Backends

csp-bot connects to chat platforms through csp adapters, wrapped by chatom for a unified message, user, and channel model. This page is the reference for which backends exist, how to authenticate them, and what each one can do.

Supported backends

Backend	Adapter	Support
Slack	point72/csp-adapter-slack	Official
Symphony	point72/csp-adapter-symphony	Official
Discord	csp-community/csp-adapter-discord	Community
Telegram	csp-community/csp-adapter-telegram	Community

The adapters are optional dependencies — install the ones you need:

pip install csp-adapter-slack csp-adapter-telegram

Credentials

Each backend reads its credentials from environment variables, matching the names used by the built-in backend configs.

Backend	Environment variables	chatom config field
Slack	SLACK_BOT_TOKEN, SLACK_APP_TOKEN	bot_token, app_token
Discord	DISCORD_TOKEN	token
Symphony	SYMPHONY_HOST, SYMPHONY_BOT_USERNAME, SYMPHONY_CERT_PATH	host, bot_username, bot_certificate_path
Telegram	TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN	bot_token

Symphony needs a host, a bot username, and either a certificate or an RSA private key. The built-in preset uses certificate authentication with a combined certificate/key .pem file on disk (bot_certificate_path); a path keeps long-lived key material out of the process environment.

Discord's message_content is a privileged intent. The built-in preset requests it, but it must also be enabled for the bot in the Discord Developer Portal, or the bot will not receive command text in guild channels.

To set a field other than the defaults — for example, to authenticate Symphony with an RSA key instead of a certificate — override it in your own config:

# @package modules.bot.config
symphony:
  config:
    bot_private_key_path: /path/to/bot-key.pem

For platform-specific setup of tokens and bot accounts, follow the adapter guides:

• Slack Adapter setup
• Symphony Adapter setup
• Discord Adapter setup
• Telegram Adapter

Feature matrix

Backend	Public Room	Private Room	User-initiated IM	Threads	Reactions	Attachments
Slack	X	X	X	X	X
Symphony	X	X	X
Discord	X	X	X	X	X
Telegram	X	X	X

Response formatting

Response formatting varies between backends, and built-in commands render their output in the right dialect for each one.

Backend	Format	Tables	Images
Slack	Minimal Markdown	No	Yes
Symphony	Custom HTML	Yes	Yes
Discord	Minimal Markdown	No	Yes
Telegram	HTML	No	Yes