Configuration

Broadcast groups

Status: experimental

Overview

Broadcast Groups enable multiple agents to process and respond to the same message simultaneously. This allows you to create specialized agent teams that work together in a single WhatsApp group or DM — all using one phone number.

Current scope: WhatsApp only (web channel).

Broadcast groups are evaluated after channel allowlists and group activation rules. In WhatsApp groups, this means broadcasts happen when OmeniaClaw would normally reply (for example: on mention, depending on your group settings).

Use cases

1. Specialized agent teams

Deploy multiple agents with atomic, focused responsibilities:

Code
Group: "Development Team"Agents:  - CodeReviewer (reviews code snippets)  - DocumentationBot (generates docs)  - SecurityAuditor (checks for vulnerabilities)  - TestGenerator (suggests test cases)

Each agent processes the same message and provides its specialized perspective.

2. Multi-language support
Code
Group: "International Support"Agents:  - Agent_EN (responds in English)  - Agent_DE (responds in German)  - Agent_ES (responds in Spanish)
3. Quality assurance workflows
Code
Group: "Customer Support"Agents:  - SupportAgent (provides answer)  - QAAgent (reviews quality, only responds if issues found)
4. Task automation
Code
Group: "Project Management"Agents:  - TaskTracker (updates task database)  - TimeLogger (logs time spent)  - ReportGenerator (creates summaries)

Configuration

Basic setup

Add a top-level broadcast section (next to bindings). Keys are WhatsApp peer ids:

  • group chats: group JID (e.g. [email protected])
  • DMs: E.164 phone number (e.g. +15551234567)
json
{  "broadcast": {    "[email protected]": ["alfred", "baerbel", "assistant3"]  }}

Result: When OmeniaClaw would reply in this chat, it will run all three agents.

Processing strategy

Control how agents process messages:

parallel (default)

All agents process simultaneously:

json
{  "broadcast": {    "strategy": "parallel",    "[email protected]": ["alfred", "baerbel"]  }}

sequential

Agents process in order (one waits for previous to finish):

json
{  "broadcast": {    "strategy": "sequential",    "[email protected]": ["alfred", "baerbel"]  }}

Complete example

json
{  "agents": {    "list": [      {        "id": "code-reviewer",        "name": "Code Reviewer",        "workspace": "/path/to/code-reviewer",        "sandbox": { "mode": "all" }      },      {        "id": "security-auditor",        "name": "Security Auditor",        "workspace": "/path/to/security-auditor",        "sandbox": { "mode": "all" }      },      {        "id": "docs-generator",        "name": "Documentation Generator",        "workspace": "/path/to/docs-generator",        "sandbox": { "mode": "all" }      }    ]  },  "broadcast": {    "strategy": "parallel",    "[email protected]": ["code-reviewer", "security-auditor", "docs-generator"],    "[email protected]": ["support-en", "support-de"],    "+15555550123": ["assistant", "logger"]  }}

How it works

Message flow

  • Incoming message arrives

    A WhatsApp group or DM message arrives.

  • Route and admission

    OmeniaClaw applies channel allowlists, group activation rules, and configured ACP binding ownership.

  • Broadcast check

    If no configured ACP binding owns the route, OmeniaClaw checks whether the peer ID is in broadcast.

  • If broadcast applies

    • All listed agents process the message.
    • Each agent has its own session key and isolated context.
    • Agents process in parallel (default) or sequentially.
  • If broadcast does not apply

    OmeniaClaw dispatches the ordinary route or the configured ACP session route selected during routing.

  • Session isolation

    Each agent in a broadcast group maintains completely separate:

    • Session keys (agent:alfred:whatsapp:group:120363... vs agent:baerbel:whatsapp:group:120363...)
    • Conversation history (agent doesn't see other agents' messages)
    • Workspace (separate sandboxes if configured)
    • Tool access (different allow/deny lists)
    • Memory/context (separate IDENTITY.md, SOUL.md, etc.)
    • Group context buffer (recent group messages used for context) is shared per peer, so all broadcast agents see the same context when triggered

    This allows each agent to have:

    • Different personalities
    • Different tool access (e.g., read-only vs. read-write)
    • Different models (e.g., opus vs. sonnet)
    • Different skills installed

    Example: isolated sessions

    In group [email protected] with agents ["alfred", "baerbel"]:

    Alfred's context

    Code
    Session: agent:alfred:whatsapp:group:[email protected]History: [user message, alfred's previous responses]Workspace: /Users/user/OmeniaClaw-alfred/Tools: read, write, exec

    Bärbel's context

    Code
    Session: agent:baerbel:whatsapp:group:[email protected]History: [user message, baerbel's previous responses]Workspace: /Users/user/OmeniaClaw-baerbel/Tools: read only

    Best practices

    1. Keep agents focused

    Design each agent with a single, clear responsibility:

    json
    {  "broadcast": {    "DEV_GROUP": ["formatter", "linter", "tester"]  }}

    Good: Each agent has one job. ❌ Bad: One generic "dev-helper" agent.

    2. Use descriptive names

    Make it clear what each agent does:

    json
    {  "agents": {    "security-scanner": { "name": "Security Scanner" },    "code-formatter": { "name": "Code Formatter" },    "test-generator": { "name": "Test Generator" }  }}
    3. Configure different tool access

    Give agents only the tools they need:

    json
    {  "agents": {    "reviewer": {      "tools": { "allow": ["read", "exec"] }    },    "fixer": {      "tools": { "allow": ["read", "write", "edit", "exec"] }    }  }}

    reviewer is read-only. fixer can read and write.

    4. Monitor performance

    With many agents, consider:

    • Using "strategy": "parallel" (default) for speed
    • Limiting broadcast groups to 5-10 agents
    • Using faster models for simpler agents
    5. Handle failures gracefully

    Agents fail independently. One agent's error doesn't block others:

    Code
    Message → [Agent A ✓, Agent B ✗ error, Agent C ✓]Result: Agent A and C respond, Agent B logs error

    Compatibility

    Providers

    Broadcast groups currently work with:

    • ✅ WhatsApp (implemented)
    • 🚧 Telegram (planned)
    • 🚧 Discord (planned)
    • 🚧 Slack (planned)

    Routing

    Broadcast groups work alongside existing routing:

    json
    {  "bindings": [    {      "match": { "channel": "whatsapp", "peer": { "kind": "group", "id": "GROUP_A" } },      "agentId": "alfred"    }  ],  "broadcast": {    "GROUP_B": ["agent1", "agent2"]  }}
    • GROUP_A: Only alfred responds (normal routing).
    • GROUP_B: agent1 AND agent2 respond (broadcast).

    Troubleshooting

    Agents not responding

    Check:

    1. Agent IDs exist in agents.list.
    2. Peer ID format is correct (e.g., [email protected]).
    3. Agents are not in deny lists.

    Debug:

    bash
    tail -f ~/.OmeniaClaw/logs/gateway.log | grep broadcast
    Only one agent responding

    Cause: Peer ID might be in ordinary route bindings but not broadcast, or it might match an exclusive configured ACP binding.

    Fix: Add ordinary route-bound peers to broadcast config, or remove/change the configured ACP binding if fan-out broadcast is desired.

    Performance issues

    If slow with many agents:

    • Reduce number of agents per group.
    • Use lighter models (sonnet instead of opus).
    • Check sandbox startup time.

    Examples

    Example 1: Code review team
    json
    {  "broadcast": {    "strategy": "parallel",    "[email protected]": [      "code-formatter",      "security-scanner",      "test-coverage",      "docs-checker"    ]  },  "agents": {    "list": [      {        "id": "code-formatter",        "workspace": "~/agents/formatter",        "tools": { "allow": ["read", "write"] }      },      {        "id": "security-scanner",        "workspace": "~/agents/security",        "tools": { "allow": ["read", "exec"] }      },      {        "id": "test-coverage",        "workspace": "~/agents/testing",        "tools": { "allow": ["read", "exec"] }      },      { "id": "docs-checker", "workspace": "~/agents/docs", "tools": { "allow": ["read"] } }    ]  }}

    User sends: Code snippet.

    Responses:

    • code-formatter: "Fixed indentation and added type hints"
    • security-scanner: "⚠️ SQL injection vulnerability in line 12"
    • test-coverage: "Coverage is 45%, missing tests for error cases"
    • docs-checker: "Missing docstring for function process_data"
    Example 2: Multi-language support
    json
    {  "broadcast": {    "strategy": "sequential",    "+15555550123": ["detect-language", "translator-en", "translator-de"]  },  "agents": {    "list": [      { "id": "detect-language", "workspace": "~/agents/lang-detect" },      { "id": "translator-en", "workspace": "~/agents/translate-en" },      { "id": "translator-de", "workspace": "~/agents/translate-de" }    ]  }}

    API reference

    Config schema

    typescript
    interface OmeniaClawConfig {  broadcast?: {    strategy?: "parallel" | "sequential";    [peerId: string]: string[];  };}

    Fields

    strategy"parallel" | "sequential"default: "parallel"

    How to process agents. parallel runs all agents simultaneously; sequential runs them in array order.

    [peerId]string[]

    WhatsApp group JID, E.164 number, or other peer ID. Value is the array of agent IDs that should process messages.

    Limitations

    1. Max agents: No hard limit, but 10+ agents may be slow.
    2. Shared context: Agents don't see each other's responses (by design).
    3. Message ordering: Parallel responses may arrive in any order.
    4. Rate limits: All agents count toward WhatsApp rate limits.

    Future enhancements

    Planned features:

    • [ ] Shared context mode (agents see each other's responses)
    • [ ] Agent coordination (agents can signal each other)
    • [ ] Dynamic agent selection (choose agents based on message content)
    • [ ] Agent priorities (some agents respond before others)
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