replies
- If
TELEGRAM_ALLOWED_USERS is set, it takes precedence over TELEGRAM_ALLOW_ALL_USERS
- The bot silently drops unauthorized messages in groups (no error sent to the user) — always check logs first
