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Channels Overview

AetherGraph ships with multiple channels for delivering messages and (optionally) interacting with users or tools. This page gives you a compact map of what exists, when to use each, and what they can do.

Scope (OSS build): Channels are designed for personal, local, and small‑team use. Treat them as convenient building blocks, not as a hardened, multi‑tenant messaging stack. For public or sensitive deployments, keep channels behind trusted networks and review security settings carefully.

1. Channel quick picks (when to use what)

  • Console (console:) – Default. Local dev, quick demos, CLI‑style prompts. No setup.
  • Slack (slack:) – Team chat, rich approvals, durable ask_* resumes. Requires Slack app.
  • Telegram (tg:) – Mobile‑friendly prompts and notifications. Polling (local) or webhook (advanced). Experimental for ask_*.
  • File (file:) – Write‑only logs/transcripts to disk under your workspace. Zero setup.
  • Webhook (webhook:) – Write‑only JSON POST to any incoming webhook (Slack Incoming, Discord, Zapier, etc.). Zero setup in AetherGraph.
  • Aethergraph UI – Built-in channels with most supported features for runs and sessions with no additional config.

2. Capabilities at a glance

Legend: ✅ supported • 📝 forwarded/logged only • ✖️ not supported

Channel Key prefix / example Default Text Input / ask_* Buttons / approval Image File Streaming/Edit Inbound resume
Console console:stdin ✅ ✅ ✅ (inline via stdin) ✅ (numbered) ✖️ ✖️ ✖️ ✖️
Slack slack:team/T:chan/C[:thread/TS] ✖️ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅
Telegram tg:chat/<id>[:topic/<thread_id>] ✖️ ✅ ✅ (experimental) ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ (experimental)
File file:logs/experiment_01.txt ✖️ ✅ ✖️ 📝 📝 📝 📝 N/A
Webhook webhook:https://hooks.zapier.com/... ✖️ ✅ ✖️ 📝 📝 📝 📝 N/A
AG UI use context.ui_session_channel() or context.ui_run_channel() for fast access ✖️ ✅ ✅ ✅ 📝 📝 📝 ✅ ✅

Notes

  • Console is simple and local; great for development but not built for durable, cross‑process resumes.
  • Slack/Telegram provide two‑way chat; Telegram’s interaction support is still experimental.
  • File/Webhook are inform‑only: push messages out, no replies.

3. ask_* vs inform‑only

Interactive (ask_*)

  • Supported: Console, Slack, Telegram.
  • In @graphify, Slack/Telegram create a Continuation and can resume even if your Python process restarts.
  • Console reads inline from stdin; no durable, cross‑process resume.

Inform‑only

  • File and Webhook only push out.
  • Use them for notifications, logging, and triggering automations; do not call ask_* on these.

4. Concurrency & multi‑channel patterns

  • You can send multiple messages concurrently on a channel.
  • You can use multiple channels in the same graph (e.g., console debug + file log + Slack + webhook).

Example:

async def run_with_notifications(context):
    await context.channel("console:stdin").send_text("Run started")
    await context.channel("file:runs/exp_01.log").send_text("Run started")
    await context.channel("slack:team/T:chan/C").send_text("Run started (Slack)")
    await context.channel("webhook:https://hooks.zapier.com/hooks/catch/.../").send_text("Run started (Webhook)")

5. Security tips (webhook & chat)

  • Treat webhook URLs as secrets; rotate if leaked. Prefer HTTPS.
  • For custom receivers, add a shared secret header (e.g., X-AetherGraph-Secret) and verify server‑side.
  • Keep public exposure minimal; prefer trusted networks or intermediaries (Zapier/Make, your backend) when adapting payload shapes.
  • Review bot/app permissions on Slack/Telegram—grant only what you need.

6. Key formats (cheat sheet)

  • Console: console:stdin
  • Slack: slack:team/<TEAM_ID>:chan/<CHANNEL_ID>[:thread/<TS>]
  • Telegram: tg:chat/<CHAT_ID>[:topic/<THREAD_ID>]
  • File: file:<relative/path/inside/channel_files>
  • Webhook: webhook:<FULL_WEBHOOK_URL>

Use these keys directly with context.channel(<key>), or set defaults/aliases as needed.