feat: add --force-document to message.send for Telegram (bypass sendPhoto + image optimizer) (#45111)

* feat: add --force-document to message.send for Telegram

Adds --force-document CLI flag to bypass sendPhoto and use sendDocument
instead, avoiding Telegram image compression for PNG/image files.

- TelegramSendOpts: add forceDocument field
- send.ts: skip sendPhoto when forceDocument=true (mediaSender pattern)
- ChannelOutboundContext: add forceDocument field
- telegramOutbound.sendMedia: pass forceDocument to sendMessageTelegram
- ChannelHandlerParams / DeliverOutboundPayloadsCoreParams: add forceDocument
- createChannelOutboundContextBase: propagate forceDocument
- outbound-send-service.ts: add forceDocument to executeSendAction params
- message-action-runner.ts: read forceDocument from params
- message.ts: add forceDocument to MessageSendParams
- register.send.ts: add --force-document CLI option

* fix: pass forceDocument through telegram action dispatch path

The actual send path goes through dispatchChannelMessageAction ->
telegramMessageActions.handleAction -> handleTelegramAction, not
deliverOutboundPayloads. forceDocument was not being read in
readTelegramSendParams or passed to sendMessageTelegram.

* fix: apply forceDocument to GIF branch to avoid sendAnimation

* fix: add disable_content_type_detection=true to sendDocument for --force-document

* fix: add forceDocument to buildSendSchema for agent discoverability

* fix: scope telegram force-document detection

* test: fix heartbeat target helper typing

* fix: skip image optimization when forceDocument is set

* fix: persist forceDocument in WAL queue for crash-recovery replay

* test: tighten heartbeat target test entry typing

---------

Co-authored-by: thepagent <thepagent@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Frank Yang <frank.ekn@gmail.com>

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - Docker/timezone override: add `OPENCLAW_TZ` so `docker-setup.sh` can pin gateway and CLI containers to a chosen IANA timezone instead of inheriting the daemon default. (#34119) Thanks @Lanfei.
 - Dependencies/pi: bump `@mariozechner/pi-agent-core`, `@mariozechner/pi-ai`, `@mariozechner/pi-coding-agent`, and `@mariozechner/pi-tui` to `0.58.0`.
 - Cron/sessions: add `sessionTarget: "current"` and `session:<id>` support so cron jobs can bind to the creating session or a persistent named session instead of only `main` or `isolated`. Thanks @kkhomej33-netizen and @ImLukeF.
+- Telegram/message send: add `--force-document` so Telegram image and GIF sends can upload as documents without compression. (#45111) Thanks @thepagent.
 
 ### Breaking
 

extensions/telegram/src/channel-actions.ts

@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ function readTelegramSendParams(params: Record<string, unknown>) {
   const buttons = params.buttons;
   const asVoice = readBooleanParam(params, "asVoice");
   const silent = readBooleanParam(params, "silent");
+  const forceDocument = readBooleanParam(params, "forceDocument");
   const quoteText = readStringParam(params, "quoteText");
   return {
     to,
@@ -48,6 +49,7 @@ function readTelegramSendParams(params: Record<string, unknown>) {
     buttons,
     asVoice,
     silent,
+    forceDocument,
     quoteText: quoteText ?? undefined,
   };
 }

extensions/telegram/src/outbound-adapter.ts

@@ -115,6 +115,7 @@ export const telegramOutbound: ChannelOutboundAdapter = {
     deps,
     replyToId,
     threadId,
+    forceDocument,
   }) => {
     const { send, baseOpts } = resolveTelegramSendContext({
       cfg,
@@ -127,6 +128,7 @@ export const telegramOutbound: ChannelOutboundAdapter = {
       ...baseOpts,
       mediaUrl,
       mediaLocalRoots,
+      forceDocument: forceDocument ?? false,
     });
     return { channel: "telegram", ...result };
   },

extensions/telegram/src/send.test.ts

@@ -877,6 +877,87 @@ describe("sendMessageTelegram", () => {
     expect(res.messageId).toBe("9");
   });
 
+  it.each([
+    {
+      name: "images",
+      buffer: Buffer.from("fake-image"),
+      contentType: "image/png",
+      fileName: "photo.png",
+      mediaUrl: "https://example.com/photo.png",
+    },
+    {
+      name: "GIFs",
+      buffer: Buffer.from("GIF89a"),
+      contentType: "image/gif",
+      fileName: "fun.gif",
+      mediaUrl: "https://example.com/fun.gif",
+    },
+  ])("sends $name as documents when forceDocument is true", async (testCase) => {
+    const chatId = "123";
+    const sendAnimation = vi.fn();
+    const sendDocument = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({
+      message_id: 10,
+      chat: { id: chatId },
+    });
+    const sendPhoto = vi.fn();
+    const api = { sendAnimation, sendDocument, sendPhoto } as unknown as {
+      sendAnimation: typeof sendAnimation;
+      sendDocument: typeof sendDocument;
+      sendPhoto: typeof sendPhoto;
+    };
+
+    mockLoadedMedia({
+      buffer: testCase.buffer,
+      contentType: testCase.contentType,
+      fileName: testCase.fileName,
+    });
+
+    const res = await sendMessageTelegram(chatId, "caption", {
+      token: "tok",
+      api,
+      mediaUrl: testCase.mediaUrl,
+      forceDocument: true,
+    });
+
+    expect(sendDocument, testCase.name).toHaveBeenCalledWith(chatId, expect.anything(), {
+      caption: "caption",
+      parse_mode: "HTML",
+      disable_content_type_detection: true,
+    });
+    expect(sendPhoto, testCase.name).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(sendAnimation, testCase.name).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(res.messageId).toBe("10");
+  });
+
+  it("keeps regular document sends on the default Telegram params", async () => {
+    const chatId = "123";
+    const sendDocument = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({
+      message_id: 11,
+      chat: { id: chatId },
+    });
+    const api = { sendDocument } as unknown as {
+      sendDocument: typeof sendDocument;
+    };
+
+    mockLoadedMedia({
+      buffer: Buffer.from("%PDF-1.7"),
+      contentType: "application/pdf",
+      fileName: "report.pdf",
+    });
+
+    const res = await sendMessageTelegram(chatId, "caption", {
+      token: "tok",
+      api,
+      mediaUrl: "https://example.com/report.pdf",
+    });
+
+    expect(sendDocument).toHaveBeenCalledWith(chatId, expect.anything(), {
+      caption: "caption",
+      parse_mode: "HTML",
+    });
+    expect(res.messageId).toBe("11");
+  });
+
   it("routes audio media to sendAudio/sendVoice based on voice compatibility", async () => {
     const cases: Array<{
       name: string;

extensions/telegram/src/send.ts

@@ -71,6 +71,8 @@ type TelegramSendOpts = {
   messageThreadId?: number;
   /** Inline keyboard buttons (reply markup). */
   buttons?: TelegramInlineButtons;
+  /** Send image as document to avoid Telegram compression. Defaults to false. */
+  forceDocument?: boolean;
 };
 
 type TelegramSendResult = {
@@ -763,6 +765,7 @@ export async function sendMessageTelegram(
       buildOutboundMediaLoadOptions({
         maxBytes: mediaMaxBytes,
         mediaLocalRoots: opts.mediaLocalRoots,
+        optimizeImages: opts.forceDocument ? false : undefined,
       }),
     );
     const kind = kindFromMime(media.contentType ?? undefined);
@@ -815,7 +818,7 @@ export async function sendMessageTelegram(
       );
 
     const mediaSender = (() => {
-      if (isGif) {
+      if (isGif && !opts.forceDocument) {
         return {
           label: "animation",
           sender: (effectiveParams: Record<string, unknown> | undefined) =>
@@ -826,7 +829,7 @@ export async function sendMessageTelegram(
             ) as Promise<TelegramMessageLike>,
         };
       }
-      if (kind === "image") {
+      if (kind === "image" && !opts.forceDocument) {
         return {
           label: "photo",
           sender: (effectiveParams: Record<string, unknown> | undefined) =>
@@ -893,7 +896,11 @@ export async function sendMessageTelegram(
           api.sendDocument(
             chatId,
             file,
-            effectiveParams as Parameters<typeof api.sendDocument>[2],
+            // Only force Telegram to keep the uploaded media type when callers explicitly
+            // opt into document delivery for image/GIF uploads.
+            (opts.forceDocument
+              ? { ...effectiveParams, disable_content_type_detection: true }
+              : effectiveParams) as Parameters<typeof api.sendDocument>[2],
           ) as Promise<TelegramMessageLike>,
       };
     })();

src/agents/tools/message-tool.ts

@@ -201,6 +201,11 @@ function buildSendSchema(options: {
     ),
     bestEffort: Type.Optional(Type.Boolean()),
     gifPlayback: Type.Optional(Type.Boolean()),
+    forceDocument: Type.Optional(
+      Type.Boolean({
+        description: "Send image/GIF as document to avoid Telegram compression (Telegram only).",
+      }),
+    ),
     buttons: Type.Optional(
       Type.Array(
         Type.Array(

src/agents/tools/telegram-actions.ts

@@ -252,6 +252,7 @@ export async function handleTelegramAction(
       quoteText: quoteText ?? undefined,
       asVoice: readBooleanParam(params, "asVoice"),
       silent: readBooleanParam(params, "silent"),
+      forceDocument: readBooleanParam(params, "forceDocument") ?? false,
     });
     return jsonResult({
       ok: true,

src/channels/plugins/types.adapters.ts

@@ -93,6 +93,8 @@ export type ChannelOutboundContext = {
   mediaUrl?: string;
   mediaLocalRoots?: readonly string[];
   gifPlayback?: boolean;
+  /** Send image as document to avoid Telegram compression. */
+  forceDocument?: boolean;
   replyToId?: string | null;
   threadId?: string | number | null;
   accountId?: string | null;

src/cli/program/message/register.send.ts

@@ -24,6 +24,11 @@ export function registerMessageSendCommand(message: Command, helpers: MessageCli
         .option("--reply-to <id>", "Reply-to message id")
         .option("--thread-id <id>", "Thread id (Telegram forum thread)")
         .option("--gif-playback", "Treat video media as GIF playback (WhatsApp only).", false)
+        .option(
+          "--force-document",
+          "Send media as document to avoid Telegram compression (Telegram only). Applies to images and GIFs.",
+          false,
+        )
         .option(
           "--silent",
           "Send message silently without notification (Telegram + Discord)",

src/infra/outbound/deliver.ts

@@ -146,6 +146,7 @@ type ChannelHandlerParams = {
   identity?: OutboundIdentity;
   deps?: OutboundSendDeps;
   gifPlayback?: boolean;
+  forceDocument?: boolean;
   silent?: boolean;
   mediaLocalRoots?: readonly string[];
 };
@@ -226,6 +227,7 @@ function createChannelOutboundContextBase(
     threadId: params.threadId,
     identity: params.identity,
     gifPlayback: params.gifPlayback,
+    forceDocument: params.forceDocument,
     deps: params.deps,
     silent: params.silent,
     mediaLocalRoots: params.mediaLocalRoots,
@@ -245,6 +247,7 @@ type DeliverOutboundPayloadsCoreParams = {
   identity?: OutboundIdentity;
   deps?: OutboundSendDeps;
   gifPlayback?: boolean;
+  forceDocument?: boolean;
   abortSignal?: AbortSignal;
   bestEffort?: boolean;
   onError?: (err: unknown, payload: NormalizedOutboundPayload) => void;
@@ -489,6 +492,7 @@ export async function deliverOutboundPayloads(
         replyToId: params.replyToId,
         bestEffort: params.bestEffort,
         gifPlayback: params.gifPlayback,
+        forceDocument: params.forceDocument,
         silent: params.silent,
         mirror: params.mirror,
       }).catch(() => null); // Best-effort — don't block delivery if queue write fails.
@@ -557,6 +561,7 @@ async function deliverOutboundPayloadsCore(
     threadId: params.threadId,
     identity: params.identity,
     gifPlayback: params.gifPlayback,
+    forceDocument: params.forceDocument,
     silent: params.silent,
     mediaLocalRoots,
   });

src/infra/outbound/delivery-queue.ts

@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ type QueuedDeliveryPayload = {
   replyToId?: string | null;
   bestEffort?: boolean;
   gifPlayback?: boolean;
+  forceDocument?: boolean;
   silent?: boolean;
   mirror?: OutboundMirror;
 };
@@ -117,6 +118,7 @@ export async function enqueueDelivery(
     replyToId: params.replyToId,
     bestEffort: params.bestEffort,
     gifPlayback: params.gifPlayback,
+    forceDocument: params.forceDocument,
     silent: params.silent,
     mirror: params.mirror,
     retryCount: 0,
@@ -379,6 +381,7 @@ export async function recoverPendingDeliveries(opts: {
         replyToId: entry.replyToId,
         bestEffort: entry.bestEffort,
         gifPlayback: entry.gifPlayback,
+        forceDocument: entry.forceDocument,
         silent: entry.silent,
         mirror: entry.mirror,
         skipQueue: true, // Prevent re-enqueueing during recovery

src/infra/outbound/message-action-runner.ts

@@ -478,6 +478,7 @@ async function handleSendAction(ctx: ResolvedActionContext): Promise<MessageActi
   }
   params.message = message;
   const gifPlayback = readBooleanParam(params, "gifPlayback") ?? false;
+  const forceDocument = readBooleanParam(params, "forceDocument") ?? false;
   const bestEffort = readBooleanParam(params, "bestEffort");
   const silent = readBooleanParam(params, "silent");
 
@@ -547,6 +548,7 @@ async function handleSendAction(ctx: ResolvedActionContext): Promise<MessageActi
     mediaUrl: mediaUrl || undefined,
     mediaUrls: mergedMediaUrls.length ? mergedMediaUrls : undefined,
     gifPlayback,
+    forceDocument,
     bestEffort: bestEffort ?? undefined,
     replyToId: replyToId ?? undefined,
     threadId: resolvedThreadId ?? undefined,

src/infra/outbound/message.ts

@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ type MessageSendParams = {
   mediaUrl?: string;
   mediaUrls?: string[];
   gifPlayback?: boolean;
+  forceDocument?: boolean;
   accountId?: string;
   replyToId?: string;
   threadId?: string | number;
@@ -245,6 +246,7 @@ export async function sendMessage(params: MessageSendParams): Promise<MessageSen
       replyToId: params.replyToId,
       threadId: params.threadId,
       gifPlayback: params.gifPlayback,
+      forceDocument: params.forceDocument,
       deps: params.deps,
       bestEffort: params.bestEffort,
       abortSignal: params.abortSignal,

src/infra/outbound/outbound-send-service.ts

@@ -84,6 +84,7 @@ export async function executeSendAction(params: {
   mediaUrl?: string;
   mediaUrls?: string[];
   gifPlayback?: boolean;
+  forceDocument?: boolean;
   bestEffort?: boolean;
   replyToId?: string;
   threadId?: string | number;
@@ -132,6 +133,7 @@ export async function executeSendAction(params: {
     replyToId: params.replyToId,
     threadId: params.threadId,
     gifPlayback: params.gifPlayback,
+    forceDocument: params.forceDocument,
     dryRun: params.ctx.dryRun,
     bestEffort: params.bestEffort ?? undefined,
     deps: params.ctx.deps,

src/infra/outbound/targets.test.ts

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
 import { telegramOutbound } from "../../channels/plugins/outbound/telegram.js";
 import type { OpenClawConfig } from "../../config/config.js";
+import type { SessionEntry } from "../../config/sessions/types.js";
 import { setActivePluginRegistry } from "../../plugins/runtime.js";
 import { createOutboundTestPlugin, createTestRegistry } from "../../test-utils/channel-plugins.js";
 import {
@@ -326,10 +327,7 @@ describe("resolveSessionDeliveryTarget", () => {
     expect(resolved.to).toBe("63448508");
   });
 
-  const resolveHeartbeatTarget = (
+  const resolveHeartbeatTarget = (entry: SessionEntry, directPolicy?: "allow" | "block") =>
-    entry: Parameters<typeof resolveHeartbeatDeliveryTarget>[0]["entry"],
-    directPolicy?: "allow" | "block",
-  ) =>
     resolveHeartbeatDeliveryTarget({
       cfg: {},
       entry,
@@ -341,7 +339,7 @@ describe("resolveSessionDeliveryTarget", () => {
 
   const expectHeartbeatTarget = (params: {
     name: string;
-    entry: Parameters<typeof resolveHeartbeatDeliveryTarget>[0]["entry"];
+    entry: SessionEntry;
     directPolicy?: "allow" | "block";
     expectedChannel: string;
     expectedTo?: string;

src/media/load-options.ts

@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
 export type OutboundMediaLoadParams = {
   maxBytes?: number;
   mediaLocalRoots?: readonly string[];
+  optimizeImages?: boolean;
 };
 
 export type OutboundMediaLoadOptions = {
   maxBytes?: number;
   localRoots?: readonly string[];
+  optimizeImages?: boolean;
 };
 
 export function resolveOutboundMediaLocalRoots(
@@ -21,5 +23,6 @@ export function buildOutboundMediaLoadOptions(
   return {
     ...(params.maxBytes !== undefined ? { maxBytes: params.maxBytes } : {}),
     ...(localRoots ? { localRoots } : {}),
+    ...(params.optimizeImages !== undefined ? { optimizeImages: params.optimizeImages } : {}),
   };
 }