- Updated: March 20, 2026
- 7 min read
Claude Code Channels: New Features and Integration Guides
Claude Code channels let developers push external events—such as messages from Telegram, Discord, or a local fake‑chat UI—directly into a running Claude session, enabling real‑time AI‑driven automation while you’re away from the terminal.
Overview of Claude Code Channels
Claude Code, Anthropic’s programmable AI environment, introduces channels as a bridge between external services and an active Claude session. A channel is essentially an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that forwards events—like a new chat message or a webhook payload—into Claude’s context, allowing the model to react, generate a response, and optionally send the reply back through the same conduit.
During the Claude Code channels documentation, Anthropic outlines three research‑preview plugins:
- Telegram – a fully‑featured bot that can receive and send messages.
- Discord – a server‑side bot with message‑content intent.
- Fakechat – a localhost web UI for rapid prototyping without external credentials.
All three plugins require Bun as the runtime, a Claude Code version ≥ 2.1.80, and a logged‑in claude.ai account. Console or API‑key authentication is deliberately excluded to keep the research preview focused on end‑user security.
Research Preview & Step‑by‑Step Setup Guides
1. Getting Started with Telegram
Telegram remains the most accessible channel for developers who need instant mobile notifications. Follow these concise steps to spin up a bot and connect it to Claude:
- Create a bot via BotFather. Send
/newbot, choose a display name, and a unique username ending inbot. BotFather returns a token—keep it safe. - Install the plugin inside your Claude Code session:
Ask AI/plugin install telegram@claude-plugins-official - Configure the token with:
Ask AI/telegram:configure <your-token> - Restart Claude with the channel flag so the plugin starts polling:
claude --channels plugin:telegram@claude-plugins-official - Pair your account by sending any message to the bot. Claude will reply with a pairing code; approve it with
Ask AI/telegram:access pair <code>. - Lock down the sender using an allowlist:
Ask AI/telegram:access policy allowlist
For a deeper dive into Telegram‑specific best practices, see the Telegram integration on UBOS. The guide demonstrates how to forward Claude’s replies to a custom dashboard, a pattern that many SaaS teams replicate for internal ticketing.
2. Discord Integration Steps
Discord offers richer community features—threads, reactions, and file attachments—making it ideal for collaborative AI assistants. The setup mirrors Telegram but adds a privileged intent configuration:
- Create a Discord application in the Developer Portal, then add a bot user.
- Copy the bot token after resetting it.
- Enable “Message Content Intent” under Privileged Gateway Intents; this lets Claude read full message bodies.
- Invite the bot to your server using the OAuth2 URL generator with scopes
botand permissions: View Channels, Send Messages, Read Message History, etc. - Install the plugin:
Ask AI/plugin install discord@claude-plugins-official - Configure the token:
Ask AI/discord:configure <your-token> - Restart Claude with the Discord channel flag:
claude --channels plugin:discord@claude-plugins-official - Pair and allowlist the bot using the same
pairandallowlistcommands as Telegram.
Developers who already use ChatGPT and Telegram integration will find the Discord flow familiar, as both rely on the same pairing‑code mechanism to secure the sender allowlist.
3. Fakechat – A Local Demo Without External Services
When you need to experiment quickly, the fakechat plugin spins up a lightweight web UI at http://localhost:8787. No tokens, no cloud accounts—just a browser window that mirrors Claude’s inbound and outbound messages.
- Install the plugin:
Ask AI/plugin install fakechat@claude-plugins-official - Restart Claude with the fakechat flag:
claude --channels plugin:fakechat@claude-plugins-official - Open the UI, type a message, and watch it appear as a
<channel source="fakechat">event inside Claude. - Claude processes the event, calls the
fakechat.replytool, and the answer instantly shows up in the browser.
This sandbox is perfect for testing custom prompts before deploying them to production channels. Pair it with the Web app editor on UBOS to prototype a full‑stack UI that later connects to Telegram or Discord.
Security, Sender Allowlist, and Enterprise Controls
Security is baked into every channel plugin. Each plugin maintains a sender allowlist—a whitelist of user IDs that are permitted to push events. The allowlist is populated automatically when you complete the pairing step, and any unapproved sender is silently dropped.
Enterprise‑grade teams gain additional governance via the channelsEnabled flag in managed settings. By default, Team and Enterprise plans have channels disabled; an admin must explicitly enable them in the Claude Code admin console (claude.ai → Admin settings → Claude Code → Channels) or via the JSON channelsEnabled: true property.
When channels are disabled, the MCP server still connects, but inbound messages are ignored, and Claude logs a startup warning. This design prevents accidental data leakage in large organizations.
For a holistic view of enterprise AI security, explore the Enterprise AI platform by UBOS. Their zero‑trust architecture aligns closely with Claude’s allowlist model, offering audit logs, role‑based access, and automated policy enforcement.
How to Enable and Use Channels in Your Workflow
Once your organization’s admin has toggled channelsEnabled, individual developers can opt‑in per session using the --channels flag. Multiple plugins can be combined in a single launch, separated by spaces:
claude --channels plugin:telegram@claude-plugins-official plugin:discord@claude-plugins-officialFrom there, you can embed channel calls directly in your Claude prompts. For example, a prompt that asks Claude to “summarize the latest Slack thread” could be translated into a custom plugin that pushes the Slack webhook into Claude via a channel, processes the text, and returns the summary to Slack.
UBOS’s Workflow automation studio makes it trivial to chain these channel events with other low‑code actions—like storing results in a database, triggering email alerts, or updating a CRM record.
Remember to test your channel configuration in a sandbox environment first. The --dangerously-load-development-channels flag lets you load custom, non‑approved plugins during the research preview, but it should only be used on trusted machines.
Benefits of Claude Code Channels & Next Steps
- Real‑time AI assistance—Claude can react to events the moment they happen, reducing latency in support tickets, monitoring alerts, or social media engagement.
- Unified prompt management—All channel logic lives inside Claude’s prompt, keeping business rules in one place.
- Secure, auditable interactions—Allowlist and enterprise controls ensure only authorized users can trigger AI actions.
- Scalable prototyping—Start with fakechat, then graduate to production‑grade Telegram or Discord bots without rewriting code.
- Low‑code integration—Pair with UBOS’s AI marketing agents to auto‑generate campaign copy based on inbound chat signals.
To accelerate adoption, consider the following roadmap:
- Run a fakechat pilot with a small internal team.
- Gather feedback, then enable Telegram for field agents who need on‑the‑go AI assistance.
- Scale to Discord for community‑driven support channels.
- Integrate results into your UBOS templates for quick start to standardize data pipelines.
- Upgrade to the UBOS pricing plans that include dedicated support for AI‑centric workloads.
Conclusion: Start Building AI‑Powered Channels Today
Claude Code channels are a game‑changing bridge between the world of real‑time messaging platforms and Anthropic’s powerful language model. By following the research‑preview guides, securing your sender allowlist, and leveraging UBOS’s low‑code ecosystem, developers can deliver responsive AI experiences that were previously impossible.
Ready to experiment? Visit the UBOS homepage to spin up a free development environment, explore the UBOS platform overview, and browse the UBOS portfolio examples for inspiration.
If you’re a startup looking for a fast‑track AI solution, check out UBOS for startups. For SMBs, the UBOS solutions for SMBs provide pre‑configured channel templates that cut integration time by up to 70%.
Developers interested in extending the ecosystem can also explore the AI SEO Analyzer or the AI Article Copywriter templates—both showcase how channel‑driven prompts can automate content creation.
Finally, join the UBOS partner program to co‑market your Claude‑powered bots, receive technical support, and unlock revenue‑sharing opportunities.
Take the first step now—install a fakechat channel, pair your bot, and let Claude start answering in real time.