fix(onboard): avoid false 'telegram plugin not available' block

src/commands/onboard-channels.test.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
 import type { OpenClawConfig } from "../config/config.js";
+import { createEmptyPluginRegistry } from "../plugins/registry.js";
+import { setActivePluginRegistry } from "../plugins/runtime.js";
 import type { WizardPrompter } from "../wizard/prompts.js";
 import { setDefaultChannelPluginRegistryForTests } from "./channel-test-helpers.js";
 import { setupChannels } from "./onboard-channels.js";
@@ -42,6 +44,15 @@ vi.mock("./onboard-helpers.js", () => ({
   detectBinary: vi.fn(async () => false),
 }));
 
+vi.mock("./onboarding/plugin-install.js", async (importOriginal) => {
+  const actual = await importOriginal();
+  return {
+    ...(actual as Record<string, unknown>),
+    // Allow tests to simulate an empty plugin registry during onboarding.
+    reloadOnboardingPluginRegistry: vi.fn(() => {}),
+  };
+});
+
 describe("setupChannels", () => {
   beforeEach(() => {
     setDefaultChannelPluginRegistryForTests();
@@ -81,6 +92,45 @@ describe("setupChannels", () => {
     expect(multiselect).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
+  it("continues Telegram onboarding even when plugin registry is empty (avoids 'plugin not available' block)", async () => {
+    // Simulate missing registry entries (the scenario reported in #25545).
+    setActivePluginRegistry(createEmptyPluginRegistry());
+    // Avoid accidental env-token configuration changing the prompt path.
+    process.env.TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN = "";
+
+    const note = vi.fn(async (_message?: string, _title?: string) => {});
+    const select = vi.fn(async ({ message }: { message: string }) => {
+      if (message === "Select channel (QuickStart)") {
+        return "telegram";
+      }
+      return "__done__";
+    });
+    const text = vi.fn(async () => "123:token");
+
+    const prompter = createPrompter({
+      note,
+      select: select as unknown as WizardPrompter["select"],
+      text: text as unknown as WizardPrompter["text"],
+    });
+
+    const runtime = createExitThrowingRuntime();
+
+    await setupChannels({} as OpenClawConfig, runtime, prompter, {
+      skipConfirm: true,
+      quickstartDefaults: true,
+    });
+
+    // The new flow should not stop setup with a hard "plugin not available" note.
+    const sawHardStop = note.mock.calls.some((call) => {
+      const message = call[0];
+      const title = call[1];
+      return (
+        title === "Channel setup" && String(message).trim() === "telegram plugin not available."
+      );
+    });
+    expect(sawHardStop).toBe(false);
+  });
+
   it("shows explicit dmScope config command in channel primer", async () => {
     const note = vi.fn(async (_message?: string, _title?: string) => {});
     const select = vi.fn(async () => "__done__");

src/commands/onboard-channels.ts

@@ -467,6 +467,20 @@ export async function setupChannels(
       workspaceDir,
     });
     if (!getChannelPlugin(channel)) {
+      // Some installs/environments can fail to populate the plugin registry during onboarding,
+      // even for built-in channels. If the channel supports onboarding, proceed with config
+      // so setup isn't blocked; the gateway can still load plugins on startup.
+      const adapter = getChannelOnboardingAdapter(channel);
+      if (adapter) {
+        await prompter.note(
+          `${channel} plugin not available (continuing with onboarding). If the channel still doesn't work after setup, run \`${formatCliCommand(
+            "openclaw plugins list",
+          )}\` and \`${formatCliCommand("openclaw plugins enable " + channel)}\`, then restart the gateway.`,
+          "Channel setup",
+        );
+        await refreshStatus(channel);
+        return true;
+      }
       await prompter.note(`${channel} plugin not available.`, "Channel setup");
       return false;
     }

src/commands/onboarding/registry.ts

@@ -1,16 +1,36 @@
 import { listChannelPlugins } from "../../channels/plugins/index.js";
+import { discordOnboardingAdapter } from "../../channels/plugins/onboarding/discord.js";
+import { imessageOnboardingAdapter } from "../../channels/plugins/onboarding/imessage.js";
+import { signalOnboardingAdapter } from "../../channels/plugins/onboarding/signal.js";
+import { slackOnboardingAdapter } from "../../channels/plugins/onboarding/slack.js";
+import { telegramOnboardingAdapter } from "../../channels/plugins/onboarding/telegram.js";
+import { whatsappOnboardingAdapter } from "../../channels/plugins/onboarding/whatsapp.js";
 import type { ChannelChoice } from "../onboard-types.js";
 import type { ChannelOnboardingAdapter } from "./types.js";
 
-const CHANNEL_ONBOARDING_ADAPTERS = () =>
+const BUILTIN_ONBOARDING_ADAPTERS: ChannelOnboardingAdapter[] = [
-  new Map<ChannelChoice, ChannelOnboardingAdapter>(
+  telegramOnboardingAdapter,
-    listChannelPlugins()
+  whatsappOnboardingAdapter,
-      .map((plugin) => (plugin.onboarding ? ([plugin.id, plugin.onboarding] as const) : null))
+  discordOnboardingAdapter,
-      .filter((entry): entry is readonly [ChannelChoice, ChannelOnboardingAdapter] =>
+  slackOnboardingAdapter,
-        Boolean(entry),
+  signalOnboardingAdapter,
-      ),
+  imessageOnboardingAdapter,
+];
+
+const CHANNEL_ONBOARDING_ADAPTERS = () => {
+  const fromRegistry = listChannelPlugins()
+    .map((plugin) => (plugin.onboarding ? ([plugin.id, plugin.onboarding] as const) : null))
+    .filter((entry): entry is readonly [ChannelChoice, ChannelOnboardingAdapter] => Boolean(entry));
+
+  // Fall back to built-in adapters to keep onboarding working even when the plugin registry
+  // fails to populate (see #25545).
+  const fromBuiltins = BUILTIN_ONBOARDING_ADAPTERS.map(
+    (adapter) => [adapter.channel, adapter] as const,
   );
 
+  return new Map<ChannelChoice, ChannelOnboardingAdapter>([...fromBuiltins, ...fromRegistry]);
+};
+
 export function getChannelOnboardingAdapter(
   channel: ChannelChoice,
 ): ChannelOnboardingAdapter | undefined {