Getting Started app for Discord

This project contains a basic rock-paper-scissors-style Discord app written in JavaScript, built for the getting started guide.

✨ A version of this code is also hosted on Glitch 🎏 and on Replit 🌀

Project structure

Below is a basic overview of the project structure:

├── examples    -> short, feature-specific sample apps
│   ├── app.js  -> finished app.js code
│   ├── button.js
│   ├── command.js
│   ├── modal.js
│   ├── selectMenu.js
├── .env.sample -> sample .env file
├── app.js      -> main entrypoint for app
├── commands.js -> slash command payloads + helpers
├── game.js     -> logic specific to RPS
├── utils.js    -> utility functions and enums
├── package.json
├── README.md
└── .gitignore

Running app locally

Before you start, you'll need to install NodeJS and create a Discord app with the proper permissions:

• applications.commands
• bot (with Send Messages enabled)

Configuring the app is covered in detail in the getting started guide.

Setup project

First clone the project:

git clone https://github.com/discord/discord-example-app.git

Then navigate to its directory and install dependencies:

cd discord-example-app
npm install

Get app credentials

Fetch the credentials from your app's settings and add them to a .env file (see .env.sample for an example). You'll need your app ID (APP_ID), bot token (DISCORD_TOKEN), and public key (PUBLIC_KEY).

Fetching credentials is covered in detail in the getting started guide.

🔑 Environment variables can be added to the .env file in Glitch or when developing locally, and in the Secrets tab in Replit (the lock icon on the left).

Install slash commands

The commands for the example app are set up in commands.js. All of the commands in the ALL_COMMANDS array at the bottom of commands.js will be installed when you run the register command configured in package.json:

npm run register

Run the app

After your credentials are added, go ahead and run the app:

node app.js

⚙️ A package like nodemon, which watches for local changes and restarts your app, may be helpful while locally developing.

If you aren't following the getting started guide, you can move the contents of examples/app.js (the finished app.js file) to the top-level app.js.

Set up interactivity

The project needs a public endpoint where Discord can send requests. To develop and test locally, you can use something like ngrok to tunnel HTTP traffic.

Install ngrok if you haven't already, then start listening on port 3000:

ngrok http 3000

You should see your connection open:

Tunnel Status                 online
Version                       2.0/2.0
Web Interface                 http://127.0.0.1:4040
Forwarding                    http://1234-someurl.ngrok.io -> localhost:3000
Forwarding                    https://1234-someurl.ngrok.io -> localhost:3000

Connections                  ttl     opn     rt1     rt5     p50     p90
                              0       0       0.00    0.00    0.00    0.00

Copy the forwarding address that starts with https, in this case https://1234-someurl.ngrok.io, then go to your app's settings.

On the General Information tab, there will be an Interactions Endpoint URL. Paste your ngrok address there, and append /interactions to it (https://1234-someurl.ngrok.io/interactions in the example).

Click Save Changes, and your app should be ready to run 🚀

Other resources

• Read the documentation for in-depth information about API features.
• Browse the examples/ folder in this project for smaller, feature-specific code examples
• Join the Discord Developers server to ask questions about the API, attend events hosted by the Discord API team, and interact with other devs.
• Check out community resources for language-specific tools maintained by community members.