Implicit Mentions

Reply to the bot to continue a mention_only group conversation without re-typing @bot

In a mention_only group, tapping Reply on the bot’s own message counts as addressing it — the follow-up is answered without re-typing @bot.

The “aha” scenario — Alice in a Telegram group set to group_policy: mention_only:

Alice:  @planning_bot what's on today?
Bot:    You have 3 meetings.
Alice:  (taps Reply on the bot's message) And tomorrow?
Bot:    Tomorrow you have 2 meetings and a demo.

Before this change the follow-up was silently dropped because there was no @planning_bot in the text. Now the natural “reply to the bot” continues the conversation.

Quick Start

1. Default: reply-to-bot just works

   Set group_policy: mention_only — a reply to the bot is admitted with no extra config.

   # gateway.yaml
   channels:
     telegram:
       token: ${TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN}
       group_policy: mention_only    # reply-to-bot counts by default

2. Enable quote as an implicit mention

   Add quote when you also want a quoted/forwarded bot message to count.

   channels:
     telegram:
       token: ${TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN}
       group_policy: mention_only
       implicit_mentions: ["reply", "quote"]

3. Disable implicit mentions (strict @-only)

   An empty list requires a literal @bot on every message.

   channels:
     telegram:
       token: ${TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN}
       group_policy: mention_only
       implicit_mentions: []         # strict: only @bot admits

How It Works

The adapter reports how the bot was addressed as structured facts; the admission primitive admits the message when an enabled implicit signal is present.

An explicit @bot always counts. Each implicit signal counts only when its name is listed in implicit_mentions.

from praisonaiagents.bots import (
    MentionFacts,
    resolve_ingress_admission,
    DEFAULT_IMPLICIT_MENTIONS,
)

# A reply to the bot in a mention_only group — admitted by default.
decision = resolve_ingress_admission(
    chat_type="group",
    sender_id="123",
    mention=MentionFacts(reply_to_bot=True),
    group_policy="mention_only",
)
print(decision.admit)                 # True
print(DEFAULT_IMPLICIT_MENTIONS)      # frozenset({'reply'})

Configuration Options

Supported Signals per Platform

Reply-to-bot detection is wired on Telegram, Discord and Slack. The same group_policy keys work under discord: and slack: entries in gateway.yaml.

The same gesture works on Discord (native Reply to the bot’s message) and Slack (a reply in a thread whose parent message was posted by the bot). On Slack this counts as reply, not thread — other thread messages do not admit.

Common Patterns

Natural follow-up (default). A reply to the bot continues the conversation without @bot.

channels:
  telegram:
    token: ${TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN}
    group_policy: mention_only
    # implicit_mentions defaults to ["reply"]

Answer anywhere in this thread. Treat any message in a bot thread as addressing the bot.

channels:
  telegram:
    token: ${TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN}
    group_policy: mention_only
    implicit_mentions: ["reply", "thread"]

Audit-only channel (strict @). Require a literal @bot every time.

channels:
  telegram:
    token: ${TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN}
    group_policy: mention_only
    implicit_mentions: []

Best Practices

Related