Channels — Animus

Unified Channel Architecture

Every channel in Animus follows the same pattern: authenticate → receive → dispatch → respond. The ChannelManager owns all connector runtimes, routes inbound messages to agent sessions, and sends auto-replies back through the originating channel.

Each channel binds to a specific agent via agent_id in its config. Sessions are scoped per-channel and per-conversation — a Telegram user and an IRC user talking to the same agent get independent session histories.

Channel dispatch flow

Inbound event (platform-specific)
  → ChannelManager receives
    → Session lookup (channel + conversation)
      → Agent execution (LLM + tools + memory)
        → Auto-reply sent via originating channel
          OR tool output (file, web, diary, Lua)

Per-channel agent binding

Independent session routing

Unified REST API

Single admin UI

Auto-reply on all channels

Live

Available Channels

💬

IRC

RFC 2812

Full IRC interface — the original chat protocol. Mature, lightweight, and still the backbone of open-source communities.

Persistent socket connection to an IRC server. Channels and DMs are mapped to agent sessions. The bot joins configured channels, responds to messages (with optional mention filtering), and handles DMs and notices independently.

Supported features

Channel messages

Direct messages

Notice handling

Auto-reconnect

Per-channel agent

DM allowlist

Respond toggles

Use cases

Community support bot · DevOps notification relay · Open-source project helper · IRC-native agent interface

✈️

Bot API (HTTPS + JSON)

Official Bot API integration. Zero ToS risk — bots are Telegram's intended use case. Free, instant setup via @BotFather.

Long polling via getUpdates with offset-based acknowledgment. Private chats, groups, supergroups, and forum topics are each routed to independent agent sessions. Message threading via message_thread_id. Offset persisted across restarts.

Supported features

Private chats

Groups & supergroups

Forum topics

Auto-reply

Offset persistence

Bot identity verification

Use cases

Customer support bot · Personal assistant · Team notification hub · Language learning tutor

🔷

VKontakte

Community API (HTTPS + JSON)

Community bot adapter for VK — the dominant social network in Russia and CIS countries. Community tokens provide official bot access.

Long Poll server fetches events in real time. Messages route to sessions by peer_id. Wall posts and wall comments create separate session types. Comments are threaded via reply_to_comment. Auto-reply sends via the Messages API.

Supported features

Post

Send message

Get conversations

Get messages

Wall comments

Delete

Use cases

Community management · Customer engagement in CIS markets · Content publishing assistant · Wall comment moderation

🦋

Bluesky

AT Protocol (PDS + XRPC)

AT Protocol adapter connecting to Bluesky's decentralized social network. Uses PDS (Personal Data Server) endpoints with session refresh.

Connects to a PDS instance using handle + app password. Creates a session for JWT-based auth, with automatic token refresh via refreshSession. Posts, replies, likes, and searches through XRPC methods.

Supported features

Post

Browse

Notifications

Delete

Token refresh

Use cases

Social media presence · Public engagement bot · Content discovery agent · Brand monitoring

🐘

Mastodon

REST + WebSocket (Mastodon API)

Integration with the Fediverse via the Mastodon API. Works with any Mastodon-compatible instance.

Authenticates via OAuth to a Mastodon instance. Streams events via WebSocket or polls the REST API. Posts, boosts, replies, and direct messages.

Supported features

OAuth auth

Toots & replies

Streaming events

Fediverse compatible

Use cases

Fediverse presence · Open-source community engagement · Decentralized social management

📧

Email

AgentMail (REST + WebSocket)

Full email integration via AgentMail. Real-time inbox monitoring via WebSocket with REST polling fallback. Thread-aware dispatch and comprehensive message management.

Connects to the AgentMail WebSocket for real-time message.received events. Inbound emails are dispatched to agent sessions with message ID and thread ID included for direct reply. Falls back to REST polling on persistent WS failure. Multi-account routing with per-account agent assignment.

Supported features

List inboxes

List threads

Get thread / message

Send

Forward

Drafts

Mark read / Delete

WebSocket real-time

Multi-account

Use cases

Customer support triage · Automated email replies · Newsletter digest agent · Multi-account email routing · Draft management assistant

Planned

Coming Next

💼

Slack

Events API + Web API

Workspace integration via Slack's Events API. Real-time message events, threaded conversations, channel management. Enterprise-ready.

Events API

Threaded conversations

App home

Slash commands

Block kit

🎮

Discord

Gateway (WebSocket)

Discord bot via Gateway intents. Server channels, DMs, threads, reactions. The dominant platform for community-driven projects.

Gateway intents

Server channels

Threads

Reactions

Slash commands

Voice (future)

📱

Companion device protocol

WhatsApp integration via the companion device protocol. Requires initial QR pairing. Reaches the world's largest messaging user base.

Companion pairing

Private chats

Group chats

Media support

Read receipts

🔒

Signal

signal-cli bridge

End-to-end encrypted messaging via signal-cli bridge. Privacy-first communication with the Signal protocol's security guarantees.

E2E encryption

Private chats

Group chats

signal-cli bridge

🐙

GitHub

Webhooks + REST API

GitHub integration for code-aware agents. Respond to issues, review PRs, manage discussions. Agent as a team member.

Issue responses

PR reviews

Webhook events

Code search

Discussions

One API for Everything

All channels are managed through a single REST endpoint. Create an IRC channel, a Telegram bot, and a VK community — all through the same API shape. The admin UI provides a unified interface; the API provides programmatic control.

Secrets are masked in responses and preserved on partial updates. Enable and disable channels without deleting config. Connection status is live.

REST API

GET    /api/v1/channels
POST   /api/v1/channels
GET    /api/v1/channels/{name}
PATCH  /api/v1/channels/{name}
DELETE /api/v1/channels/{name}
POST   /api/v1/channels/{name}/enable
POST   /api/v1/channels/{name}/disable