Chat Providers

Providers are transport channels between users and the Ash runtime. They control how messages arrive and where replies are sent.

Chat Providers In 30 Seconds

Provider config controls authentication and access policy
ash serve runs provider integrations
Telegram is the primary provider documented here

Quick Start (Telegram)

[telegram]
bot_token = "123456789:ABCdef..."     # Required
allowed_users = ["@yourusername"]      # Restrict who can use the bot
allowed_groups = ["-100123456789"]     # Optional group allowlist
group_mode = "mention"                 # mention | always

[telegram.passive]
enabled = false                         # Passive group listening
response_allowed_chats = []            # Optional passive-response allowlist
response_blocked_chats = []            # Suppress passive responses in specific chats

Start runtime:

uv run ash serve

Configure Access

Use allowlists for production deployments:

[telegram]
allowed_users = ["@yourusername", "123456789"]
allowed_groups = ["-100123456789"]

Group behavior:

[telegram]
group_mode = "mention"  # respond when mentioned
# group_mode = "always" # respond to all messages in allowed groups

Troubleshooting

Bot does not respond

uv run ash doctor
uv run ash logs --component providers

Common fixes:

invalid bot_token
missing allowed_users/allowed_groups entries
runtime not started via uv run ash serve

Group replies are missing

Check group_mode and allowlists:

[telegram]
group_mode = "mention"
allowed_groups = ["-100123456789"]

Passive mode seems inactive

Enable it explicitly:

[telegram.passive]
enabled = true
# response_allowed_chats = ["-100123456789"]  # Reply only in these groups
# response_blocked_chats = ["-100999999999"]  # Never reply in these groups

Reference (Advanced)

Provider runtime and integration code:

src/ash/providers/ - provider adapters
src/ash/cli/commands/serve.py - runtime entrypoint
provider logs via uv run ash logs --component providers