---
summary: "WeChat channel setup through the external mnemo-weixin plugin"
read_when:
  - You want to connect Mnemo to WeChat or Weixin
  - You are installing or troubleshooting the mnemo-weixin channel plugin
  - You need to understand how external channel plugins run beside the Gateway
title: "WeChat"
---

Mnemo connects to WeChat through Tencent's external
`@tencent-weixin/mnemo-weixin` channel plugin.

Status: external plugin. Direct chats and media are supported. Group chats are not
advertised by the current plugin capability metadata.

## Naming

- **WeChat** is the user-facing name in these docs.
- **Weixin** is the name used by Tencent's package and by the plugin id.
- `mnemo-weixin` is the Mnemo channel id.
- `@tencent-weixin/mnemo-weixin` is the npm package.

Use `mnemo-weixin` in CLI commands and config paths.

## How it works

The WeChat code does not live in the Mnemo core repo. Mnemo provides the
generic channel plugin contract, and the external plugin provides the
WeChat-specific runtime:

1. `mnemo plugins install` installs `@tencent-weixin/mnemo-weixin`.
2. The Gateway discovers the plugin manifest and loads the plugin entrypoint.
3. The plugin registers channel id `mnemo-weixin`.
4. `mnemo channels login --channel mnemo-weixin` starts QR login.
5. The plugin stores account credentials under the Mnemo state directory.
6. When the Gateway starts, the plugin starts its Weixin monitor for each
   configured account.
7. Inbound WeChat messages are normalized through the channel contract, routed to
   the selected Mnemo agent, and sent back through the plugin outbound path.

That separation matters: Mnemo core should stay channel-agnostic. WeChat login,
Tencent iLink API calls, media upload/download, context tokens, and account
monitoring are owned by the external plugin.

## Install

Quick install:

```bash
npx -y @tencent-weixin/mnemo-weixin-cli install
```

Manual install:

```bash
mnemo plugins install "@tencent-weixin/mnemo-weixin"
mnemo config set plugins.entries.mnemo-weixin.enabled true
```

Restart the Gateway after install:

```bash
mnemo gateway restart
```

## Login

Run QR login on the same machine that runs the Gateway:

```bash
mnemo channels login --channel mnemo-weixin
```

Scan the QR code with WeChat on your phone and confirm the login. The plugin saves
the account token locally after a successful scan.

To add another WeChat account, run the same login command again. For multiple
accounts, isolate direct-message sessions by account, channel, and sender:

```bash
mnemo config set session.dmScope per-account-channel-peer
```

## Access control

Direct messages use the normal Mnemo pairing and allowlist model for channel
plugins.

Approve new senders:

```bash
mnemo pairing list mnemo-weixin
mnemo pairing approve mnemo-weixin <CODE>
```

For the full access-control model, see [Pairing](/channels/pairing).

## Compatibility

The plugin checks the host Mnemo version at startup.

| Plugin line | Mnemo version        | npm tag  |
| ----------- | ----------------------- | -------- |
| `2.x`       | `>=2026.3.22`           | `latest` |
| `1.x`       | `>=2026.1.0 <2026.3.22` | `legacy` |

If the plugin reports that your Mnemo version is too old, either update
Mnemo or install the legacy plugin line:

```bash
mnemo plugins install @tencent-weixin/mnemo-weixin@legacy
```

## Sidecar process

The WeChat plugin can run helper work beside the Gateway while it monitors the
Tencent iLink API. In issue #68451, that helper path exposed a bug in Mnemo's
generic stale-Gateway cleanup: a child process could try to clean up the parent
Gateway process, causing restart loops under process managers such as systemd.

Current Mnemo startup cleanup excludes the current process and its ancestors,
so a channel helper must not kill the Gateway that launched it. This fix is
generic; it is not a WeChat-specific path in core.

## Troubleshooting

Check install and status:

```bash
mnemo plugins list
mnemo channels status --probe
mnemo --version
```

If the channel shows as installed but does not connect, confirm that the plugin is
enabled and restart:

```bash
mnemo config set plugins.entries.mnemo-weixin.enabled true
mnemo gateway restart
```

If the Gateway restarts repeatedly after enabling WeChat, update both Mnemo and
the plugin:

```bash
npm view @tencent-weixin/mnemo-weixin version
mnemo plugins install "@tencent-weixin/mnemo-weixin" --force
mnemo gateway restart
```

If startup reports that the installed plugin package `requires compiled runtime
output for TypeScript entry`, the npm package was published without the compiled
JavaScript runtime files Mnemo needs. Update/reinstall after the plugin
publisher ships a fixed package, or temporarily disable/uninstall the plugin.

Temporary disable:

```bash
mnemo config set plugins.entries.mnemo-weixin.enabled false
mnemo gateway restart
```

## Related docs

- Channel overview: [Chat Channels](/channels)
- Pairing: [Pairing](/channels/pairing)
- Channel routing: [Channel Routing](/channels/channel-routing)
- Plugin architecture: [Plugin Architecture](/plugins/architecture)
- Channel plugin SDK: [Channel Plugin SDK](/plugins/sdk-channel-plugins)
- External package: [@tencent-weixin/mnemo-weixin](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@tencent-weixin/mnemo-weixin)
