---
summary: "Message flow, sessions, queueing, and reasoning visibility"
read_when:
  - Explaining how inbound messages become replies
  - Clarifying sessions, queueing modes, or streaming behavior
  - Documenting reasoning visibility and usage implications
---
# Messages

This page ties together how Clawdbot handles inbound messages, sessions, queueing,
streaming, and reasoning visibility.

## Message flow (high level)

```
Inbound message
  -> routing/bindings -> session key
  -> queue (if a run is active)
  -> agent run (streaming + tools)
  -> outbound replies (provider limits + chunking)
```

Key knobs live in configuration:
- `messages.*` for prefixes, queueing, and group behavior.
- `agents.defaults.*` for block streaming and chunking defaults.
- Provider overrides (`whatsapp.*`, `telegram.*`, etc.) for caps and streaming toggles.

See [Configuration](/gateway/configuration) for full schema.

## Sessions and devices

Sessions are owned by the gateway, not by clients.
- Direct chats collapse into the agent main session key.
- Groups/channels get their own session keys.
- The session store and transcripts live on the gateway host.

Multiple devices/providers can map to the same session, but history is not fully
synced back to every client. Recommendation: use one primary device for long
conversations to avoid divergent context. The Control UI and TUI always show the
gateway-backed session transcript, so they are the source of truth.

Details: [Session management](/concepts/session).

## Queueing and followups

If a run is already active, inbound messages can be queued, steered into the
current run, or collected for a followup turn.

- Configure via `messages.queue` (and `messages.queue.byProvider`).
- Modes: `interrupt`, `steer`, `followup`, `collect`, plus backlog variants.

Details: [Queueing](/concepts/queue).

## Streaming, chunking, and batching

Block streaming sends partial replies as the model produces text blocks.
Chunking respects provider text limits and avoids splitting fenced code.

Key settings:
- `agents.defaults.blockStreamingDefault` (`on|off`, default off)
- `agents.defaults.blockStreamingBreak` (`text_end|message_end`)
- `agents.defaults.blockStreamingChunk` (`minChars|maxChars|breakPreference`)
- `agents.defaults.blockStreamingCoalesce` (idle-based batching)
- Provider overrides: `*.blockStreaming` and `*.blockStreamingCoalesce` (non-Telegram providers require explicit `*.blockStreaming: true`)

Details: [Streaming + chunking](/concepts/streaming).

## Reasoning visibility and tokens

Clawdbot can expose or hide model reasoning:
- `/reasoning on|off|stream` controls visibility.
- Reasoning content still counts toward token usage when produced by the model.
- Telegram supports reasoning stream into the draft bubble.

Details: [Thinking + reasoning directives](/tools/thinking) and [Token use](/token-use).

## Prefixes, threading, and replies

Outbound message formatting is centralized in `messages`:
- `messages.responsePrefix` (outbound prefix) and `whatsapp.messagePrefix` (WhatsApp inbound prefix)
- Reply threading via `replyToMode` and per-provider defaults

Details: [Configuration](/gateway/configuration#messages) and provider docs.
