fix: clarify telegram model picker scope

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - Providers/OpenAI: resolve `keychain:<service>:<account>` `OPENAI_API_KEY` refs before creating OpenAI Realtime browser sessions or voice bridges, with a bounded cached Keychain lookup. Fixes #72120. Thanks @ctbritt.
 - Discord/gateway: reconnect when the gateway socket closes while waiting for the shared IDENTIFY concurrency window, instead of silently skipping IDENTIFY and leaving the bot online but unresponsive. Fixes #74617. Thanks @zeeskdr-ai.
 - Telegram/startup: use the existing `getMe` request guard for the gateway bot probe instead of a fixed 2.5-second budget, and honor higher `timeoutSeconds` configs for slow Telegram API paths. Fixes #75783. Thanks @tankotan.
+- Telegram/models: make model picker confirmations say selections are session-scoped and do not change the agent's persistent default. Fixes #75965. Thanks @sd1114820.
 - Control UI/slash commands: keep fallback command metadata on a browser-safe registry path, so provider thinking runtime imports cannot blank the Web UI with `process is not defined`. Fixes #75987. Thanks @novkien.
 - Infer/media: report missing image-understanding and audio-transcription provider configuration for `image describe`, `image describe-many`, and `audio transcribe` instead of blaming the input path when no provider is available. Fixes #73569 and supersedes #73593, #74288, and #74495. Thanks @bittoby, @tmimmanuel, @Linux2010, and @vyctorbrzezowski.
 - Docs/health: clarify that session listing surfaces stored conversation rows rather than Discord/channel socket liveness, and point connectivity checks at channel status and health probes. Fixes #70420. Thanks @ashersoutherncities-art and @martingarramon.

docs/concepts/models.md

@@ -167,6 +167,7 @@ You can switch models for the current session without restarting:
   <Accordion title="Picker behavior">
     - `/model` (and `/model list`) is a compact, numbered picker (model family + available providers).
     - On Discord, `/model` and `/models` open an interactive picker with provider and model dropdowns plus a Submit step.
+    - On Telegram, `/models` picker selections are session-scoped; they do not change the agent's persistent default in `openclaw.json`.
     - `/models add` is deprecated and now returns a deprecation message instead of registering models from chat.
     - `/model <#>` selects from that picker.
 

extensions/telegram/src/bot-handlers.runtime.ts

@@ -1745,8 +1745,11 @@ export const registerTelegramHandlers = ({
             const actionText = isDefaultSelection
               ? "reset to default"
               : `changed to <b>${escapeHtml(selection.provider)}/${escapeHtml(selection.model)}</b>`;
+            const scopeText = isDefaultSelection
+              ? "Session selection cleared. New replies use the agent's configured default."
+              : "Session-only selection. The agent default in openclaw.json is unchanged; /reset or a new session may return to that default.";
             await editMessageWithButtons(
-              `✅ Model ${actionText}\n\nThis model will be used for your next message.`,
+              `✅ Model ${actionText}\n\n${scopeText}`,
               [], // Empty buttons = remove inline keyboard
               { parse_mode: "HTML" },
             );

extensions/telegram/src/bot.create-telegram-bot.test.ts

@@ -3739,7 +3739,7 @@ describe("createTelegramBot", () => {
 
     expect(editMessageTextSpy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
     expect(String(editMessageTextSpy.mock.calls.at(-1)?.[2] ?? "")).toContain(
-      "This model will be used for your next message.",
+      "Session-only selection. The agent default in openclaw.json is unchanged",
     );
     expect(
       editMessageTextSpy.mock.calls.some((call) =>

extensions/telegram/src/bot.test.ts

@@ -1061,6 +1061,9 @@ describe("createTelegramBot", () => {
       expect(editMessageTextSpy.mock.calls[0]?.[2]).toContain(
         `${CHECK_MARK_EMOJI} Model reset to default`,
       );
+      expect(editMessageTextSpy.mock.calls[0]?.[2]).toContain(
+        "Session selection cleared. New replies use the agent's configured default.",
+      );
 
       const entry = Object.values(loadSessionStore(storePath, { skipCache: true }))[0];
       expect(entry?.providerOverride).toBeUndefined();
@@ -1205,6 +1208,9 @@ describe("createTelegramBot", () => {
       expect(editMessageTextSpy.mock.calls[0]?.[2]).toContain(
         `${CHECK_MARK_EMOJI} Model reset to default`,
       );
+      expect(editMessageTextSpy.mock.calls[0]?.[2]).toContain(
+        "Session selection cleared. New replies use the agent's configured default.",
+      );
 
       const entry = Object.values(loadSessionStore(storePath, { skipCache: true }))[0];
       expect(entry?.providerOverride).toBeUndefined();
@@ -1275,7 +1281,7 @@ describe("createTelegramBot", () => {
       expect(editMessageTextSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
         1234,
         17,
-        `${CHECK_MARK_EMOJI} Model changed to <b>openai/gpt-5.4</b>\n\nThis model will be used for your next message.`,
+        `${CHECK_MARK_EMOJI} Model changed to <b>openai/gpt-5.4</b>\n\nSession-only selection. The agent default in openclaw.json is unchanged; /reset or a new session may return to that default.`,
         expect.objectContaining({ parse_mode: "HTML" }),
       );