OpenClaw Tlon Plugin

Tlon/Urbit channel plugin for OpenClaw. Enables your AI agent to communicate via Tlon DMs and group channels.

Features

• DMs: Receive and respond to direct messages
• Group Channels: Participate in group chats (mention-triggered or open mode)
• Thread Replies: Support for threaded conversations
• Rich Content: Images, links, and formatted text
• Ship Authorization: Allowlist ships for DM access
• Channel Authorization: Per-channel ship allowlists with open/restricted modes
• Approval System: Approve/deny new DMs, channel mentions, and group invites via DM
• Settings Store: Hot-reload config via Urbit settings-store (no restart needed)
• Auto-Discovery: Automatically monitors all channels in joined groups
• Cite Resolution: Parse and fetch quoted message content

Installation

This plugin is included with OpenClaw. Enable it in your config:

channels:
  tlon:
    enabled: true
    ship: "~your-ship"
    url: "https://your-ship.tlon.network"
    code: "your-access-code"

Full Configuration Example

channels:
  tlon:
    enabled: true
    ship: "~your-ship"
    url: "https://your-ship.tlon.network"
    code: "your-access-code"
    
    # Owner receives approval requests and can manage the bot
    ownerShip: "~your-main-ship"
    
    # Ships allowed to DM the bot directly
    dmAllowlist:
      - "~trusted-friend"
      - "~another-ship"
    
    # Auto-accept settings
    autoAcceptDmInvites: true      # Accept DMs from ships in dmAllowlist
    autoAcceptGroupInvites: false  # Require approval for group invites
    
    # Channel discovery
    autoDiscoverChannels: true     # Monitor all channels in joined groups
    groupChannels:                 # Additional channels to monitor explicitly
      - "chat/~host-ship/channel-name"
    
    # Per-channel authorization
    authorization:
      channelRules:
        "chat/~host/public-channel":
          mode: "open"             # Anyone can interact
        "chat/~host/private-channel":
          mode: "restricted"
          allowedShips:
            - "~specific-ship"
    
    # Ships authorized by default for restricted channels
    defaultAuthorizedShips:
      - "~always-allowed"
    
    # Show model info in responses
    showModelSignature: false

Approval System

The approval system lets you control who can interact with your bot. When ownerShip is configured, you'll receive DM notifications for:

• DM requests from ships not on your dmAllowlist
• Channel mentions from ships not authorized for that channel
• Group invites (if autoAcceptGroupInvites is false)

Usage

When someone not on the allowlist tries to interact, you'll receive a DM like:

New DM request from ~sampel-palnet:
"Hello, I'd like to chat with your bot..."

Reply "approve", "deny", or "block" (ID: dm-1234567890-abc)

• approve: Allow the interaction and add to allowlist. Original message is processed.
• deny: Reject silently. Ship can try again later.
• block: Permanently block using Tlon's native blocking.

Admin Commands

The owner can send these commands via DM:

| Command | Description | |---------|-------------| | blocked | List all blocked ships | | pending | List pending approval requests | | unblock ~ship | Unblock a ship |

Bundled Skill

This plugin bundles @tloncorp/tlon-skill which provides CLI commands for:

• Contacts and profile management
• Channel listing and history
• Group administration
• Message posting and reactions
• Settings management

The skill is automatically available to your agent. For standalone usage, see the tlon-skill repo.

Documentation

Full documentation: https://docs.openclaw.ai/channels/tlon

Development

Prerequisites

• Docker
• GitHub CLI (gh) authenticated with tloncorp access
• A local Urbit ship (e.g., on http://localhost:8080)
• Anthropic API key (or OpenRouter for alternative models)

Quick Start

# 1. Clone this repo
gh repo clone tloncorp/openclaw-tlon
cd openclaw-tlon

# 2. Run setup (clones api-beta, creates .env)
./dev/setup.sh

# 3. Edit .env with your credentials
#    - ANTHROPIC_API_KEY or OPENROUTER_API_KEY
#    - TLON_URL: http://host.docker.internal:<port> (not localhost!)
#    - TLON_SHIP, TLON_CODE
#    - TLON_DM_ALLOWLIST, TLON_OWNER_SHIP

# 4. Start dev environment (loads OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PORT from root .env)
docker compose --env-file .env -f dev/docker-compose.yml up --build

# 5. Access OpenClaw at http://localhost:${OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_PORT:-18789}

Directory Structure

parent/
├── api-beta/           # @tloncorp/api - shared API library (cloned by setup)
└── openclaw-tlon/      # This repo

The tlon-skill is installed via npm and doesn't need to be cloned separately.

Making Changes

1. Edit code in either repo
2. Restart container: docker compose --env-file .env -f dev/docker-compose.yml up --build
3. For faster iteration, run OpenClaw directly on host with npm link

License

MIT