Outbound Messaging

Overview

Outbound Messaging is ArgentOS’s multi-channel delivery pipeline. It enables agents to proactively send messages, attachments, polls, and rich content to any configured communication channel — Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, iMessage, Signal, Matrix, MS Teams, Mattermost, and more. Unlike inbound message handling (where channels push messages to the agent), outbound messaging is agent-initiated. The agent decides to send a message using the message tool, and the outbound pipeline handles channel resolution, target routing, session tracking, media handling, and cross-context policy enforcement.

Architecture

Message Actions

The system supports several action types:

Action	Description
`send`	Send a text message with optional media attachments
`sendAttachment`	Send a file attachment with optional caption
`poll`	Create a poll with question, options, and multiselect support
`broadcast`	Send the same message to multiple targets across channels
`setGroupIcon`	Change a group chat’s icon/avatar
`react`	Add a reaction to a specific message

Send Action

The primary action. Supports text messages with markdown formatting, media attachments via URL/file path/base64, reply threading, buttons and cards (channel-dependent), and multiple media in a single message.

{
  action: "send",
  channel: "telegram",
  to: "user:123456",
  message: "Here's the report you requested.",
  media: "/path/to/report.pdf"
}

Broadcast Action

Broadcast must be explicitly enabled in config (tools.message.broadcast.enabled: true).

{
  action: "broadcast",
  targets: ["user:alice", "user:bob", "channel:general"],
  channel: "all",
  message: "Weekly standup reminder"
}

Poll Action

Creates interactive polls (supported on Discord, Telegram, Slack):

{
  action: "poll",
  channel: "discord",
  to: "channel:general",
  pollQuestion: "When should we schedule the demo?",
  pollOption: ["Monday 2pm", "Tuesday 10am", "Wednesday 3pm"],
  pollMulti: true,
  pollDurationHours: 24
}

Channel Resolution

When an agent sends a message, the system resolves the target channel:

Explicit channel — If the agent specifies channel: "slack", use that
Tool context inference — If responding to an inbound message, use the same channel
Configured channels — Query the list of configured message channels from argent.json

Target Format Examples

Channel	Target Format Examples
Telegram	`user:123456`, `group:-100123`, `@username`
Discord	`user:123456789`, `channel:987654321`
Slack	`user:U01ABC`, `channel:C01DEF`, `#general`
WhatsApp	`+15551234567`, `group:[email protected]`
iMessage	`+15551234567`, `[email protected]`
Signal	`+15551234567`, `group:abc123`
Matrix	`@user:server.org`, `!roomid:server.org`
MS Teams	`user:abc`, `conversation:19:[email protected]`

Media Handling

The outbound pipeline handles media through several mechanisms:

URL resolution — HTTP/HTTPS URLs are downloaded and forwarded
File paths — Local file paths are read and encoded
Sandbox resolution — Paths within the agent sandbox are resolved safely
Base64 encoding — Raw binary data is accepted as base64
Size limits — Per-channel and per-account media size limits are enforced
Content type inference — MIME types are detected from file extensions

Data URLs (data:...) are explicitly rejected to prevent agents from embedding large binary payloads in tool call parameters.

Delivery Pipeline

The full delivery flow for a send action:

Parse

Parse and validate tool parameters

Resolve channel

Resolve channel from hint, context, or config

Resolve target

Contact lookup, group resolution

Enforce policy

Enforce cross-context policy

Hydrate media

Download URLs, resolve paths, encode base64

Apply directives

Apply reply directives from message text

Resolve session

Resolve outbound session route

Ensure session

Ensure session entry exists for continuity

Execute send

Execute send via channel adapter or gateway relay

Return result

Return structured result to agent

Abort Support

All outbound operations support abort signals for cancellation. If an agent run is aborted (user presses stop, timeout), in-flight message sends are cancelled cleanly via AbortSignal.

Configuration

{
  "channels": {
    "telegram": {
      "botToken": "...",
      "enabled": true
    },
    "discord": {
      "botToken": "...",
      "enabled": true
    }
  },
  "tools": {
    "message": {
      "broadcast": {
        "enabled": false
      }
    }
  }
}

Getting Started

Installation

Channels

Agents

Connectors

Tools

Concepts

Memory

Model Router

Overview

Architecture

Message Actions

Send Action

Broadcast Action

Poll Action

Channel Resolution

Target Format Examples

Media Handling

Delivery Pipeline

Abort Support

Configuration

​Overview

​Architecture

​Message Actions

​Send Action

​Broadcast Action

​Poll Action

​Channel Resolution

​Target Format Examples

​Media Handling

​Delivery Pipeline

​Abort Support

​Configuration

Overview

Architecture

Message Actions

Send Action

Broadcast Action

Poll Action

Channel Resolution

Target Format Examples

Media Handling

Delivery Pipeline

Abort Support

Configuration