Discord Developer Cheat Sheet

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

Bot Basics

1. Creating a Discord Application

• Go to the Discord Developer Portal.
• Click New Application > Name your application > Save.

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");

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")

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!"
  }

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!");
      }
  });

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] });

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);

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!