Skip to content

Discord Setup

This guide is the whole path from zero to a ready server.

Before You Start

Check these first:

  • you are logged into the right Discord account
  • that account has permission to invite bots to the target server
  • your Discord account email is verified
  • you know which server you want to test first

1. Open the Discord Developer Portal

Open:

https://discord.com/developers/applications

Then click New Application.

The application name does not have to be perfect. You can change it later.

2. Create the Bot User

Inside the application:

  1. Open the Bot tab.
  2. If Discord has not created a bot user yet, create one there.
  3. Copy the bot token for brrainzbot setup.

3. Turn On the Required Intents

Still in the Bot tab, turn on:

  • Server Members Intent
  • Message Content Intent

4. Ignore the Fields You Do Not Need

For this self-hosted setup, you can ignore these unless you already know you need them:

  • Interactions Endpoint URL
  • Linked Roles Verification URL
  • Terms of Service URL
  • Privacy Policy URL

5. Decide on Public Bot

For a normal self-hosted install, keeping Public Bot on is fine.

What it means:

  • on: other people could invite this bot if they had the invite link and the right Discord permissions
  • off: only you or your team can invite it

This does not mean other people can run code on your machine.

Open OAuth2 → URL Generator.

Shortcut:

./brrainzbot invite-url --client-id <appId>

If you already ran setup, this also works and will resolve the app ID from the saved bot token:

./brrainzbot invite-url

Under Scopes, select:

  • bot

Keep the scope simple. You do not need extra scopes for the current welcome flow.

Under Bot Permissions, select all seven required permissions:

  • View Channels
  • Read Message History
  • Send Messages
  • Manage Messages
  • Manage Roles
  • Manage Channels
  • Kick Members

If you use the portal generator, copy the generated URL at the bottom.

7. Invite the Bot

Open the invite URL in your browser.

Do this once for each server where you want to use the bot:

  1. choose the server
  2. authorize the bot
  3. return to Discord

8. Create the Roles

In your Discord server, open:

Server name → Server Settings → Roles

Create these roles:

  • MEMBER

Recommended model:

  • @everyone: can look around, but does not grant normal posting
  • MEMBER: grants normal participation

If your server already uses @everyone for normal posting, BrrainzBot can help you move to a real MEMBER role:

./brrainzbot create-member <serverId>
./brrainzbot set-members <serverId>

Use those helper commands after setup. If you leave the MEMBER role blank during first setup, run create-member before doctor.

9. Create #welcome

Create a channel called #welcome.

You do not need to post anything there yourself. BrrainzBot will place the persistent welcome post.

Recommended MEMBER model:

  • @everyone: can view #welcome
  • MEMBER: cannot view #welcome
  • the bot itself: must still be able to post in #welcome

That can be done on #welcome itself or on its parent category if the channel inherits from it.

10. Set Public Channel Permissions

For the public channels you want newcomers to see:

  • @everyone: can view
  • @everyone: cannot post
  • MEMBER: can post

This is the safer model. New users never get normal posting access until approval.

11. Move the Bot Role Above MEMBER

Open the server role list and move the bot role above:

  • MEMBER

If the bot role is too low, the bot cannot move users between roles.

12. Gather the IDs

Turn on Developer Mode in Discord first:

User Settings → Advanced → Developer Mode

Then copy these IDs:

  • server ID
  • #welcome channel ID
  • spam honeypot channel ID if you use spam cleanup
  • MEMBER role ID
  • your own Discord user ID

13. Run Setup

Back in the terminal:

./brrainzbot setup

If you do not have a real MEMBER role yet, leave that field blank for now.

14. Create or Sync MEMBER if Needed

./brrainzbot create-member <serverId>

Skip this if you already entered a real MEMBER role ID in setup.

15. Run Doctor

./brrainzbot doctor

Fix anything it reports before you turn the server on.

16. Enable the Server

./brrainzbot enable <serverId>

17. Start the Bot

./brrainzbot run