Organize Telegram DM Work with Topic Sessions

Telegram's multi-session DM mode lets one person keep separate Hermes conversations in topic-style workspaces instead of forcing every direct message into one long session. Each topic can hold a distinct project or operating context while the ordinary DM remains the control surface.

Official Telegram guide: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/messaging/telegram#multi-session-dm-mode-topic

Enable and control topic mode

Use /topic in a Telegram direct message to enable the feature or show its status. /topic help explains the current controls. Inside a topic, /topic <session-id> can restore a previous Hermes session into that workspace. /topic off disables the mode and clears its topic bindings.

Topic mode is user-managed organization, not a security boundary. The same authorized Telegram user controls the topics, and sensitive work still needs the normal profile, tool, and approval protections.

Organization checklist

Enable topic mode only in the intended Telegram DM.
Give each topic one stable purpose.
Keep unrelated projects in separate topics.
Restore an old session only after checking its title and context.
Use /sessions or session tools to identify the correct session ID.
Keep credentials and private data out of topic titles.
Document whether the ordinary DM is an inbox or an active workspace.
Turn topic mode off deliberately, knowing bindings will be cleared.

Good topic boundaries

Use topics for durable domains such as a codebase, research stream, home operation, or content workflow. Avoid creating a new topic for every small question. A useful test is whether future messages should inherit the same files, assumptions, and decisions.

Pitfalls

Treating topics as authorization boundaries between users.
Restoring a session by an unverified or stale identifier.
Using sensitive customer names in visible topic labels.
Mixing urgent incident work with routine requests in one topic.
Turning the feature off without understanding that bindings are removed.
Assuming Telegram topics replace Hermes profiles when hard isolation is required.

Verification steps

Enable topic mode in a test DM and confirm status.
Create two topics with clearly different purposes.
Send a context marker in each and verify replies remain separated.
Restore a harmless prior session into one topic.
Confirm the other topic keeps its original context.
Restart the gateway and verify expected persistence.
Test /topic off only after recording any session IDs you may need later.