Add Signal Channel

Adds Signal messaging support via a native adapter that speaks JSON-RPC to a signal-cli TCP daemon. No Chat SDK bridge — only Node.js builtins (node:net, node:child_process, node:fs).

Unlike Telegram or Discord, Signal has no bot API. NanoClaw registers as a full Signal account on a dedicated phone number (recommended) or links as a secondary device on your existing number.

Prerequisites

Java

signal-cli requires Java 17+:

java -version

If missing:

• macOS: brew install --cask temurin@17
• Debian/Ubuntu: sudo apt-get install -y default-jre
• RHEL/Fedora: sudo dnf install -y java-17-openjdk

Java 17–25 all work.

signal-cli

• macOS: brew install signal-cli
• Linux: download the native binary from GitHub releases:

SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION=$(curl -fsSL https://api.github.com/repos/AsamK/signal-cli/releases/latest | python3 -c "import sys,json; print(json.load(sys.stdin)['tag_name'][1:])")
curl -fsSL "https://github.com/AsamK/signal-cli/releases/download/v${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}/signal-cli-${SIGNAL_CLI_VERSION}-Linux-native.tar.gz" \
  | tar -xz -C ~/.local
ln -sf ~/.local/signal-cli ~/.local/bin/signal-cli
signal-cli --version

The Linux native tarball extracts a single binary directly to ~/.local/signal-cli (not into a subdirectory). The symlink above puts it on PATH.

Registration

Two paths. The new-number path is recommended and battle-tested.

Path A: Register a new number (recommended)

Use a dedicated SIM or VoIP number. NanoClaw owns it entirely.

VoIP numbers: Signal requires SMS verification before voice. Some VoIP providers are blocked even for voice calls. If registration fails with an auth error, try a different provider or a physical SIM.

Step 1: Solve the CAPTCHA

Signal requires a CAPTCHA on first registration:

1. Open https://signalcaptchas.org/registration/generate.html in a browser
2. Solve the captcha
3. Right-click the "Open Signal" button → Copy Link
4. The link starts with signalcaptcha:// — the token is everything after that prefix

Step 2: Request SMS verification

signal-cli -a +1YOURNUMBER register --captcha "PASTE_TOKEN_HERE"

Step 3: Voice call fallback (if your number can't receive SMS)

Wait ~60 seconds after the SMS request, then:

signal-cli -a +1YOURNUMBER register --voice --captcha "SAME_TOKEN"

Signal calls your number and reads a 6-digit code. The same captcha token is reusable — no need to solve a new one.

You must request SMS first. Requesting voice immediately fails with Invalid verification method: Before requesting voice verification…

Step 4: Verify

signal-cli -a +1YOURNUMBER verify CODE

No output = success.

Step 5: Set profile name (optional)

⚠ Stop NanoClaw before running signal-cli commands — the daemon holds an exclusive lock on its data directory while running.

Run from your NanoClaw project root:

source setup/lib/install-slug.sh

# macOS
launchctl unload ~/Library/LaunchAgents/$(launchd_label).plist
signal-cli -a +1YOURNUMBER updateProfile --name "YourBotName"
# optionally: --avatar /path/to/avatar.jpg
launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/$(launchd_label).plist

# Linux
systemctl --user stop $(systemd_unit)
signal-cli -a +1YOURNUMBER updateProfile --name "YourBotName"
systemctl --user start $(systemd_unit)

Path B: Link as secondary device

Joins an existing Signal account as a secondary device. Simpler, but NanoClaw shares your personal number.

signal-cli -a +1YOURNUMBER link --name "NanoClaw"

This prints a tsdevice: URI. Scan it as a QR code on your phone: Settings → Linked Devices → Link New Device. QR codes expire in ~30 seconds — re-run if it expires.

Install

Pre-flight (idempotent)

Skip to Credentials if all of these are already in place:

• src/channels/signal.ts exists
• src/channels/signal.test.ts exists
• src/channels/signal-registration.test.ts exists
• src/channels/index.ts contains import './signal.js';

Otherwise continue. Every step below is safe to re-run.

1. Fetch the channels branch

git fetch origin channels

2. Copy the adapter and tests

git show origin/channels:src/channels/signal.ts                   > src/channels/signal.ts
git show origin/channels:src/channels/signal.test.ts             > src/channels/signal.test.ts
git show origin/channels:src/channels/signal-registration.test.ts > src/channels/signal-registration.test.ts

3. Append the self-registration import

Append to src/channels/index.ts (skip if the line is already present):

import './signal.js';

4. Build and validate

pnpm run build
pnpm exec vitest run src/channels/signal-registration.test.ts

Both must be clean before proceeding. signal-registration.test.ts is the one integration test: it imports the real channel barrel and asserts the registry contains signal. It goes red if the import './signal.js'; line is deleted or drifts, or if the barrel fails to evaluate (so the channel genuinely would not register). The adapter consumes only Node.js builtins, so there is no npm dependency to guard for this channel. The adapter's typed core-API consumption is guarded by pnpm run build.

Credentials

Add to .env:

SIGNAL_ACCOUNT=+1YOURNUMBER

Optional settings

# TCP daemon host and port (default: 127.0.0.1:7583)
SIGNAL_TCP_HOST=127.0.0.1
SIGNAL_TCP_PORT=7583

# Path to the signal-cli binary (default: resolved on PATH)
SIGNAL_CLI_PATH=/usr/local/bin/signal-cli

# Whether NanoClaw manages the daemon lifecycle (default: true).
# Set to false if you run signal-cli daemon externally.
SIGNAL_MANAGE_DAEMON=true

# signal-cli data directory (default: ~/.local/share/signal-cli)
SIGNAL_DATA_DIR=~/.local/share/signal-cli

Security note: keep the TCP host on 127.0.0.1. The daemon has no auth — binding it to a public interface would expose your full Signal account to the network.

Sync to container: mkdir -p data/env && cp .env data/env/env

Restart

Run from your NanoClaw project root:

source setup/lib/install-slug.sh

# macOS
launchctl kickstart -k gui/$(id -u)/$(launchd_label)

# Linux
systemctl --user restart $(systemd_unit)

Wiring

DMs

After the service starts, send any message to the Signal number from your personal Signal app. The router auto-creates a messaging_groups row. Then:

pnpm exec tsx scripts/q.ts data/v2.db \
  "SELECT id, platform_id FROM messaging_groups WHERE channel_type='signal' ORDER BY created_at DESC LIMIT 5"

Pass the id to /init-first-agent or /manage-channels to wire it to an agent group.

Groups

Add the Signal number to a group from your phone, send any message, then wire the resulting row the same way. For isolated per-group sessions:

NOW=$(date -u +"%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S.000Z")
pnpm exec tsx scripts/q.ts data/v2.db "
INSERT OR IGNORE INTO messaging_group_agents
  (id, messaging_group_id, agent_group_id, session_mode, priority, created_at)
VALUES
  ('mga-'||hex(randomblob(8)), 'mg-GROUPID', 'ag-AGENTID', 'isolated', 0, '$NOW');
"

Grant user access

New Signal users (including the owner's Signal identity) are silently dropped with not_member until granted access. After the user's first message appears in messaging_groups:

NOW=$(date -u +"%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S.000Z")
pnpm exec tsx scripts/q.ts data/v2.db "
INSERT OR REPLACE INTO user_roles (user_id, role, agent_group_id, granted_by, granted_at)
  VALUES ('signal:UUID', 'owner', NULL, 'system', '$NOW');
INSERT OR IGNORE INTO agent_group_members (user_id, agent_group_id, added_by, added_at)
  VALUES ('signal:UUID', 'ag-AGENTID', 'system', '$NOW');
"

Find the UUID from messaging_groups.platform_id or the users table.

Next Steps

If you're in the middle of /setup, return to the setup flow now.

Otherwise, run /init-first-agent to create an agent and wire it to your Signal DM, or /manage-channels to wire this channel to an existing agent group.

Channel Info

• type: signal
• terminology: Signal has "chats" (1:1 DMs) and "groups"
• supports-threads: no
• platform-id-format:
  • DM: signal:{UUID} — sender's Signal UUID (ACI), not their phone number
  • Group: signal:{base64GroupId} — base64-encoded GroupV2 ID
• how-to-find-id: Send a message to the bot, then query messaging_groups as shown above
• typical-use: Personal assistant via Signal DMs or small group chats
• default-isolation: One agent per Signal account. Multiple chats with the same operator can share an agent group; groups with other people should typically use isolated session mode

Features

• Markdown formatting — **bold**, *italic* / _italic_, `code`, ```code fence```, ~~strike~~, ||spoiler|| (converted to Signal's offset-based text styles)
• Quoted replies — replyTo* fields populated from Signal quotes
• Typing indicators — DMs only (Signal doesn't support group typing)
• Echo suppression — outbound messages matched on (platformId, text) within a 10 s TTL to avoid syncMessage loops
• Note to Self — messages you send to your own account from another device route to the agent as inbound with isFromMe: true
• Voice attachments — detected but not transcribed by default; the agent receives [Voice Message] placeholder text. Run /add-voice-transcription for local transcription via parakeet-mlx

Not supported yet: outbound file attachments (logged and dropped), edit/delete messages, reactions.

Troubleshooting

Daemon not reachable

grep "Signal" logs/nanoclaw.log | tail

If you see Signal daemon failed to start. Is signal-cli installed and your account linked?:

• Confirm signal-cli is on PATH (or set SIGNAL_CLI_PATH)
• Confirm the account is linked: signal-cli -a +1YOURNUMBER listIdentities should succeed without prompting

If you see Signal daemon not reachable at 127.0.0.1:7583 and SIGNAL_MANAGE_DAEMON=false, start the daemon yourself: signal-cli -a +1YOURNUMBER daemon --tcp 127.0.0.1:7583.

Bot not responding

1. Channel initialized: grep "Signal channel connected" logs/nanoclaw.log | tail -1
2. Channel wired: pnpm exec tsx scripts/q.ts data/v2.db "SELECT mg.platform_id, mg.name FROM messaging_groups mg JOIN messaging_group_agents mga ON mg.id = mga.messaging_group_id WHERE mg.channel_type='signal'"
3. Service running: launchctl print gui/$(id -u)/"$(. setup/lib/install-slug.sh && launchd_label)" (macOS) / systemctl --user status "$(. setup/lib/install-slug.sh && systemd_unit)" (Linux)
4. Check for duplicate service instances — if logs/nanoclaw.error.log shows No adapter for channel type channelType="signal" despite the adapter starting, two NanoClaw processes are racing. See the /debug skill section "No adapter for channel type / Messages silently lost" for the full fix.

Messages delivered but never arrive (null platformMsgId)

Signal responses show platformMsgId=undefined in the main log. This means the delivery poll ran but found no adapter — likely a duplicate service instance issue (see above). Affected messages cannot be retried; the user must resend.

Lost connection mid-session

If you see Signal channel lost TCP connection to signal-cli daemon in the logs, the daemon dropped the connection. Restart the service to re-establish.

Messages dropped with not_member

The Signal user hasn't been granted membership. See "Grant user access" above. This affects every new Signal user, including the owner's Signal identity — which is a separate user record from their identity on other channels even if it's the same person.

Captcha required

Signal requires a captcha for new registrations. Go to https://signalcaptchas.org/registration/generate.html, solve it, right-click "Open Signal", copy the link, extract the token after signalcaptcha://.

Invalid verification method: Before requesting voice verification…

You must request SMS first, wait ~60 seconds, then request voice. Both steps can use the same captcha token.

Config file in use / daemon lock

signal-cli holds an exclusive lock on its data directory while the daemon is running. Stop NanoClaw before running any signal-cli commands directly, then restart afterward.

Group replies going to DM instead of group

Modern Signal groups use GroupV2. The adapter must extract the group ID from envelope?.dataMessage?.groupV2?.id — not groupInfo?.groupId, which is GroupV1/legacy. If group messages are routing as DMs, check src/channels/signal.ts and confirm the groupId extraction falls through to groupV2.id.

Java not found

Install Java 17+ — see the Prerequisites section above.

QR code expired (Path B)

QR codes expire in ~30 seconds. Re-run the link command to generate a new one.