Fix: Telegram Typing Indicator Persists After Response Completes

After OpenClaw sends a response to Telegram, the typing indicator sometimes persists for minutes — or until Telegram auto-clears it after 5 minutes. The bot is not frozen; it has already sent the reply. The root cause is a missing or failed sendChatAction cancellation call. This is a known cosmetic issue that confuses users into thinking the agent is still processing.

Step 1: Update OpenClaw

This issue has been fixed in recent OpenClaw versions. The patched build sends a cancellation action after every response, even when an exception occurs mid-processing:

npm install -g openclaw@latest

# Verify version
openclaw --version

After updating, restart the gateway to load the new plugin version:

openclaw gateway restart

Step 2: Clear the Typing Indicator Immediately

While waiting for the update, you can manually clear the indicator via Telegram Bot API. Replace BOT_TOKEN and CHAT_ID with your values:

curl -s -X POST "https://api.telegram.org/bot<BOT_TOKEN>/sendChatAction"   -d chat_id=<CHAT_ID>   -d action=cancel

Step 3: Check dmPolicy Configuration

Certain dmPolicy configurations can cause the plugin to handle DM messages differently, sometimes skipping cleanup. Verify your Telegram plugin config:

{
  "plugins": {
    "telegram": {
      "enabled": true,
      "dmPolicy": "open",
      "typingDelay": false
    }
  }
}

Setting typingDelay: false disables the initial typing indicator entirely if you prefer not to show it at all.

Step 4: Restart the Telegram Plugin

# From the OpenClaw CLI
openclaw plugins restart telegram

# Or restart the full gateway
openclaw gateway restart