Building a Custom Discord Bot with Node.js

Announcement

• Fireship Discord Server is live
  • Open to everyone
  • Welcome bot assigns a special role to Fireship Pro members
  • Bot registers slash command for requesting stickers or t-shirts (Pro members)
• Bot development details will be covered in the video

Types of Bots

• Dank Memer: Posts memes
• Productivity Tools: Various tools
• Gaming Tools: Gamify your server
• Support Ticket Bot: Handles support tickets
• Video Posting Bot: Posts new videos in a channel
• Giveaway Bot: Gives free t-shirts to new members

Creating a Custom Bot

What is a Discord Bot?

• A bot acts like a user
• Can respond to events, messages, create UI elements, and register commands

Steps to Create a Bot

1. Discord Developer Dashboard
   • Create a new application
   • Add a bot through the bot panel
     • Confirm the addition
2. Invite Link Creation
   • Use OAuth2 URL generator
   • Set scope to 'bot'
   • Assign necessary permissions
   • Copy and use the link to install the bot on a server

Coding the Bot

1. Server Requirements
   • Requires a dedicated server
   • Example: Google App Engine, Digital Ocean Droplet
2. Project Initialization
   • npm init -y to create a project
   • Create index.js file
   • Install discord.js and .env
   • Create .env file for environment variables
     • Store Discord token securely
3. Basic Setup
   • Initialize .env
   • Import client from discord.js
   • Define intents: e.g., guilds, guild messages, members
   • Client login with Discord token
4. Listening to Events
   • Example: messageCreate event to listen to every message
   • Callback function to handle events
   • Create interactions like buttons or pop-up modals

Building Interactions

1. Button Builder
   • Uses object oriented builder pattern
   • Chain methods to create elements
   • Custom ID for each element
2. Sending Messages with Button
   • Add multiple components to a message
3. Handling Interactions
   • Listen to interactionCreate event
   • Conditional or switch statement to handle custom ID
   • Respond to interactions or trigger additional actions
   • Make messages ephemeral for user-specific visibility

Conclusion

• Comprehensive steps to create a Discord bot from scratch
• Join Fireship Discord for further discussions and questions
• Reminder to watch future videos