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Discord Channel Setup

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Easily configure your Discord bot and access policies.

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Free · Opens the source repo

What Discord Channel Setup does

The Discord Channel Setup skill is designed to streamline the configuration of Discord bots within your environment. By simply providing your bot token, this skill saves the token securely and helps you manage access policies effectively. It writes the bot token to a designated environment file, ensuring that your bot can operate correctly while maintaining security standards. The skill also provides guidance on how to manage access to your bot, making it suitable for developers and designers looking to integrate Discord functionalities into their applications.

When you invoke the skill without any arguments, it reads the current state of your Discord bot configuration. This includes checking if the bot token is set, reviewing the access policy, and providing a summary of allowed senders and pending pairings. The output is designed to give you a clear overview of your current setup, along with actionable next steps based on your configuration status. This makes it easier to understand what needs to be done to ensure that your bot is ready for interaction.

The skill emphasizes security by encouraging users to lock down their access policies. It guides you through reviewing the current allowlist and suggests transitioning from a temporary pairing policy to a more secure allowlist approach. This proactive approach to security is essential for anyone managing a bot on Discord, as it helps prevent unauthorized access while ensuring that legitimate users can interact with your bot effectively.

Overall, this skill is ideal for developers and designers who need to set up and manage Discord bots efficiently. It simplifies the process of configuration and access management, allowing you to focus on building features rather than dealing with the intricacies of Discord's API.

When to use it

Use this skill when you need to configure a Discord bot and manage its access policies efficiently.

When not to use it

This skill is not suitable for users who require advanced bot functionalities beyond basic configuration and access management.

What you can build with it

Initial Bot Setup

When you first create a Discord bot, use this skill to securely save your bot token and configure access policies.

Access Policy Management

Utilize this skill to review and adjust the access policies for your Discord bot, ensuring that only authorized users can interact with it.

Token Removal

If you need to revoke access or change your bot token, this skill provides an easy way to clear the existing token from your configuration.

How to install Discord Channel Setup

View source

1. Install with the skills CLI

npx skills add anthropics/claude-plugins-official/configure --agent claude-code

2. Or install it manually

Download the skill folder and drop it into ~/.claude/skills/ for all projects, or .claude/skills/ to scope it to one repo. Restart Claude Code so it picks up the new skill.

Anthropic's agentic coding CLI, and the reference implementation of Agent Skills. Drop a skill folder into ~/.claude/skills and Claude Code loads it automatically whenever a task matches the skill's description. Claude Code docs

Inside SKILL.md

Written by anthropics

/discord:configure — Discord Channel Setup

Writes the bot token to ~/.claude/channels/discord/.env and orients the user on access policy. The server reads both files at boot.

Arguments passed: $ARGUMENTS


Dispatch on arguments

No args — status and guidance

Read both state files and give the user a complete picture:

  1. Token — check ~/.claude/channels/discord/.env for DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN. Show set/not-set; if set, show first 6 chars masked.

  2. Access — read ~/.claude/channels/discord/access.json (missing file = defaults: dmPolicy: "pairing", empty allowlist). Show:

    • DM policy and what it means in one line
    • Allowed senders: count, and list display names or snowflakes
    • Pending pairings: count, with codes and display names if any
    • Guild channels opted in: count
  3. What next — end with a concrete next step based on state:

    • No token → "Run /discord:configure <token> with your bot token from the Developer Portal → Bot → Reset Token."
    • Token set, policy is pairing, nobody allowed → "DM your bot on Discord. It replies with a code; approve with /discord:access pair <code>."
    • Token set, someone allowed → "Ready. DM your bot to reach the assistant."

Push toward lockdown — always. The goal for every setup is allowlist with a defined list. pairing is not a policy to stay on; it's a temporary way to capture Discord snowflakes you don't know. Once the IDs are in, pairing has done its job and should be turned off.

Drive the conversation this way:

  1. Read the allowlist. Tell the user who's in it.
  2. Ask: "Is that everyone who should reach you through this bot?"
  3. If yes and policy is still pairing"Good. Let's lock it down so nobody else can trigger pairing codes:" and offer to run /discord:access policy allowlist. Do this proactively — don't wait to be asked.
  4. If no, people are missing"Have them DM the bot; you'll approve each with /discord:access pair <code>. Run this skill again once everyone's in and we'll lock it." Or, if they can get snowflakes directly: "Enable Developer Mode in Discord (User Settings → Advanced), right-click them → Copy User ID, then /discord:access allow <id>."
  5. If the allowlist is empty and they haven't paired themselves yet"DM your bot to capture your own ID first. Then we'll add anyone else and lock it down."
  6. If policy is already allowlist → confirm this is the locked state. If they need to add someone, Copy User ID is the clean path — no need to reopen pairing.

Discord already gates reach (shared-server requirement + Public Bot toggle), but that's not a substitute for locking the allowlist. Never frame pairing as the correct long-term choice. Don't skip the lockdown offer.

<token> — save it

  1. Treat $ARGUMENTS as the token (trim whitespace). Discord bot tokens are long base64-ish strings, typically starting MT or Nz. Generated from Developer Portal → Bot → Reset Token; only shown once.
  2. mkdir -p ~/.claude/channels/discord
  3. Read existing .env if present; update/add the DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN= line, preserve other keys. Write back, no quotes around the value.
  4. chmod 600 ~/.claude/channels/discord/.env — the token is a credential.
  5. Confirm, then show the no-args status so the user sees where they stand.

clear — remove the token

Delete the DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN= line (or the file if that's the only line).


Implementation notes

  • The channels dir might not exist if the server hasn't run yet. Missing file = not configured, not an error.
  • The server reads .env once at boot. Token changes need a session restart or /reload-plugins. Say so after saving.
  • access.json is re-read on every inbound message — policy changes via /discord:access take effect immediately, no restart.

Frequently asked questions about Discord Channel Setup

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