Status: Beta — Telegram and Slack channels are functional. Discord and push notifications are still being refined.

Channels

FERAL connects to external messaging platforms through channels. Each channel bridges a platform’s API into the Brain’s session system, so users can talk to the agent from Telegram, Slack, Discord, or receive push notifications — all with the same capabilities as the web UI.

ChannelManager Architecture

The ChannelManager is a singleton that registers, starts, and supervises channel adapters. Each adapter runs in its own asyncio task and translates platform-specific messages into FeralMessage objects.

from feral_core.channels import ChannelManager

manager = ChannelManager(brain=brain)
manager.register("telegram", TelegramChannel(token="..."))
manager.register("slack", SlackChannel(token="..."))
manager.register("discord", DiscordChannel(token="..."))
await manager.start_all()

Each channel adapter implements a common interface:

class ChannelAdapter:
    async def start(self) -> None: ...
    async def stop(self) -> None: ...
    async def send(self, user_id: str, message: FeralMessage) -> None: ...
    async def on_message(self, callback: Callable) -> None: ...

Telegram Bot

Setup

Create a bot via @BotFather and get the token.
Store the token in the vault. The channels step of the setup wizard prompts for it, verifies it against Telegram’s getMe, and stores it under the FERAL_TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN name the runtime reads:

feral setup --from-step channels

The web UI’s Settings → Channels card writes the same credential.

feral key add --provider telegram is not the right command here. It stores labeled keys for LLM providers under a namespace the channel loader and the Telegram probe never read.

Enable the channel in config:

// ~/.feral/settings.json — "channels" section
{
  "channels": {
    "telegram": {
      "enabled": true,
      "allowed_users": [12345678],
      "features": {
        "voice_messages": true,
        "inline_mode": true
      }
    }
  }
}

Start FERAL — the Telegram channel connects automatically.

Features

Feature	Status
Text messages	Supported
Voice messages (transcribed via Whisper)	Supported
Photos (analyzed via vision)	Supported
Inline mode (use FERAL in any chat)	Supported
Group chats	Supported (mention-triggered)
SDUI cards rendered as Telegram messages	Supported

Slack Integration

Setup

Create a Slack app at api.slack.com/apps.
Enable Socket Mode and add bot scopes: chat:write, app_mentions:read, im:history.
Store tokens:

feral setup --from-step channels   # prompts for both tokens, probes auth.test

Configure:

channels:
  slack:
    enabled: true
    socket_mode: true
    respond_to:
      - direct_messages
      - app_mentions
    default_channel: "#general"

Thread Support

FERAL maintains session continuity per Slack thread. A new thread starts a new session; replies within a thread continue the same conversation context.

Discord Gateway

Setup

Create an application at discord.com/developers.
Add a bot, enable Message Content Intent.
Invite the bot to your server with Send Messages + Read Message History permissions.

feral setup --from-step channels   # prompts for the token, probes users/@me

channels:
  discord:
    enabled: true
    command_prefix: "!"
    respond_in_channels:
      - "feral-chat"
      - "general"
    respond_to_dms: true

Slash Commands

FERAL auto-registers Discord slash commands on startup:

Command	Description
`/ask <question>`	Ask the agent a question
`/remember <fact>`	Store a fact in memory
`/status`	Show agent status and uptime
`/voice`	Join voice channel (experimental)

Push Notifications

FERAL sends push notifications via Firebase Cloud Messaging (Android/web) and Apple Push Notification service (iOS) for proactive alerts, reminders, and task completions.

Configuration

channels:
  push:
    enabled: true
    fcm:
      credentials_file: ~/.feral/firebase-credentials.json
    apns:
      key_file: ~/.feral/apns-auth-key.p8
      key_id: "ABC123"
      team_id: "DEF456"
      bundle_id: "io.feral.app"
      environment: production  # or sandbox

Sending Notifications

Push notifications are triggered by the Brain when proactive events fire (health alerts, reminders, task completions):

from feral_core.channels import PushChannel

push = PushChannel(config)

await push.send(
    user_id="user_123",
    message=FeralMessage(
        type="push_notification",
        payload={
            "title": "Hydration Reminder",
            "body": "You haven't logged water in 3 hours.",
            "action_url": "/dashboard",
            "priority": "normal",
        },
    ),
)

Device Registration

Clients register their push tokens via the Brain API:

curl -X POST http://localhost:9090/api/push/register \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"user_id": "user_123", "platform": "fcm", "token": "eKx7..."}'

Channel-Specific Formatting

Each adapter translates SDUI payloads into platform-native formatting:

SDUI Component	Telegram	Slack	Discord
`MetricCard`	Bold text + emoji	Block Kit section	Embed field
`DataTable`	Monospace text	Block Kit table	Code block
`FormCard`	Inline keyboard	Modal	Button row
`ImageCard`	Photo message	Image block	Embed image
`MarkdownCard`	Markdown (subset)	mrkdwn	Markdown

Overview

Getting Started

Guides

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Channels

Connectivity

Security

Native Apps

Operations

SDKs

Reference

Help

Community

Channels

Channels

ChannelManager Architecture

Telegram Bot

Setup

Features

Slack Integration

Setup

Thread Support

Discord Gateway

Setup

Slash Commands

Push Notifications

Configuration

Sending Notifications

Device Registration

Channel-Specific Formatting

​Channels

​ChannelManager Architecture

​Telegram Bot

​Setup

​Features

​Slack Integration

​Setup

​Thread Support

​Discord Gateway

​Setup

​Slash Commands

​Push Notifications

​Configuration

​Sending Notifications

​Device Registration

​Channel-Specific Formatting

Channels

ChannelManager Architecture

Telegram Bot

Setup

Features

Slack Integration

Setup

Thread Support

Discord Gateway

Setup

Slash Commands

Push Notifications

Configuration

Sending Notifications

Device Registration

Channel-Specific Formatting