IM Channels Arc — Slack · Telegram · WhatsApp · Discord

Date: 2026-07-09 · Status: ✅ P1–P4 EXECUTED (4 commits on worktree-channels-arc) · Branch: worktree-channels-arc

Executed 2026-07-09: P1 core+Telegram (48 tests) → P2 Discord+Slack raw ws (18 tests) → P3 WhatsApp/Baileys (11 tests) → P4 Settings UI (tier-filter Standard). Gates at completion: server tsc 0, server suite 2183 ✓, apps/web 1575 ✓, web build ✓. Bonus fix: .gitignore s*.png was swallowing sales-rep/support-agent avatars → main's web build was broken on clean checkout; fixed with scoped negation + committed binaries. Residual (not blocking): live end-to-end verification with real bot tokens; WhatsApp real-device pairing; approval-over-IM (explicitly out of v1).

2026-07-11 hardening: protected-route auth, headless held approvals, atomic config validation, message dedup/order, named workspace routing, responsive Settings UX, and clean-install drift were corrected on codex/channels-ux-hardening. WhatsApp's Baileys auth state now lives in the encrypted Waggle Vault; existing channels/whatsapp-auth state migrates once and is removed only after a successful encrypted write. Corrupt state fails closed and remains available for recovery. Verification: Channels backend 89/89, focused web 12/12, clean install, package/web builds, fresh sidecar boot, desktop/mobile browser flows, and real unpaired Baileys QR startup. See docs/audits/2026-07-11-channels-ux-hardening.md. Origin: CowAgent teardown (docs/analysis/cowagent-vs-waggle-2026-07-09.md) steal #4 — IM reach as distribution surface.

Founder decisions (locked — do not re-raise)

Decision	Choice
Platforms	Slack, Telegram, WhatsApp, Discord
WhatsApp transport	Baileys (unofficial) — founder accepts ToS/ban risk; UI must show prominent ban-risk disclosure + "use a secondary number" advisory
Workspace routing	Default workspace per channel + per-chat override (`/workspace` bot command + Settings UI)
Inbound auth	Pairing code, deny-by-default — unknown senders ignored; owner generates short-lived code in Settings, sends it to the bot once, sender ID allowlisted
Tier gating	All free (channels generate memory → moat; team-shared channel governance may become TEAMS later)
Tool approvals over IM	Not in v1 — gated tools reply "needs approval in the Waggle app" + app notification; no approval-over-IM

Architecture

Channel-adapter layer inside the sidecar: packages/server/src/local/channels/. All four transports are NAT-friendly (desktop-behind-NAT is the binding constraint CowAgent doesn't have):

Platform	Transport	Dependency
Telegram	long-poll `getUpdates` (raw fetch, fixed host)	none
Discord	gateway WebSocket	`ws` (explicit dep)
Slack	Socket Mode (apps.connections.open → wss)	`ws` (raw, no bolt)
WhatsApp	Baileys multi-device WS	`@whiskeysockets/baileys`

Components

types.ts — ChannelMessage (platform, chatId, senderId, senderName, text, messageId), ChannelAdapter interface (start/stop/getStatus/send), ChannelPlatform union, config types.
chat-client.ts — loopback SSE client: POST /api/chat on 127.0.0.1, collect done/error/approval_required events → {content, approvalRequired}. Reuses the full chat path (injection scan, persona, governance, memory persistence) with zero refactor of the 2k-line chat.ts. Session id = channel-<platform>-<chatId> so each IM chat gets its own persisted history.
pairing.ts — PairingStore: 8-char single-use codes, 10-min TTL, per-platform sender allowlist + per-chat workspace overrides persisted to <dataDir>/channels/channels.json (non-secret). Bot tokens/secrets go to vault only.
manager.ts — ChannelManager: create/start/stop adapters from config, restart on config change, status registry, per-sender rate limit (10 msg/min token bucket), inbound pipeline (pair check → command handling → chat turn → chunked reply).
<platform>-adapter.ts — one file per platform, transport only.
routes.ts — /api/channels (list+status), /api/channels/:platform/config (GET masked / POST), /api/channels/:platform/{start,stop,test}, /api/channels/pairing-code (POST generates), /api/channels/pairing (list/revoke). Sensitive routes behind isLocalRequest.

Bot commands (all platforms, text-level)

/pair <code> · /workspace [name] (show/set per-chat override) · /status · plain text → chat turn.

Security invariants

Deny-by-default: unpaired senders get silence (no bot-presence oracle), except /pair.
All inbound text flows through /api/chat's existing scanForInjection (user_input context).
Secrets vault-only; channels.json holds no tokens.
Fixed API hosts (Telegram/Slack/Discord) — no SSRF surface; Baileys pinned lib.
Outbound replies chunked to platform limits (TG 4096 / Discord 2000 / Slack 40k / WA 65k).
Audit events on pair/unpair/config-change.
Existing one-way telegram.ts digest push stays; adapter supersedes its send path later (not in P1 scope to remove).

Phases

P1 — core (types, chat-client, pairing, manager, routes) + Telegram adapter end-to-end + unit tests (pairing, manager pipeline, telegram with mocked fetch, routes). Gate: server tsc 0, vitest green.
P2 — Discord (gateway) + Slack (Socket Mode) adapters + tests.
P3 — WhatsApp via Baileys (QR pairing surfaced through /api/channels/whatsapp/qr, ban-risk copy) + tests.
P4 — Settings UI (apps/web Channels section: connect forms, status, pairing-code generation, QR display), docs.

Commit per phase. Verification per phase: npx tsc --noEmit -p packages/server/tsconfig.json + npm run test -- --run (server tests) + new tests green.

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