Channels Overview

Channels are communication adapters that connect external messaging platforms to the Astonish agent engine. They allow users to interact with their AI agents through familiar interfaces — Telegram, Email, or Slack — without changing how agents process requests.

Inbound A2A is not a messaging channel. It is an OAuth-protected HTTP endpoint for external agents; see Inbound A2A Server.

Supported Platforms

Platform	Transport	Key Feature
Telegram	Bot API (polling/webhook)	Real-time chat, inline commands
Email	IMAP/SMTP	Asynchronous, plus-addressing routing
Slack	Events API + OAuth	Workspace integration, threads

Architecture

Every channel adapter follows the same pattern:

1. Receive — Listen for incoming messages on the platform's transport
2. Authenticate — Verify the sender against the allowlist (config-based or database-backed)
3. Route — Determine which organization and team context to use
4. Execute — Pass the message to the agent engine (same engine used by CLI and Studio)
5. Respond — Format the agent's output for the platform and deliver it back

┌────────────┐     ┌─────────────┐     ┌──────────────┐
│  Telegram  │────▶│   Channel   │────▶│    Agent     │
│  Email     │◀────│   Adapter   │◀────│    Engine    │
│  Slack     │     └─────────────┘     └──────────────┘
└────────────┘

The agent engine is shared across all interfaces. A conversation started in Telegram uses the same flows, tools, and memory as one started in Studio or the CLI.

Local vs Cloud Deployment

Local (SQLite)

In SQLite deployments, channels use a static allowlist defined in your configuration file. Routing uses your default org and team context.

channels:
  telegram:
    enabled: true
    bot_token: "bot-token-here"
    allow_from:
      - "123456789" # Telegram user ID

Cloud (PostgreSQL)

In PostgreSQL deployments, channels gain additional capabilities:

• Database-backed allowlists — Managed through the platform admin API, not static config
• Dynamic per-message routing — Each incoming message is routed to the correct organization and team based on sender identity or addressing
• In-channel context switching — Users can run /org and /team commands to change their active context without leaving the conversation
• Multi-tenant isolation — Messages from different organizations never cross boundaries

Configuration

Channel configuration lives in your Astonish config file under the channels key. Each adapter has its own section with platform-specific settings.

See the individual channel pages for detailed setup instructions:

• Telegram
• Email
• Slack

For external agents that call Astonish, use Inbound A2A Server and grant the OAuth a2a scope. For Astonish calling remote agents, use A2A Agents.