feat: add ack reaction defaults

src/config/config.test.ts

@@ -87,6 +87,57 @@ describe("config identity defaults", () => {
     });
   });
 
+  it("defaults ackReaction to identity emoji", async () => {
+    await withTempHome(async (home) => {
+      const configDir = path.join(home, ".clawdbot");
+      await fs.mkdir(configDir, { recursive: true });
+      await fs.writeFile(
+        path.join(configDir, "clawdbot.json"),
+        JSON.stringify(
+          {
+            identity: { name: "Samantha", theme: "helpful sloth", emoji: "🦥" },
+            messages: {},
+          },
+          null,
+          2,
+        ),
+        "utf-8",
+      );
+
+      vi.resetModules();
+      const { loadConfig } = await import("./config.js");
+      const cfg = loadConfig();
+
+      expect(cfg.messages?.ackReaction).toBe("🦥");
+      expect(cfg.messages?.ackReactionScope).toBe("group-mentions");
+    });
+  });
+
+  it("defaults ackReaction to 👀 when identity is missing", async () => {
+    await withTempHome(async (home) => {
+      const configDir = path.join(home, ".clawdbot");
+      await fs.mkdir(configDir, { recursive: true });
+      await fs.writeFile(
+        path.join(configDir, "clawdbot.json"),
+        JSON.stringify(
+          {
+            messages: {},
+          },
+          null,
+          2,
+        ),
+        "utf-8",
+      );
+
+      vi.resetModules();
+      const { loadConfig } = await import("./config.js");
+      const cfg = loadConfig();
+
+      expect(cfg.messages?.ackReaction).toBe("👀");
+      expect(cfg.messages?.ackReactionScope).toBe("group-mentions");
+    });
+  });
+
   it("does not override explicit values", async () => {
     await withTempHome(async (home) => {
       const configDir = path.join(home, ".clawdbot");

src/config/defaults.ts

@@ -54,6 +54,32 @@ export function applyIdentityDefaults(cfg: ClawdbotConfig): ClawdbotConfig {
   return mutated ? next : cfg;
 }
 
+export function applyMessageDefaults(cfg: ClawdbotConfig): ClawdbotConfig {
+  const messages = cfg.messages;
+  const hasAckReaction = messages?.ackReaction !== undefined;
+  const hasAckScope = messages?.ackReactionScope !== undefined;
+  if (hasAckReaction && hasAckScope) return cfg;
+
+  const fallbackEmoji = cfg.identity?.emoji?.trim() || "👀";
+  const nextMessages = { ...(messages ?? {}) };
+  let mutated = false;
+
+  if (!hasAckReaction) {
+    nextMessages.ackReaction = fallbackEmoji;
+    mutated = true;
+  }
+  if (!hasAckScope) {
+    nextMessages.ackReactionScope = "group-mentions";
+    mutated = true;
+  }
+
+  if (!mutated) return cfg;
+  return {
+    ...cfg,
+    messages: nextMessages,
+  };
+}
+
 export function applySessionDefaults(
   cfg: ClawdbotConfig,
   options: SessionDefaultsOptions = {},

src/config/io.ts

@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import {
 import {
   applyIdentityDefaults,
   applyLoggingDefaults,
+  applyMessageDefaults,
   applyModelDefaults,
   applySessionDefaults,
   applyTalkApiKey,
@@ -117,7 +118,9 @@ export function createConfigIO(overrides: ConfigIoDeps = {}) {
       const cfg = applyModelDefaults(
         applySessionDefaults(
           applyLoggingDefaults(
-            applyIdentityDefaults(validated.data as ClawdbotConfig),
+            applyMessageDefaults(
+              applyIdentityDefaults(validated.data as ClawdbotConfig),
+            ),
           ),
         ),
       );
@@ -148,7 +151,7 @@ export function createConfigIO(overrides: ConfigIoDeps = {}) {
     const exists = deps.fs.existsSync(configPath);
     if (!exists) {
       const config = applyTalkApiKey(
-        applyModelDefaults(applySessionDefaults({})),
+        applyModelDefaults(applySessionDefaults(applyMessageDefaults({}))),
       );
       const legacyIssues: LegacyConfigIssue[] = [];
       return {
@@ -205,7 +208,9 @@ export function createConfigIO(overrides: ConfigIoDeps = {}) {
         valid: true,
         config: applyTalkApiKey(
           applyModelDefaults(
-            applySessionDefaults(applyLoggingDefaults(validated.config)),
+            applySessionDefaults(
+              applyLoggingDefaults(applyMessageDefaults(validated.config)),
+            ),
           ),
         ),
         issues: [],

src/config/schema.ts

@@ -97,6 +97,8 @@ const FIELD_LABELS: Record<string, string> = {
   "ui.seamColor": "Accent Color",
   "browser.controlUrl": "Browser Control URL",
   "session.agentToAgent.maxPingPongTurns": "Agent-to-Agent Ping-Pong Turns",
+  "messages.ackReaction": "Ack Reaction Emoji",
+  "messages.ackReactionScope": "Ack Reaction Scope",
   "talk.apiKey": "Talk API Key",
   "telegram.botToken": "Telegram Bot Token",
   "discord.token": "Discord Bot Token",
@@ -131,6 +133,10 @@ const FIELD_HELP: Record<string, string> = {
     "Ordered fallback image models (provider/model).",
   "session.agentToAgent.maxPingPongTurns":
     "Max reply-back turns between requester and target (0–5).",
+  "messages.ackReaction":
+    "Emoji reaction used to acknowledge inbound messages (empty disables).",
+  "messages.ackReactionScope":
+    'When to send ack reactions ("group-mentions", "group-all", "direct", "all").',
 };
 
 const FIELD_PLACEHOLDERS: Record<string, string> = {

src/config/types.ts

@@ -449,6 +449,10 @@ export type RoutingConfig = {
 export type MessagesConfig = {
   messagePrefix?: string; // Prefix added to all inbound messages (default: "[clawdbot]" if no allowFrom, else "")
   responsePrefix?: string; // Prefix auto-added to all outbound replies (e.g., "🦞")
+  /** Emoji reaction used to acknowledge inbound messages (empty disables). */
+  ackReaction?: string;
+  /** When to send ack reactions. Default: "group-mentions". */
+  ackReactionScope?: "group-mentions" | "group-all" | "direct" | "all";
 };
 
 export type BridgeBindMode = "auto" | "lan" | "tailnet" | "loopback";

src/config/zod-schema.ts

@@ -150,6 +150,10 @@ const MessagesSchema = z
   .object({
     messagePrefix: z.string().optional(),
     responsePrefix: z.string().optional(),
+    ackReaction: z.string().optional(),
+    ackReactionScope: z
+      .enum(["group-mentions", "group-all", "direct", "all"])
+      .optional(),
   })
   .optional();