channels

Channels — messaging status + launch

Diagnose messaging channel plugins and give the user the exact command to load them. This skill does NOT install channels (use /agent:messaging) or authenticate them (per-channel skills like /whatsapp:configure) — it reports state and hands back a launch command.

This is a CORE feature. See docs/channels.md for details.

Dispatch

User says	Action
/agent:channels or /agent:channels list	Call channels_detect({ format: "table" }) and print card
/agent:channels status [<name>]	Call channels_detect({ format: "json" }), filter by name if given, format single channel
/agent:channels launch	Call channels_detect({ format: "launch" }) and print only the command
/agent:channels launch --with-installed	Call with includeInstalledOnly: true — includes installed-but-not-authenticated
/agent:channels launch --skip-permissions	Call with skipPermissions: true — adds the dangerous flag to the command (warn the user)

List flow

1. Call channels_detect({ format: "table" })
2. Print the returned text verbatim — it already has the table, next-steps hints, and launch command
3. If any channels show ❌ under Installed and the user is new, remind: "Install a channel with /agent:messaging <name>"

Status flow (single channel)

1. Call channels_detect({ format: "json" })
2. Find the entry where name matches (case-insensitive)
3. If not found, respond: "I don't track a channel called <name>. Known channels: whatsapp, telegram, discord, imessage, slack, fakechat."
4. Otherwise print a compact block:

📡 <label>
   kind:           <development|official|integration>
   installed:      <✅ | ❌>  (<detail>)
   authenticated:  <✅ | ❌ | ⏸️>  (<detail>)
   active:         <❓ | ❌>  (<detail>)
   next:           <setupHint>

Launch flow

1. Call channels_detect({ format: "launch" }) (with the appropriate flags from the user's command)
2. Print the command in a code block
3. Remind the user: "This command is also what /agent:service install will use. Copy it or re-run the service install after any channel change."

If the user included --skip-permissions, ADD a warning above the command:

⚠️ The --dangerously-skip-permissions flag pre-approves every tool call. Use only for background/service runs.

Response style

• CLI / WebChat: full table
• WhatsApp / Telegram / Discord: collapse to one line per channel using the icons, e.g. 📡 WhatsApp:✅✅❓ · Telegram:✅❌❌ · iMessage:✅✅❓. The full table is too wide for mobile.

Never

• Do NOT try to install or authenticate channels from this skill. Redirect to /agent:messaging or the channel's own skill.
• Do NOT lie about active state — the tool says ❓ unknown when it can't tell. Pass that through; the user can verify with /mcp or by sending a message.
• Do NOT generate a launch command with --skip-permissions unless the user explicitly asked for it.

References

• docs/channels.md — full reference
• lib/channel-detector.ts — pure detection logic
• skills/messaging/SKILL.md — channel installation
• skills/service/SKILL.md — always-on, consumes the launch command