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Discord Setup

This guide walks you through creating a Discord bot and obtaining the necessary credentials.

Prerequisites

  • A Discord account
  • Server Administrator permissions (to add the bot to your server)

Step 1: Create a Discord Application

  1. Go to the Discord Developer Portal
  2. Click “New Application”
  3. Enter a name for your application (e.g., “JamBot”)
  4. Accept the Terms of Service
  5. Click “Create”

Step 2: Create the Bot User

  1. In your application, navigate to the “Bot” section in the left sidebar
  2. Click “Add Bot”
  3. Confirm by clicking “Yes, do it!”

Configure Bot Settings

  1. Username: Set your bot’s username (e.g., “JamBot”)
  2. Icon: Upload an icon for your bot (optional)
  3. Public Bot: Toggle OFF if you want only you to add the bot to servers

Step 3: Get Your Bot Token

  1. In the “Bot” section, find the “TOKEN” section
  2. Click “Reset Token”
  3. Click “Yes, do it!” to confirm
  4. Copy the token (you’ll need this for your .env file)

Step 4: Enable Required Intents

Discord requires you to enable specific “Privileged Gateway Intents” for your bot to function properly.

  1. Scroll down to “Privileged Gateway Intents”
  2. Enable the following intents:
    • Message Content Intent (required to read message content)
    • Server Members Intent (required for member-specific features)
  3. Click “Save Changes”

Step 5: Configure OAuth2 Permissions

  1. Navigate to the “OAuth2” section in the left sidebar
  2. Click on “URL Generator”

Select Scopes

In the “Scopes” section, check:

  • bot

Select Bot Permissions

In the “Bot Permissions” section, check:

  • Send Messages - To post playlist links
  • Read Messages/View Channels - To monitor setlist messages
  • Add Reactions - To add reaction emojis for approval workflow
  • Send Messages in Threads - If your server uses threads
  • Read Message History - To process setlist messages

Copy the “Generated URL” at the bottom of the page.

Step 6: Add Bot to Your Server

  1. Paste the Generated URL into your browser
  2. Select the server you want to add the bot to
  3. Click “Continue”
  4. Review the permissions and click “Authorize”
  5. Complete the CAPTCHA if prompted

Your bot should now appear in your server’s member list (offline until you run it).

Step 7: Get User IDs

You need Discord User IDs for jam leaders and approvers.

  1. Open Discord (desktop or web)
  2. Click the gear icon (User Settings) at the bottom left
  3. Go to App Settings → Advanced
  4. Toggle on “Developer Mode”

Get User IDs

  • Right-click on any user’s username or avatar
  • Click “Copy User ID”
  • The ID will look like: 123456789012345678

Step 8: Add Credentials to .env

Terminal window
# Discord Bot Token
DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN=your_bot_token_here
# Optional - can be configured via /jambot-setup instead
DISCORD_JAM_LEADER_ID=123456789012345678
DISCORD_ADMIN_ID=123456789012345678

Testing Your Bot

Once configured, test that:

  1. ✅ Bot appears online in your server
  2. ✅ Bot responds to slash commands
  3. ✅ Bot can send DMs to admin user
  4. ✅ Bot can add reactions to messages

Next Steps