Channel Overview

Talon connects to 22 messaging channels simultaneously. Every channel is driven by the same AI agent and shares a unified conversation history — messages from Telegram, Discord, Slack, and everywhere else all appear in the same conversation list in the mobile app.

How Channels Work

When a message arrives on any channel, Talon follows the same pipeline:

The channel listener receives the incoming message.
The message is passed to the AI agent along with the conversation history retrieved from the shared ConversationStore.
The agent processes the message (optionally using tools, executing code, browsing the web, etc.).
The response is sent back through the same channel.
Both the incoming message and the response are persisted to the SQLite-backed ConversationStore.

Because all channels write to the same store, conversation history survives restarts and is visible across the mobile app, web app, and any connected channel.

Configuration Structure

All channels are configured under channels.<type>.accounts.<name> in talon.json. You can have multiple accounts per channel type — for example, two different Telegram bots or three Discord servers.

{
  "channels": {
    "telegram": {
      "accounts": {
        "my-bot": {
          "bot_token": "..."
        }
      }
    },
    "discord": {
      "accounts": {
        "my-server": {
          "bot_token": "..."
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Common Options

Two options are available on most channels regardless of type:

allow_from

Restrict which users or identifiers can send messages to the bot. When set, Talon ignores messages from anyone not on the list. The format of each entry is channel-specific (Telegram user IDs, Discord user IDs, email addresses, etc.).

{
  "allow_from": ["123456789", "987654321"]
}

model

Override the default AI model for a specific channel account. Use the provider/model format.

{
  "bot_token": "...",
  "model": "openai/gpt-4o"
}

All 22 Channels

Channel	Config Key	Required Fields
Telegram	`telegram`	`bot_token`
Discord	`discord`	`bot_token`
Slack	`slack`	`bot_token`, `app_token`
WhatsApp	`whatsapp`	`verify_token`, `access_token`, `phone_number_id`
Email	`email`	`imap_host`, `smtp_host`, `email`, `password`
Webhook	`webhook`	`incoming_path`, `outgoing_url`
Matrix	`matrix`	`homeserver`, `user_id`, `access_token`
Microsoft Teams	`teams`	`webhook_url`, `app_id`, `app_secret`
Messenger	`messenger`	`page_access_token`, `verify_token`
Twilio (SMS)	`twilio`	`account_sid`, `auth_token`, `phone_number`
LINE	`line`	`channel_access_token`, `channel_secret`
Signal	`signal`	`api_url`, `phone_number`
IRC	`irc`	`server`, `port`, `nickname`, `channels`
Mattermost	`mattermost`	`url`, `token`
Zulip	`zulip`	`site`, `email`, `api_key`
Rocket.Chat	`rocketchat`	`url`, `user_id`, `auth_token`
Google Chat	`googlechat`	`webhook_url`
Webex	`webex`	`access_token`, `webhook_secret`
DingTalk	`dingtalk`	`webhook_url`, `secret`
Feishu / Lark	`feishu`	`app_id`, `app_secret`, `verification_token`
ntfy	`ntfy`	`server`, `topic`
Mastodon	`mastodon`	`instance_url`, `access_token`