Skip to main content

Quick Start

Let's build your first Discord bot with DiscordRDA. This guide will walk you through creating a simple bot that responds to messages and slash commands.

Step 1: Create a Bot Application​

  1. Go to the Discord Developer Portal
  2. Click "New Application" and give it a name
  3. Go to the "Bot" section and click "Add Bot"
  4. Copy your bot token (keep this secret!)
  5. In "Privileged Gateway Intents", enable:
    • Message Content Intent (for reading message content)
    • Server Members Intent (for member-related events)

Step 2: Create Your Bot File​

Create a file named bot.rb:

require 'discord_rda'

# Create a new bot instance
bot = DiscordRDA::Bot.new(
  token: ENV['DISCORD_TOKEN'],
  intents: [:guilds, :guild_messages, :message_content]
)

# Respond to messages
bot.on(:message_create) do |event|
  if event.content == '!ping'
    event.message.respond(content: 'Pong! 🏓')
  end
end

# Run the bot
bot.run

Step 3: Set Your Token​

Set your Discord token as an environment variable:

export DISCORD_TOKEN="your-bot-token-here"

Or create a .env file:

DISCORD_TOKEN=your-bot-token-here

Step 4: Run the Bot​

ruby bot.rb

You should see output indicating the bot has connected. Invite the bot to your server and type !ping - it should respond with "Pong! 🏓".

Adding a Slash Command​

Let's add a modern slash command:

require 'discord_rda'

bot = DiscordRDA::Bot.new(
  token: ENV['DISCORD_TOKEN'],
  intents: [:guilds]
)

# Register a slash command
bot.slash('hello', 'Say hello') do |cmd|
  cmd.string('name', 'Your name', required: true)
  
  cmd.handler do |interaction|
    name = interaction.option('name')
    interaction.respond(content: "Hello, #{name}! 👋")
  end
end

bot.run

Complete Example​

Here's a more complete example with multiple features:

require 'discord_rda'

bot = DiscordRDA::Bot.new(
  token: ENV['DISCORD_TOKEN'],
  intents: [:guilds, :guild_messages, :message_content],
  log_level: :info
)

# Message event handler
bot.on(:message_create) do |event|
  case event.content
  when '!ping'
    event.message.respond(content: 'Pong!')
  when '!help'
    event.message.respond(content: 'Available commands: !ping, /hello, /info')
  end
end

# Slash command: hello
bot.slash('hello', 'Say hello') do |cmd|
  cmd.string('name', 'Your name', required: true)
  cmd.handler do |interaction|
    name = interaction.option('name')
    interaction.respond(content: "Hello, #{name}!")
  end
end

# Slash command: info
bot.slash('info', 'Bot information') do |cmd|
  cmd.handler do |interaction|
    interaction.respond(
      content: '**DiscordRDA Bot**\nVersion: 1.0\nRuby: 3.0+',
      ephemeral: true
    )
  end
end

# Ready event
bot.on(:ready) do |event|
  puts "Bot is ready! Logged in as #{event.user.username}"
end

bot.run

Inviting Your Bot​

To invite your bot to a server:

  1. Go to Discord Developer Portal > OAuth2 > URL Generator
  2. Select bot scope
  3. Select applications.commands scope (for slash commands)
  4. Select permissions your bot needs (e.g., Send Messages, Read Message History)
  5. Copy and open the generated URL

Next Steps​