nanobot/docs/CHANNEL_PLUGIN_GUIDE.md

Channel Plugin Guide

Build a custom nanobot channel in three steps: subclass, package, install.

Note: We recommend developing channel plugins against a source checkout of nanobot (pip install -e .) rather than a PyPI release, so you always have access to the latest base-channel features and APIs.

How It Works

nanobot discovers channel plugins via Python entry points. When nanobot gateway starts, it scans:

1. Built-in channels in nanobot/channels/
2. External packages registered under the nanobot.channels entry point group

If a matching config section has "enabled": true, the channel is instantiated and started.

Quick Start

We'll build a minimal webhook channel that receives messages via HTTP POST and sends replies back.

Project Structure

nanobot-channel-webhook/
├── nanobot_channel_webhook/
│   ├── __init__.py          # re-export WebhookChannel
│   └── channel.py           # channel implementation
└── pyproject.toml

1. Create Your Channel

# nanobot_channel_webhook/__init__.py
from nanobot_channel_webhook.channel import WebhookChannel

__all__ = ["WebhookChannel"]

# nanobot_channel_webhook/channel.py
import asyncio
from typing import Any

from aiohttp import web
from loguru import logger

from nanobot.channels.base import BaseChannel
from nanobot.bus.events import OutboundMessage


class WebhookChannel(BaseChannel):
    name = "webhook"
    display_name = "Webhook"

    @classmethod
    def default_config(cls) -> dict[str, Any]:
        return {"enabled": False, "port": 9000, "allowFrom": []}

    async def start(self) -> None:
        """Start an HTTP server that listens for incoming messages.

        IMPORTANT: start() must block forever (or until stop() is called).
        If it returns, the channel is considered dead.
        """
        self._running = True
        port = self.config.get("port", 9000)

        app = web.Application()
        app.router.add_post("/message", self._on_request)
        runner = web.AppRunner(app)
        await runner.setup()
        site = web.TCPSite(runner, "0.0.0.0", port)
        await site.start()
        logger.info("Webhook listening on :{}", port)

        # Block until stopped
        while self._running:
            await asyncio.sleep(1)

        await runner.cleanup()

    async def stop(self) -> None:
        self._running = False

    async def send(self, msg: OutboundMessage) -> None:
        """Deliver an outbound message.

        msg.content  — markdown text (convert to platform format as needed)
        msg.media    — list of local file paths to attach
        msg.chat_id  — the recipient (same chat_id you passed to _handle_message)
        msg.metadata — may contain "_progress": True for streaming chunks
        """
        logger.info("[webhook] -> {}: {}", msg.chat_id, msg.content[:80])
        # In a real plugin: POST to a callback URL, send via SDK, etc.

    async def _on_request(self, request: web.Request) -> web.Response:
        """Handle an incoming HTTP POST."""
        body = await request.json()
        sender = body.get("sender", "unknown")
        chat_id = body.get("chat_id", sender)
        text = body.get("text", "")
        media = body.get("media", [])       # list of URLs

        # This is the key call: validates allowFrom, then puts the
        # message onto the bus for the agent to process.
        await self._handle_message(
            sender_id=sender,
            chat_id=chat_id,
            content=text,
            media=media,
        )

        return web.json_response({"ok": True})

2. Register the Entry Point

# pyproject.toml
[project]
name = "nanobot-channel-webhook"
version = "0.1.0"
dependencies = ["nanobot", "aiohttp"]

[project.entry-points."nanobot.channels"]
webhook = "nanobot_channel_webhook:WebhookChannel"

[build-system]
requires = ["setuptools"]
build-backend = "setuptools.backends._legacy:_Backend"

The key (webhook) becomes the config section name. The value points to your BaseChannel subclass.

3. Install & Configure

pip install -e .
nanobot plugins list      # verify "Webhook" shows as "plugin"
nanobot onboard           # auto-adds default config for detected plugins

Edit ~/.nanobot/config.json:

{
  "channels": {
    "webhook": {
      "enabled": true,
      "port": 9000,
      "allowFrom": ["*"]
    }
  }
}

4. Run & Test

nanobot gateway

In another terminal:

curl -X POST http://localhost:9000/message \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"sender": "user1", "chat_id": "user1", "text": "Hello!"}'

The agent receives the message and processes it. Replies arrive in your send() method.

BaseChannel API

Required (abstract)

Method	Description
async start()	Must block forever. Connect to platform, listen for messages, call _handle_message() on each. If this returns, the channel is dead.
async stop()	Set self._running = False and clean up. Called when gateway shuts down.
async send(msg: OutboundMessage)	Deliver an outbound message to the platform.

Interactive Login

If your channel requires interactive authentication (e.g. QR code scan), override login(force=False):

async def login(self, force: bool = False) -> bool:
    """
    Perform channel-specific interactive login.

    Args:
        force: If True, ignore existing credentials and re-authenticate.

    Returns True if already authenticated or login succeeds.
    """
    # For QR-code-based login:
    # 1. If force, clear saved credentials
    # 2. Check if already authenticated (load from disk/state)
    # 3. If not, show QR code and poll for confirmation
    # 4. Save token on success

Channels that don't need interactive login (e.g. Telegram with bot token, Discord with bot token) inherit the default login() which just returns True.

Users trigger interactive login via:

nanobot channels login <channel_name>
nanobot channels login <channel_name> --force  # re-authenticate

Provided by Base

Method / Property	Description
_handle_message(sender_id, chat_id, content, media?, metadata?, session_key?)	Call this when you receive a message. Checks is_allowed(), then publishes to the bus. Automatically sets _wants_stream if supports_streaming is true.
is_allowed(sender_id)	Checks against config["allowFrom"]; "*" allows all, [] denies all.
default_config() (classmethod)	Returns default config dict for nanobot onboard. Override to declare your fields.
transcribe_audio(file_path)	Transcribes audio via Groq Whisper (if configured).
supports_streaming (property)	True when config has "streaming": true and subclass overrides send_delta().
is_running	Returns self._running.
login(force=False)	Perform interactive login (e.g. QR code scan). Returns True if already authenticated or login succeeds. Override in subclasses that support interactive login.

Optional (streaming)

Method	Description
async send_delta(chat_id, delta, metadata?)	Override to receive streaming chunks. See Streaming Support for details.

Message Types

@dataclass
class OutboundMessage:
    channel: str        # your channel name
    chat_id: str        # recipient (same value you passed to _handle_message)
    content: str        # markdown text — convert to platform format as needed
    media: list[str]    # local file paths to attach (images, audio, docs)
    metadata: dict      # may contain: "_progress" (bool) for streaming chunks,
                        #              "message_id" for reply threading

Streaming Support

Channels can opt into real-time streaming — the agent sends content token-by-token instead of one final message. This is entirely optional; channels work fine without it.

How It Works

When both conditions are met, the agent streams content through your channel:

1. Config has "streaming": true
2. Your subclass overrides send_delta()

If either is missing, the agent falls back to the normal one-shot send() path.

Implementing send_delta

Override send_delta to handle two types of calls:

async def send_delta(self, chat_id: str, delta: str, metadata: dict[str, Any] | None = None) -> None:
    meta = metadata or {}

    if meta.get("_stream_end"):
        # Streaming finished — do final formatting, cleanup, etc.
        return

    # Regular delta — append text, update the message on screen
    # delta contains a small chunk of text (a few tokens)

Metadata flags:

Flag	Meaning
_stream_delta: True	A content chunk (delta contains the new text)
_stream_end: True	Streaming finished (delta is empty)
_resuming: True	More streaming rounds coming (e.g. tool call then another response)

Example: Webhook with Streaming

class WebhookChannel(BaseChannel):
    name = "webhook"
    display_name = "Webhook"

    def __init__(self, config, bus):
        super().__init__(config, bus)
        self._buffers: dict[str, str] = {}

    async def send_delta(self, chat_id: str, delta: str, metadata: dict[str, Any] | None = None) -> None:
        meta = metadata or {}
        if meta.get("_stream_end"):
            text = self._buffers.pop(chat_id, "")
            # Final delivery — format and send the complete message
            await self._deliver(chat_id, text, final=True)
            return

        self._buffers.setdefault(chat_id, "")
        self._buffers[chat_id] += delta
        # Incremental update — push partial text to the client
        await self._deliver(chat_id, self._buffers[chat_id], final=False)

    async def send(self, msg: OutboundMessage) -> None:
        # Non-streaming path — unchanged
        await self._deliver(msg.chat_id, msg.content, final=True)

Config

Enable streaming per channel:

{
  "channels": {
    "webhook": {
      "enabled": true,
      "streaming": true,
      "allowFrom": ["*"]
    }
  }
}

When streaming is false (default) or omitted, only send() is called — no streaming overhead.

BaseChannel Streaming API

Method / Property	Description
async send_delta(chat_id, delta, metadata?)	Override to handle streaming chunks. No-op by default.
supports_streaming (property)	Returns True when config has streaming: true and subclass overrides send_delta.

Config

Your channel receives config as a plain dict. Access fields with .get():

async def start(self) -> None:
    port = self.config.get("port", 9000)
    token = self.config.get("token", "")

allowFrom is handled automatically by _handle_message() — you don't need to check it yourself.

Override default_config() so nanobot onboard auto-populates config.json:

@classmethod
def default_config(cls) -> dict[str, Any]:
    return {"enabled": False, "port": 9000, "allowFrom": []}

If not overridden, the base class returns {"enabled": false}.

Naming Convention

What	Format	Example
PyPI package	nanobot-channel-{name}	nanobot-channel-webhook
Entry point key	{name}	webhook
Config section	channels.{name}	channels.webhook
Python package	nanobot_channel_{name}	nanobot_channel_webhook

Local Development

git clone https://github.com/you/nanobot-channel-webhook
cd nanobot-channel-webhook
pip install -e .
nanobot plugins list    # should show "Webhook" as "plugin"
nanobot gateway         # test end-to-end

Verify

$ nanobot plugins list

  Name       Source    Enabled
  telegram   builtin  yes
  discord    builtin  no
  webhook    plugin   yes