Zalo

Status: experimental. Direct messages and group chats are both implemented; the Capabilities table below reflects verified behavior on Zalo Bot Creator / Marketplace bots.

Bundled plugin

Zalo ships as a bundled plugin in current OpenClaw releases, so packaged builds do not need a separate install.

On an older build or a custom install that excludes Zalo, install the npm package directly:

• Install: openclaw plugins install @openclaw/zalo
• Pinned version: openclaw plugins install @openclaw/[email protected]
• From a local checkout: openclaw plugins install ./path/to/local/zalo-plugin
• Details: Plugins

Quick setup

1. Create a bot token at https://bot.zaloplatforms.com (sign in, create a bot, configure settings). The token is numeric_id:secret; for Marketplace bots the usable runtime token may appear in the bot's welcome message.
2. Set the token, either as env ZALO_BOT_TOKEN=... (default account only) or in config.
3. Restart the gateway.
4. Approve the pairing code on first DM contact (default DM policy is pairing).

Minimal config:

{
  channels: {
    zalo: {
      enabled: true,
      accounts: {
        default: {
          botToken: "12345689:abc-xyz",
          dmPolicy: "pairing",
        },
      },
    },
  },
}

Multi-account: add more entries under channels.zalo.accounts.<id>, each with its own botToken/name. channels.zalo.botToken (flat, no accounts) is a legacy single-account shorthand; prefer accounts.<id>.* for new configs.

What it is

Zalo is a Vietnam-focused messaging app. Its Bot API lets the Gateway run a bot for both 1:1 conversations and group chats, with deterministic routing back to Zalo (the model never chooses channels).

This page covers Zalo Bot Creator / Marketplace bots. Zalo Official Account (OA) bots are a different product surface and may behave differently; this page does not cover them.

How it works

• Inbound messages are normalized into the shared channel envelope with media placeholders.
• Replies always route back to the same Zalo chat; quote-reply is not used (replyToMode is fixed off).
• Long-polling (getUpdates) by default; webhook mode available via channels.zalo.webhookUrl.
• Groups require an @mention to trigger the bot; this is not configurable per channel.

Limits

Access control

Direct messages

• channels.zalo.dmPolicy: pairing (default) | allowlist | open | disabled.
• Pairing: unknown senders get a pairing code; messages are ignored until approved. Codes expire after 1 hour.
  • openclaw pairing list zalo
  • openclaw pairing approve zalo <CODE>
  • Details: Pairing
• channels.zalo.allowFrom accepts numeric Zalo user IDs (no username lookup). open requires "*".

Groups

Group chats are supported by the plugin (chatTypes: ["direct", "group"]) and gated by mention plus group policy:

• channels.zalo.groupPolicy: open | allowlist | disabled.
• channels.zalo.groupAllowFrom restricts which sender IDs can trigger the bot in groups; falls back to allowFrom when unset.
• Default resolution: when channels.zalo is configured, an unset groupPolicy resolves to open. When channels.zalo is missing entirely, runtime fails closed to allowlist.
• Reported real-world caveat: on some Marketplace-bot setups the bot could not be added to a group at all. If you hit that, verify with your bot's Zalo Bot Platform settings; it is a platform-side constraint, not an OpenClaw policy.

Long-polling vs webhook

• Default: long-polling (no public URL required).
• Webhook mode: set channels.zalo.webhookUrl and channels.zalo.webhookSecret.
  • Webhook URL must use HTTPS.
  • Webhook secret must be 8-256 characters.
  • Zalo sends events with an X-Bot-Api-Secret-Token header, checked with a constant-time comparison.
  • Gateway HTTP handles webhook requests at channels.zalo.webhookPath (defaults to the webhook URL's path).
  • Requests must use Content-Type: application/json (or a +json media type).
  • getUpdates polling and webhook are mutually exclusive per Zalo API docs.

Supported message types

• Text: full support, chunked to 2000 characters.
• Media: inbound/outbound, capped by mediaMaxMb.
• Reactions, threads, polls, native commands: not supported by the plugin.
• Streaming: the plugin declares block-streaming capability, but Zalo has no dedicated outbound queue/merge-text tuning knobs (unlike some other regional channels); verify current behavior in your environment if this matters for your use case.

Capabilities

Delivery targets (CLI/cron)

Use a chat ID as the target:

openclaw message send --channel zalo --target 123456789 --message "hi"

Troubleshooting

Bot does not respond:

• Check the token: openclaw channels status --probe
• Verify the sender is approved (pairing or allowFrom)
• Check gateway logs: openclaw logs --follow

Webhook not receiving events:

• Confirm the webhook URL uses HTTPS
• Confirm the secret is 8-256 characters
• Confirm the gateway HTTP endpoint is reachable on the configured path
• Confirm getUpdates polling is not also running (they are mutually exclusive)
• A burst of requests can return HTTP 429 (120 requests / 60s per path+IP); back off and retry

Configuration reference

Full configuration: Configuration

channels.zalo.botToken, channels.zalo.dmPolicy, and other flat top-level keys are the legacy single-account shorthand for the fields above; both forms are supported.

Env option: ZALO_BOT_TOKEN=... resolves the default account's token only.

Related

• Channels Overview - all supported channels
• Pairing - DM authentication and pairing flow
• Groups - group chat behavior and mention gating
• Channel Routing - session routing for messages
• Security - access model and hardening