Discord Bot Setup Guide

Overview

These steps create a Discord bot application, add it to your Discord server, and connect it to Arkasm/SSM.

Important: keep the bot token private. Do not post it publicly or send it to anyone. The Client ID is safe to share if someone needs to check an invite link, but the Bot Token, Client Secret, and any other private keys must never be shared.

Quick start

1. Create the Discord applicationCreate and name the application, then make sure it can be installed to a Discord server.

2. Configure and invite the botCreate the bot token, enable the required intents, then generate an invite with the required scopes and permissions.

3. Connect Arkasm / SSMPaste the bot token into the Discord Bot settings, start the bot, then configure its status channel and command access.

1Create a new Discord application

Go to the Discord Developer Portal, then click New Application.

Discord Developer Portal showing the New Application button.

2Name the application

Enter a name for the bot, for example Server Manager Bot, then click Create.

Create a new app dialog in the Discord Developer Portal.

3Complete the human check, if prompted

If Discord asks you to confirm that you are human, complete the check to continue.

4Check the installation settings

After the application has been created, open the Installation section.

Under Installation Contexts, make sure Guild Install is ticked. User Install can also be ticked, but Guild Install is the important option for adding the bot to a Discord server.

Click Save Changes if you make any changes on this page.

Discord application Installation page showing User Install and Guild Install options.

5Select the Bot Section

Discord application OAuth2 page showing the Client ID.

6Reset the bot token

Click Reset Token.

Discord application Bot page showing the Reset Token button.

7Confirm the token reset

Click Yes, Do It when Discord asks you to confirm.

Discord confirmation dialog for resetting the bot token.

8Copy the bot token

Copy the Bot Token. This is the private login token for your bot. Keep it secret.

Discord Bot page showing the newly generated bot token.

9Enable the required bot settings

Back in the Discord Developer Portal, stay in the Bot section and scroll down to Authorization Flow. Make sure Public Bot is enabled.

Then scroll to Privileged Gateway Intents and enable:

Server Members Intent
Message Content Intent

Click Save Changes.

Discord Bot page showing Public Bot and privileged gateway intent settings.

10Open the URL Generator

In the left menu, go to OAuth2 and scroll down to URL Generator.

Discord OAuth2 page showing the URL Generator section.

11Select the required scopes

Under Scopes, check:

bot
applications.commands

Discord URL Generator showing the bot and applications commands scopes selected.

12Select the bot permissions

Scroll down to Bot Permissions and check:

Send Messages
Manage Messages
Read Message History
Use Slash Commands

Also ensure Integration Type is set to Guild Install.

Discord URL Generator showing the required bot permissions and Guild Install integration type.

13Add the bot to your Discord server

Copy the generated URL and use it in your browser to add the bot to your Discord server.

Browser page showing the Discord bot invite and server selection flow.

14Add the token to Arkasm/SSM

In Arkasm/SSM, click the Discord Bot button.

Arkasm or SSM window showing the Discord Bot button.

Paste the bot token into the field on the settings window. Tick Auto Start Bot if you want the bot to start automatically, then click Start Bot.

Arkasm or SSM Discord Bot Settings window showing the bot token field and Start Bot button.

Once the bot has started, click Set Status Display Channel to choose the Discord channel that the bot will use for status updates.

By default, only the Discord server owner can send commands to the bot. Use the Assign Roles button to give specific roles or users access to individual commands.

Note: currently, Arkasm needs to be closed and reopened after initially adding the bot before the roles and users lists will be populated.