OpenClaw Plugin
Install and configure the Pipes.bot channel plugin for OpenClaw to connect your AI agents to WhatsApp.
Connect your OpenClaw agents to WhatsApp through Pipes.bot. The @pipes.bot/pipes-bot-channel plugin registers a channel that receives and replies to WhatsApp messages via a persistent WebSocket connection to the Pipes.bot API.
Resources
Prerequisites
Get your API key
- Sign up at app.pipes.bot
- Copy your API key from the dashboard (starts with
pk_)
Install the plugin
openclaw plugins install @pipes.bot/pipes-bot-channelConfigure the channel
Open the OpenClaw settings UI and navigate to the Channels section. Enable PipesBot (WhatsApp) and paste your API key.
The channel accepts two configuration fields:
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
apiKey | string | Your Pipes.bot API key (pk_...) |
enabled | boolean | Whether the channel is active (default: true) |
You can also configure the channel directly in your OpenClaw config file:
{
"channels": {
"pipes-bot-channel": {
"enabled": true,
"apiKey": "pk_your_api_key_here"
}
}
}Activate your number
After configuring the plugin, activate your WhatsApp pool number:
- Go to the Pipes.bot dashboard
- Follow the instructions to send an activation code to the pool number via WhatsApp
- Once activated, everytime you message this pool number, this is going to be proxied to your openclaw (until you deactivate it)
Verify the connection
After setup, the plugin establishes a WebSocket connection to wss://api.pipes.bot/ws. You can check the connection status in the OpenClaw channel status panel:
- Connected — the plugin is live and receiving messages
- Authentication failed — double-check your
pk_API key - Reconnecting — transient failure, the plugin retries automatically with exponential backoff
Supported message types
| Type | Inbound | Outbound |
|---|---|---|
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Image | Yes (downloaded) | — |
| Audio | Yes (downloaded) | — |
| Video | Yes (downloaded) | — |
| Document | Yes (downloaded) | — |
| Sticker | Yes (downloaded) | — |
| Location | Yes (structured) | — |
| Contacts | Yes (vCard) | — |
| Reactions | Yes (emoji) | — |
Inbound media files are automatically downloaded from WhatsApp and stored in OpenClaw's media store. Your agents can access them directly.
How it works
- The plugin connects to Pipes.bot over WebSocket with your API key
- Incoming WhatsApp messages are routed to your OpenClaw agents
- Agent replies are sent back through the same WebSocket connection
- The connection is maintained with a 25-second heartbeat interval
- If the connection drops, the plugin reconnects automatically (1s to 2min backoff)
Next steps
- WebSocket — direct WebSocket integration without OpenClaw
- Webhooks — HTTP POST delivery for serverless architectures
- Sending Messages — send text and media via the REST API
- Receiving & Downloading Media — handle incoming media files