Discord Bot API

Use the Discord Bot API via direct curl calls to manage channels, guilds, messages, and users.

Official docs: https://discord.com/developers/docs

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When to Use

Use this skill when you need to:

• Send messages to specific channels
• Read messages from channels
• Manage channels (create, edit, delete)
• Get server info (guilds, members, roles)
• React to messages and moderate content
• Create webhooks programmatically

For simple message posting, use discord-webhook skill instead.

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Prerequisites

1. Create Application

1. Go to Discord Developer Portal
2. Click "New Application" and give it a name
3. Go to "Bot" section and click "Add Bot"

2. Get Bot Token

1. In Bot section, click "Reset Token"
2. Copy the token (shown only once)

export DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN="MTIzNDU2Nzg5MDEyMzQ1Njc4OQ.ABcDeF.xxxxx..."

3. Enable Intents (if needed)

In Bot section, enable:

• Presence Intent (for user status)
• Server Members Intent (for member list)
• Message Content Intent (for reading messages)

4. Invite Bot to Server

1. Go to OAuth2 → URL Generator
2. Select scopes: bot, applications.commands
3. Select permissions needed (e.g., Send Messages, Read Messages)
4. Copy URL and open in browser to invite

5. Get IDs

Enable Developer Mode: User Settings → Advanced → Developer Mode
Right-click any channel/user/server → Copy ID

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Important: When using $VAR in a command that pipes to another command, wrap the command containing $VAR in bash -c '...'. Due to a Claude Code bug, environment variables are silently cleared when pipes are used directly.

bash -c 'curl -s "https://api.example.com" -H "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY"' | jq .

How to Use

Base URL: https://discord.com/api/v10

Authorization header: Authorization: Bot YOUR_TOKEN

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1. Get Current Bot User

bash -c 'curl -s "https://discord.com/api/v10/users/@me" -H "Authorization: Bot ${DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN}"' | jq '{id, username, discriminator}'

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2. Send Message to Channel

Write to /tmp/discord_request.json:

{
  "content": "Hello from bot!"
}

Then run (replace <your-channel-id> with the actual channel ID):

bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://discord.com/api/v10/channels/<your-channel-id>/messages" -H "Authorization: Bot ${DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN}" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/discord_request.json'

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3. Send Embed Message

Write to /tmp/discord_request.json:

{
  "embeds": [
    {
      "title": "Bot Message",
      "description": "This is from the bot API",
      "color": 5793266
    }
  ]
}

Then run (replace <your-channel-id> with the actual channel ID):

bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://discord.com/api/v10/channels/<your-channel-id>/messages" -H "Authorization: Bot ${DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN}" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/discord_request.json'

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4. Get Channel Info

Replace <your-channel-id> with the actual channel ID:

bash -c 'curl -s "https://discord.com/api/v10/channels/<your-channel-id>" -H "Authorization: Bot ${DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN}"' | jq '{id, name, type, guild_id}'

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5. Get Channel Messages

Replace <your-channel-id> with the actual channel ID:

bash -c 'curl -s "https://discord.com/api/v10/channels/<your-channel-id>/messages?limit=10" -H "Authorization: Bot ${DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN}"' | jq '.[] | {id, author: .author.username, content}'

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6. Get Specific Message

Replace <your-channel-id> and <your-message-id> with the actual IDs:

bash -c 'curl -s "https://discord.com/api/v10/channels/<your-channel-id>/messages/<your-message-id>" -H "Authorization: Bot ${DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN}"' | jq '{id, content, author: .author.username}'

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7. Delete Message

Replace <your-channel-id> and <your-message-id> with the actual IDs:

bash -c 'curl -s -X DELETE "https://discord.com/api/v10/channels/<your-channel-id>/messages/<your-message-id>" -H "Authorization: Bot ${DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN}"'

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8. Add Reaction

Replace <your-channel-id> and <your-message-id> with the actual IDs:

bash -c 'curl -s -X PUT "https://discord.com/api/v10/channels/<your-channel-id>/messages/<your-message-id>/reactions/%F0%9F%91%8D/@me" -H "Authorization: Bot ${DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN}" -H "Content-Length: 0"'

Note: Emoji must be URL encoded (👍 = %F0%9F%91%8D)

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9. Get Guild (Server) Info

Replace <your-guild-id> with the actual guild ID:

bash -c 'curl -s "https://discord.com/api/v10/guilds/<your-guild-id>" -H "Authorization: Bot ${DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN}"' | jq '{id, name, member_count, owner_id}'

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10. List Guild Channels

Replace <your-guild-id> with the actual guild ID:

bash -c 'curl -s "https://discord.com/api/v10/guilds/<your-guild-id>/channels" -H "Authorization: Bot ${DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN}"' | jq '.[] | {id, name, type}'

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11. Get Guild Members

Replace <your-guild-id> with the actual guild ID:

bash -c 'curl -s "https://discord.com/api/v10/guilds/<your-guild-id>/members?limit=10" -H "Authorization: Bot ${DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN}"' | jq '.[] | {user: .user.username, nick, joined_at}'

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12. Get Guild Roles

Replace <your-guild-id> with the actual guild ID:

bash -c 'curl -s "https://discord.com/api/v10/guilds/<your-guild-id>/roles" -H "Authorization: Bot ${DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN}"' | jq '.[] | {id, name, color, position}'

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13. Create Webhook

Write to /tmp/discord_request.json:

{
  "name": "My Webhook"
}

Then run (replace <your-channel-id> with the actual channel ID):

bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://discord.com/api/v10/channels/<your-channel-id>/webhooks" -H "Authorization: Bot ${DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN}" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/discord_request.json' | jq '{id, token, url: "https://discord.com/api/webhooks/\(.id)/\(.token)"}'

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14. List Channel Webhooks

Replace <your-channel-id> with the actual channel ID:

bash -c 'curl -s "https://discord.com/api/v10/channels/<your-channel-id>/webhooks" -H "Authorization: Bot ${DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN}"' | jq '.[] | {id, name, token}'

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15. Create Text Channel

Write to /tmp/discord_request.json:

{
  "name": "new-channel",
  "type": 0
}

Then run (replace <your-guild-id> with the actual guild ID):

bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://discord.com/api/v10/guilds/<your-guild-id>/channels" -H "Authorization: Bot ${DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN}" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/discord_request.json' | jq '{id, name}'

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Channel Types

Type	Description
0	Text channel
2	Voice channel
4	Category
5	Announcement
13	Stage
15	Forum

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Guidelines

1. Rate limits: Check X-RateLimit-* headers; implement backoff
2. Token security: Never expose bot tokens
3. Permissions: Bot needs appropriate permissions for each action
4. Intents: Enable required intents in Developer Portal
5. API version: Use /v10 for latest stable API