fix(telegram): use message previews in DMs

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - Mattermost replies: keep `root_id` pinned to the existing thread root when an agent replies inside a thread, while still using reply-target threading for top-level posts. (#27744) thanks @hnykda.
 - Agents/failover: detect Amazon Bedrock `Too many tokens per day` quota errors as rate limits across fallback, cron retry, and memory embeddings while keeping context-window `too many tokens per request` errors out of the rate-limit lane. (#39377) Thanks @gambletan.
 - Android/Play distribution: remove self-update, background location, `screen.record`, and background mic capture from the Android app, narrow the foreground service to `dataSync` only, and clean up the legacy `location.enabledMode=always` preference migration. (#39660) Thanks @obviyus.
+- Telegram/DM partial streaming: keep DM preview lanes on real message edits instead of native draft materialization so final replies no longer flash a second duplicate copy before collapsing back to one.
 - macOS overlays: fix VoiceWake, Talk, and Notify overlay exclusivity crashes by removing shared `inout` visibility mutation from `OverlayPanelFactory.present`, and add a repeated Talk overlay smoke test. (#39275, #39321) Thanks @fellanH.
 - macOS Talk Mode: set the speech recognition request `taskHint` to `.dictation` for mic capture, and add regression coverage for the request defaults. (#38445) Thanks @dmiv.
 - macOS release packaging: default `scripts/package-mac-app.sh` to universal binaries for `BUILD_CONFIG=release`, and clarify that `scripts/package-mac-dist.sh` already produces the release zip + DMG. (#33891) Thanks @cgdusek.

docs/channels/telegram.md

@@ -232,10 +232,10 @@ curl "https://api.telegram.org/bot<bot_token>/getUpdates"
 ## Feature reference
 
 <AccordionGroup>
-  <Accordion title="Live stream preview (native drafts + message edits)">
+  <Accordion title="Live stream preview (message edits)">
     OpenClaw can stream partial replies in real time:
 
-    - direct chats: Telegram native draft streaming via `sendMessageDraft`
+    - direct chats: preview message + `editMessageText`
     - groups/topics: preview message + `editMessageText`
 
     Requirement:
@@ -244,11 +244,9 @@ curl "https://api.telegram.org/bot<bot_token>/getUpdates"
     - `progress` maps to `partial` on Telegram (compat with cross-channel naming)
     - legacy `channels.telegram.streamMode` and boolean `streaming` values are auto-mapped
 
-    Telegram enabled `sendMessageDraft` for all bots in Bot API 9.5 (March 1, 2026).
-
     For text-only replies:
 
-    - DM: OpenClaw updates the draft in place (no extra preview message)
+    - DM: OpenClaw keeps the same preview message and performs a final edit in place (no second message)
     - group/topic: OpenClaw keeps the same preview message and performs a final edit in place (no second message)
 
     For complex replies (for example media payloads), OpenClaw falls back to normal final delivery and then cleans up the preview message.
@@ -872,7 +870,7 @@ Primary reference:
 - `channels.telegram.textChunkLimit`: outbound chunk size (chars).
 - `channels.telegram.chunkMode`: `length` (default) or `newline` to split on blank lines (paragraph boundaries) before length chunking.
 - `channels.telegram.linkPreview`: toggle link previews for outbound messages (default: true).
-- `channels.telegram.streaming`: `off | partial | block | progress` (live stream preview; default: `partial`; `progress` maps to `partial`; `block` is legacy preview mode compatibility). In DMs, `partial` uses native `sendMessageDraft` when available.
+- `channels.telegram.streaming`: `off | partial | block | progress` (live stream preview; default: `partial`; `progress` maps to `partial`; `block` is legacy preview mode compatibility). Telegram preview streaming uses a single preview message that is edited in place.
 - `channels.telegram.mediaMaxMb`: inbound/outbound Telegram media cap (MB, default: 100).
 - `channels.telegram.retry`: retry policy for Telegram send helpers (CLI/tools/actions) on recoverable outbound API errors (attempts, minDelayMs, maxDelayMs, jitter).
 - `channels.telegram.network.autoSelectFamily`: override Node autoSelectFamily (true=enable, false=disable). Defaults to enabled on Node 22+, with WSL2 defaulting to disabled.

docs/concepts/streaming.md

@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ Legacy key migration:
 
 Telegram:
 
-- Uses Bot API `sendMessageDraft` in DMs when available, and `sendMessage` + `editMessageText` for group/topic preview updates.
+- Uses `sendMessage` + `editMessageText` preview updates across DMs and group/topics.
 - Preview streaming is skipped when Telegram block streaming is explicitly enabled (to avoid double-streaming).
 - `/reasoning stream` can write reasoning to preview.
 

src/telegram/bot-message-dispatch.test.ts

@@ -1171,7 +1171,7 @@ describe("dispatchTelegramMessage draft streaming", () => {
     },
   );
 
-  it("uses message preview transport for DM reasoning lane when answer preview lane is active", async () => {
+  it("uses message preview transport for all DM lanes when streaming is active", async () => {
     setupDraftStreams({ answerMessageId: 999, reasoningMessageId: 111 });
     dispatchReplyWithBufferedBlockDispatcher.mockImplementation(
       async ({ dispatcherOptions, replyOptions }) => {
@@ -1190,7 +1190,7 @@ describe("dispatchTelegramMessage draft streaming", () => {
     expect(createTelegramDraftStream.mock.calls[0]?.[0]).toEqual(
       expect.objectContaining({
         thread: { id: 777, scope: "dm" },
-        previewTransport: "auto",
+        previewTransport: "message",
       }),
     );
     expect(createTelegramDraftStream.mock.calls[1]?.[0]).toEqual(
@@ -1201,9 +1201,8 @@ describe("dispatchTelegramMessage draft streaming", () => {
     );
   });
 
-  it("materializes DM answer draft final without sending a duplicate final message", async () => {
-    const answerDraftStream = createTestDraftStream({ previewMode: "draft" });
-    answerDraftStream.materialize.mockResolvedValue(321);
+  it("finalizes DM answer preview in place without materializing or sending a duplicate", async () => {
+    const answerDraftStream = createDraftStream(321);
     const reasoningDraftStream = createDraftStream(111);
     createTelegramDraftStream
       .mockImplementationOnce(() => answerDraftStream)
@@ -1222,12 +1221,17 @@ describe("dispatchTelegramMessage draft streaming", () => {
     expect(createTelegramDraftStream.mock.calls[0]?.[0]).toEqual(
       expect.objectContaining({
         thread: { id: 777, scope: "dm" },
-        previewTransport: "auto",
+        previewTransport: "message",
       }),
     );
-    expect(answerDraftStream.materialize).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(answerDraftStream.materialize).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     expect(deliverReplies).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
-    expect(editMessageTelegram).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(editMessageTelegram).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      123,
+      321,
+      "Checking the directory...",
+      expect.any(Object),
+    );
   });
 
   it("keeps reasoning and answer streaming in separate preview lanes", async () => {

src/telegram/bot-message-dispatch.ts

@@ -190,19 +190,21 @@ export const dispatchTelegramMessage = async ({
   const draftReplyToMessageId =
     replyToMode !== "off" && typeof msg.message_id === "number" ? msg.message_id : undefined;
   const draftMinInitialChars = DRAFT_MIN_INITIAL_CHARS;
+  // Keep DM preview lanes on real message transport. Native draft previews still
+  // require a draft->message materialize hop, and that overlap keeps reintroducing
+  // a visible duplicate flash at finalize time.
+  const useMessagePreviewTransportForDm = threadSpec?.scope === "dm" && canStreamAnswerDraft;
   const mediaLocalRoots = getAgentScopedMediaLocalRoots(cfg, route.agentId);
   const archivedAnswerPreviews: ArchivedPreview[] = [];
   const archivedReasoningPreviewIds: number[] = [];
   const createDraftLane = (laneName: LaneName, enabled: boolean): DraftLaneState => {
-    const useMessagePreviewTransportForDmReasoning =
-      laneName === "reasoning" && threadSpec?.scope === "dm" && canStreamAnswerDraft;
     const stream = enabled
       ? createTelegramDraftStream({
           api: bot.api,
           chatId,
           maxChars: draftMaxChars,
           thread: threadSpec,
-          previewTransport: useMessagePreviewTransportForDmReasoning ? "message" : "auto",
+          previewTransport: useMessagePreviewTransportForDm ? "message" : "auto",
           replyToMessageId: draftReplyToMessageId,
           minInitialChars: draftMinInitialChars,
           renderText: renderDraftPreview,