Control Alter from your phone

Introducing Gateways for Discord and Telegram

AuthorAuthor

Samuel ROY & Olivier Legris
July 31, 2026

Hey everyone,

You can now talk to Alter from Discord or Telegram while Alter runs on your Mac.

Send a text or voice note from your phone, run your existing Alter actions, answer follow-up questions with interactive buttons, and receive files directly in chat.

In the video, Sam puts Gateways to a real-world test.

His Airbnb booking is buried somewhere inside a huge Downloads folder. He doesn’t remember the filename, so he sends Alter a voice note from Discord:

Alter transcribes the voice note and turns it into a prompt. When the action needs permission to access the Downloads folder, the question appears directly in Discord with interactive buttons.

Sam approves it from his phone.

Alter then searches the Mac, finds the correct Airbnb booking, and sends the file back through Discord.

No filename. No typing. No searching through hundreds of downloads.

What are Gateways?

Gateways connect Discord or Telegram to Alter running on your Mac.

The message begins in your chat app, but Alter still handles the conversation, actions, models, tools, and files locally on your computer.

Think of Discord and Telegram as new entry points into the Alter you have already configured.

This is not a separate, cloud-hosted version of Alter. The app must remain open and running on your Mac for your gateways to work.

Gateway conversations are also saved on your Mac alongside your other Alter conversations, so you can find and continue them later.

One quick clarification: Gateways are not the same as Alter’s API Gateway. The API Gateway is an OpenAI-compatible HTTP endpoint for third-party tools. The Gateways introduced here are Discord and Telegram bot connections.

What can you do with Gateways?

Here are a few ways to use Alter from your phone:

  1. Send text and voice messages: Record a regular voice note in Discord or Telegram. Alter uses the voice processor configured on your Mac to transcribe it and turn it into a prompt.

  2. Run your Alter actions: Use the same actions and tools you have already configured on your Mac. Custom actions can be enabled separately for Discord, Telegram, or both.

  3. Answer follow-up questions: When an action uses Alter’s Ask User tool, its questions can appear in chat as interactive buttons or keyboards. You can answer without returning to your Mac.

  4. Send and receive files: Attach images and documents for Alter to process. Files produced by tools and MCP servers can also be uploaded back into the conversation.

  5. Create separate Discord threads: In a server, each new top-level request can start its own Discord thread and Alter conversation.

  6. Connect multiple accounts: Create several named gateway configurations—for example, one Discord bot for your team, another for personal use, and a separate Telegram bot.

Set up your first Gateway

First, create a bot for the platform you want to use:

  • For Discord, create a bot through the Discord Developer Portal.

  • For Telegram, create one through BotFather.

Then, inside Alter:

  1. Open Settings with ⌘,.

  2. Go to Integrations → Gateways.

  3. Select Add Gateway.

  4. Choose Discord or Telegram.

  5. Give the Gateway a name.

  6. Paste your bot token.

  7. Choose its default action.

  8. Configure its access controls.

  9. Save and restart the Gateway.

Once connected, Alter will show the account associated with the bot.

Your bot token is stored securely in the macOS Keychain.

You can find the complete setup instructions here:

Choose who can access your Mac

Because a Gateway can run Alter actions and tools on your Mac, access controls matter.

On Discord, you can:

  • Restrict the bot to a specific server

  • Allow only specific Discord user IDs

  • Require the bot to be mentioned in server channels

  • Start new discussions in separate threads

On Telegram, you can allow specific users, usernames, or chats.

An empty allowlist means anyone who can reach the bot may be able to use it. Alter’s Doctor will warn you when a Gateway has an open access configuration, but we recommend setting the appropriate restrictions during setup.

Use your custom actions

The bundled Ask Anything action works with Discord and Telegram out of the box.

Custom actions must be explicitly enabled for external platforms.

To enable one:

  1. Open the action in the Action Editor.

  2. Select the Gateways section.

  3. Enable Discord, Telegram, or all Gateway platforms.

  4. Save the action.

This gives you control over which actions remain local and which ones can be started remotely.

In Discord, use /actions to see the actions currently available to your Gateway. You can also use commands such as /new, /chats, /use, /history, and /stop to manage your conversations.

Keep Gateways available with the lid closed

MacBooks normally go to sleep when the lid closes, which disconnects active bots.

Alter can keep your Mac awake while Gateways are active. You’ll find this option at the top of Settings → Integrations → Gateways.

Enabling it requires one-time administrator permission. You can also configure safeguards such as:

  • A minimum battery level

  • Pausing during Low Power Mode

Normal sleep behavior returns when your last Gateway stops, Alter quits, or a battery safeguard activates.

This setting keeps the Mac awake—it does not turn Alter into a cloud service. Alter must still be open and running.

Alter, wherever you already chat

Many of us already spend a large part of the day in Discord or Telegram. Gateways bring Alter into those conversations instead of requiring you to return to the Hub for every request.

  • Send a voice note while you’re away from your desk.

  • Retrieve a document from your Mac.

  • Approve a follow-up question from your phone.

  • Run one of your custom actions.

Then continue the same conversation when you return to your Mac.

Discord and Telegram aren’t different versions of Alter. They’re new ways to reach the Alter you already use.

We’re excited to see what you build with them.

Cheers,
Olivier & Sam

Full Changelog

New Features & Enhancements

  • Gateways: Multiple Discord and Telegram instances; Discord conversation threads with interactive buttons for access prompts; Ask Anything on Telegram; voice-note transcription in gateway context; Markdown tables rendered for Discord; availability controls to stay online with the lid closed; per-gateway action availability and access settings; doctor checks with docs links; localized gateway settings and Action Editor help.

  • Workspace document cache v2: Faster, more reliable workspace document caching for attachments.

Bug Fixes & Stability

  • Hub & QuickHub: Shortcut conflicts with split panels; attachment shortcuts route reliably; workspace attachment context and presentation preserved.

  • Dictation & transcription: Long transcription results no longer truncated; Argmax custom-vocabulary race during in-flight transcribe; microphone continuation leak in transcript-ready prompt.

  • Fair use: Reset countdown uses provider UTC reinit date when available; compile fix for missing fair-use reset countdown.

  • Other: MiniMax M3 Flow parameter fix; sandbox container cleanup.