Skip to content
Tandem Engine

Channel Integrations

Tandem channels let users chat with the same engine sessions from Telegram, Discord, or Slack.

What channels do

  1. Receive inbound channel messages.
  2. Map user/channel identity to a Tandem session.
  3. Send prompt parts (text, optionally file) to /session/{id}/prompt_async.
  4. Stream run events and post replies back to the channel.

Supported channels

  • Telegram
  • Discord
  • Slack

Slash Commands

Channels expose a lightweight command surface so users can manage sessions and draft automations directly from chat.

Core commands

  • /help
  • /new [name]
  • /sessions
  • /resume <id or name>
  • /rename <name>
  • /status
  • /run
  • /cancel
  • /todos
  • /requests
  • /answer <question_id> <text>
  • /approve <tool_call_id>
  • /deny <tool_call_id>

Model commands

  • /providers
  • /models [provider]
  • /model <model_id>

Workflow-planning commands

  • /schedule help
  • /schedule plan <prompt>
  • /schedule show <plan_id>
  • /schedule edit <plan_id> <message>
  • /schedule reset <plan_id>
  • /schedule apply <plan_id>

Operator commands

  • /automations ...
  • /runs ...
  • /memory ...
  • /workspace ...
  • /mcp ...
  • /packs ...
  • /config ...

/help schedule and /schedule help both show the workflow-planning guide, and /schedule with no extra text defaults to the same help output. /help automations, /help memory, /help workspace, /help mcp, /help packs, and /help config show the namespaced guides for the new operator commands.

Configure and inspect status with:

  • GET /channels/status
  • PUT /channels/{name}
  • DELETE /channels/{name}

Media and file uploads

When adapters are configured for media ingestion:

  1. Files are stored under engine storage root in channel_uploads/....
  2. Stored file references are attached to prompts as file parts:
    • type: "file"
    • mime
    • filename (optional)
    • url (local path, file://..., or remote URL)
  3. Prompt also includes user text part (type: "text").

List uploaded files:

Terminal window
curl -s "http://127.0.0.1:39731/global/storage/files?path=channel_uploads&limit=200" \
  -H "X-Agent-Token: tk_your_token"

Storage layout

Typical pattern:

<state_root>/channel_uploads/<channel>/<chat_or_user>/<timestamp>_<filename>

Example:

/srv/tandem/channel_uploads/telegram/667596788/1772310564423_photo_305646779.jpg

Model and media compatibility

  • Image-capable providers/models can analyze image file parts.
  • Non-vision or unsupported models should still complete the run with a fallback response.
  • Channel adapters should avoid hanging on unsupported media and return clear user guidance.

Formatting notes (Telegram)

Telegram outbound formatting should use MarkdownV2-safe rendering:

  • Prefer parse_mode: "MarkdownV2"
  • Escape Telegram-reserved characters outside valid entities
  • Keep fallback retry as plain text on Telegram parse errors

Channel Memory

Channel sessions now keep memory in two layers:

  1. Raw transcript history stays in normal Tandem session storage.
  2. Retrieval memory stores exact user-visible completed user+assistant exchanges in global memory.

This lets future channel sessions recall prior work without loading full transcript history into every run.

What gets archived

After a successful channel reply, Tandem writes one chat_exchange memory entry containing:

  • the latest user message
  • the latest user-visible assistant reply
  • provenance such as session ID, project ID, workspace root, and message IDs

The engine dedupes retries of the same exchange automatically.

Why this stays small and safe

  • Tandem archives one completed exchange, not every partial stream event.
  • Raw session history remains the source of truth even if retrieval memory is compacted or re-ranked later.
  • Prompt context still stays bounded by normal memory search limits rather than unbounded chat log replay.

Workflow planning from channels

The /schedule command family is a thin wrapper over Tandem’s workflow-plan endpoints.

  • /schedule plan <prompt> creates a workflow draft from a natural-language request.
  • /schedule edit <plan_id> <message> revises the draft conversationally.
  • /schedule apply <plan_id> saves the draft as an automation.

When the current channel session is already bound to a workspace, Tandem automatically forwards that workspace root into the planner so the resulting workflow targets the right repo or project by default.

Expanded operator commands

Channels now support a broader operator surface on top of existing engine APIs:

  • /automations to list, inspect, run, pause, resume, and delete saved automations
  • /runs to inspect recent automation runs and their artifacts
  • /memory to search, review, save, and delete memory entries
  • /workspace to inspect the current workspace binding, search files, and check the git branch
  • /mcp, /packs, and /config for integration/runtime inspection and lightweight control

Destructive commands require --yes, while read/list/show/search commands execute immediately.