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Emīls Oto Leimanis
Emīls Oto Leimanis

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Discord Developer Cheat Sheet

#learning #discord #tutorial #howto

A quick reference guide for creating, managing, and troubleshooting Discord bots and applications.

Bot Basics

1. Creating a Discord Application

2. Generating a Bot Token

  • Navigate to Bot > Click Add Bot.
  • Copy the token. Keep it secure.

3. Setting Bot Permissions

  • Go to OAuth2 > URL Generator.
  • Select bot scope and assign required permissions.
  • Use the generated URL to invite the bot.

Key Libraries

1. Discord.js (JavaScript)

  • Install: npm install discord.js
  • Example Initialization: 
  const { Client, GatewayIntentBits } = require('discord.js');
  const client = new Client({ intents: [GatewayIntentBits.Guilds, GatewayIntentBits.GuildMessages] });

  client.once('ready', () => console.log('Bot is online!'));

  client.login('YOUR_TOKEN');
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2. Discord.py (Python)

  • Install: pip install discord.py
  • Example Initialization: 
  import discord

  client = discord.Client()

  @client.event
  async def on_ready():
      print('Bot is online!')

  client.run('YOUR_TOKEN')
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Useful API Endpoints

1. List Guilds

  • GET /users/@me/guilds
  • Returns a list of guilds the bot is in.

2. Send Message

  • POST /channels/{channel.id}/messages
  • JSON Payload: 
  {
    "content": "Hello, World!"
  }
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3. React to Message

  • PUT /channels/{channel.id}/messages/{message.id}/reactions/{emoji}/@me

Common Bot Features

1. Command Handling

  • Discord.js Example: 
  client.on('messageCreate', (message) => {
      if (message.content === '!ping') {
          message.reply('Pong!');
      }
  });
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2. Embed Messages

  • Discord.js Example: 
  const { MessageEmbed } = require('discord.js');

  const embed = new MessageEmbed()
      .setTitle('Hello!')
      .setDescription('This is an embed.')
      .setColor('#0099ff');

  message.channel.send({ embeds: [embed] });
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3. Role Assignment

  • Discord.js Example: 
  const role = message.guild.roles.cache.find(r => r.name === 'Member');
  const member = message.mentions.members.first();
  member.roles.add(role);
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Tips and Best Practices

  1. Secure Your Tokens:

    • Use environment variables to store sensitive information.
    • Example: process.env.DISCORD_TOKEN

  2. Test Locally Before Deploying:

    • Use tools like nodemon for live testing.

  3. Rate Limits:

    • Discord enforces rate limits. Avoid spamming API calls.

  4. Logging:

    • Add logs to monitor bot activity and errors.

Troubleshooting

1. Bot Not Responding

  • Ensure the bot is online and has the necessary permissions.
  • Check token validity.

2. Permission Errors

  • Revisit OAuth2 permission settings.
  • Ensure the bot has role-based permissions in the server.

3. Rate Limit Errors

  • Add delays between API calls.
  • Respect Discord’s rate limits to avoid bans.

This cheat sheet serves as a starting point for Discord development. Explore the Discord API Documentation for advanced features!

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