OpenClaw Open Groups Now Respond to Images Without Mentions

If you've configured a group channel with groupPolicy: open and wondered why OpenClaw was ignoring images, GIFs, or file uploads — PR #54058 explains why, and fixes it.

The Root Cause

When groupPolicy is set to open, the intent is clear: OpenClaw should respond to all messages from group members without requiring an @-mention. But there was a mismatch between policy intent and implementation.

Before this fix, requireMention defaulted to true regardless of groupPolicy. Images, GIFs, and other non-text messages physically cannot carry @-mentions — they're binary payloads, not text. So OpenClaw's mention check would always fail for these messages, and they'd be silently dropped. No error. No response. Just nothing.

The Fix

The fix is a targeted default-resolution change: when groupPolicy is open and requireMention is not explicitly set in config, the resolved value is now false instead of true.

Users who want mention-required behavior even in open groups can still enforce it by explicitly setting:

groupPolicy: open
requireMention: true

The explicit override is preserved and takes full precedence. The fix only changes the implicit default.

What Changes for You

If you're running an open-policy group channel — common for internal team bots, Discord servers, or shared Telegram groups — you'll now see OpenClaw respond to:

• Image messages (JPEG, PNG, WebP, etc.)
• GIF and sticker messages (on supported channels)
• File and document uploads
• Any other non-text message type that couldn't previously carry a mention

No config change required. The fix kicks in automatically for any groupPolicy: open group where requireMention isn't explicitly set.

Regression Coverage

The PR adds three regression tests:

1. New default: groupPolicy: open without requireMention resolves to requireMention: false
2. Explicit override: groupPolicy: open with requireMention: true is respected
3. Unchanged behavior: groupPolicy: allowlist behavior is unaffected

This closes issue #52553, which had been open since the original group policy system shipped. The patch lands in the next OpenClaw release — check the releases page for the tagged version.