fix(telegram): classify undici fetch errors as recoverable for retry (#16699)

Merged via /review-pr -> /prepare-pr -> /merge-pr.

Prepared head SHA: 67b5bce44f7014c8cbefc00eed0731e61d6300b9
Co-authored-by: Glucksberg <80581902+Glucksberg@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: obviyus <22031114+obviyus@users.noreply.github.com>
Reviewed-by: @obviyus

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - Plugins/CLI: make `openclaw plugins enable` and plugin install/link flows update allowlists via shared plugin-enable policy so enabled plugins are not left disabled by allowlist mismatch. (#23190) Thanks @downwind7clawd-ctrl.
 - Memory/QMD: add optional `memory.qmd.mcporter` search routing so QMD `query/search/vsearch` can run through mcporter keep-alive flows (including multi-collection paths) to reduce cold starts, while keeping searches on agent-scoped QMD state for consistent recall. (#19617) Thanks @nicole-luxe and @vignesh07.
 - Chat/UI: strip inline reply/audio directive tags (`[[reply_to_current]]`, `[[reply_to:<id>]]`, `[[audio_as_voice]]`) from displayed chat history, live chat event output, and session preview snippets so control tags no longer leak into user-visible surfaces.
+- Telegram/Retry: classify undici `TypeError: fetch failed` as recoverable in both polling and send retry paths so transient fetch failures no longer fail fast. (#16699) thanks @Glucksberg.
 - BlueBubbles/DM history: restore DM backfill context with account-scoped rolling history, bounded backfill retries, and safer history payload limits. (#20302) Thanks @Ryan-Haines.
 - BlueBubbles/Webhooks: accept inbound/reaction webhook payloads when BlueBubbles omits `handle` but provides DM `chatGuid`, and harden payload extraction for array/string-wrapped message bodies so valid webhook events no longer get rejected as unparseable. (#23275) Thanks @toph31.
 - Security/Audit: add `openclaw security audit` finding `gateway.nodes.allow_commands_dangerous` for risky `gateway.nodes.allowCommands` overrides, with severity upgraded to critical on remote gateway exposure.

docs/channels/telegram.md

@@ -670,6 +670,25 @@ openclaw message send --channel telegram --target @name --message "hi"
 
     - Node 22+ + custom fetch/proxy can trigger immediate abort behavior if AbortSignal types mismatch.
     - Some hosts resolve `api.telegram.org` to IPv6 first; broken IPv6 egress can cause intermittent Telegram API failures.
+    - If logs include `TypeError: fetch failed` or `Network request for 'getUpdates' failed!`, OpenClaw now retries these as recoverable network errors.
+    - On VPS hosts with unstable direct egress/TLS, route Telegram API calls through `channels.telegram.proxy`:
+
+```yaml
+channels:
+  telegram:
+    proxy: socks5://user:pass@proxy-host:1080
+```
+
+    - If DNS/IPv6 selection is unstable, force Node family selection behavior explicitly:
+
+```yaml
+channels:
+  telegram:
+    network:
+      autoSelectFamily: false
+```
+
+    - Environment override (temporary): set `OPENCLAW_TELEGRAM_DISABLE_AUTO_SELECT_FAMILY=1`.
     - Validate DNS answers:
 
 ```bash

src/telegram/monitor.test.ts

@@ -169,8 +169,12 @@ describe("monitorTelegramProvider (grammY)", () => {
     expect(api.sendMessage).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
-  it("retries on recoverable network errors", async () => {
-    const networkError = Object.assign(new Error("timeout"), { code: "ETIMEDOUT" });
+  it("retries on recoverable undici fetch errors", async () => {
+    const networkError = Object.assign(new TypeError("fetch failed"), {
+      cause: Object.assign(new Error("connect timeout"), {
+        code: "UND_ERR_CONNECT_TIMEOUT",
+      }),
+    });
     runSpy
       .mockImplementationOnce(() => ({
         task: () => Promise.reject(networkError),

src/telegram/network-errors.test.ts

@@ -30,12 +30,25 @@ describe("isRecoverableTelegramNetworkError", () => {
     expect(isRecoverableTelegramNetworkError(new Error("Undici: socket failure"))).toBe(true);
   });
 
-  it("skips message matches for send context", () => {
+  it("treats undici fetch failed errors as recoverable in send context", () => {
     const err = new TypeError("fetch failed");
-    expect(isRecoverableTelegramNetworkError(err, { context: "send" })).toBe(false);
+    expect(isRecoverableTelegramNetworkError(err, { context: "send" })).toBe(true);
+    expect(
+      isRecoverableTelegramNetworkError(new Error("TypeError: fetch failed"), { context: "send" }),
+    ).toBe(true);
     expect(isRecoverableTelegramNetworkError(err, { context: "polling" })).toBe(true);
   });
 
+  it("skips broad message matches for send context", () => {
+    const networkRequestErr = new Error("Network request for 'sendMessage' failed!");
+    expect(isRecoverableTelegramNetworkError(networkRequestErr, { context: "send" })).toBe(false);
+    expect(isRecoverableTelegramNetworkError(networkRequestErr, { context: "polling" })).toBe(true);
+
+    const undiciSnippetErr = new Error("Undici: socket failure");
+    expect(isRecoverableTelegramNetworkError(undiciSnippetErr, { context: "send" })).toBe(false);
+    expect(isRecoverableTelegramNetworkError(undiciSnippetErr, { context: "polling" })).toBe(true);
+  });
+
   it("returns false for unrelated errors", () => {
     expect(isRecoverableTelegramNetworkError(new Error("invalid token"))).toBe(false);
   });

src/telegram/network-errors.ts

@@ -27,9 +27,9 @@ const RECOVERABLE_ERROR_NAMES = new Set([
   "BodyTimeoutError",
 ]);
 
+const ALWAYS_RECOVERABLE_MESSAGES = new Set(["fetch failed", "typeerror: fetch failed"]);
+
 const RECOVERABLE_MESSAGE_SNIPPETS = [
-  "fetch failed",
-  "typeerror: fetch failed",
   "undici",
   "network error",
   "network request",
@@ -138,9 +138,12 @@ export function isRecoverableTelegramNetworkError(
       return true;
     }
 
-    if (allowMessageMatch) {
-      const message = formatErrorMessage(candidate).toLowerCase();
-      if (message && RECOVERABLE_MESSAGE_SNIPPETS.some((snippet) => message.includes(snippet))) {
+    const message = formatErrorMessage(candidate).trim().toLowerCase();
+    if (message && ALWAYS_RECOVERABLE_MESSAGES.has(message)) {
+      return true;
+    }
+    if (allowMessageMatch && message) {
+      if (RECOVERABLE_MESSAGE_SNIPPETS.some((snippet) => message.includes(snippet))) {
         return true;
       }
     }