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Creating a Discord Bot

Create the Application

  1. Go to the Discord Developer Portal and click New Application
  2. Give your bot a name (e.g. "Dexter") and a profile picture
  3. Click Create

Create the Bot User

  1. In your application, go to the Bot section
  2. Click Add Bot → Yes, do it!
  3. Click Reset Token to reveal your bot token — copy and save it securely

Keep your token secret

Never share your bot token or commit it to source control. Anyone with the token can control your bot.

Enable Required Intents

In the Bot section, enable these Privileged Gateway Intents:

  • [x] Server Members Intent — required for role checking
  • [x] Presence Intent — optional but recommended
  • [x] Message Content Intent — required for legacy ! prefix commands

Invite the Bot to Your Server

  1. Go to the OAuth2 → URL Generator section
  2. Under Scopes, select bot and applications.commands
  3. Under Bot Permissions, select:
    • Send Messages
    • Manage Messages (for auto-delete)
    • Embed Links
    • Attach Files
    • Read Message History
    • Use External Emojis
    • Manage Webhooks (if using webhook-based channel posting)
  4. Copy the generated URL and open it in your browser
  5. Select your server and click Authorize

Get Your IDs

Enable Developer Mode in Discord (Settings → Advanced → Developer Mode), then right-click to copy IDs:

  • Guild ID — right-click your server name
  • Channel ID — right-click the registration channel
  • Your User ID — right-click your username

Configure Dexter

Add to your config/local.json:

{
  "discord": {
    "enabled": true,
    "token": ["YOUR_BOT_TOKEN"],
    "guilds": ["YOUR_GUILD_ID"],
    "channels": ["REGISTRATION_CHANNEL_ID"],
    "admins": ["YOUR_USER_ID"]
  }
}

Test It

  1. Start Dexter
  2. Go to the registration channel and type /start
  3. You should receive a welcome DM from the bot

Quick Tracking Test

Use slash commands to test basic tracking:

  • /profile location set — set your location
  • /pokemon pokemon:Pikachu — track Pikachu spawns
  • /filters show — verify your filters

When done testing:

  • /filters remove type:pokemon — remove test filters