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1. Create a Discord Server

To get started, create a Discord server. This is necessary as you need administrative rights to add a bot to a server.

TDLR Requirement: Ensure you are an admin of the server.

2. Create a Discord Application

Visit Discord Developer Portal to begin creating your bot.

Create a new application.
Add a bot to the application.
Configure the bot settings and upload an image for it.
Note down the Application ID.

3. Add bot to your server

To add your bot to the server, follow these steps:

Collect the Client ID from the General Information section.
Go to Discord Authorization URL and replace [CLIENT_ID] with your actual Client ID: https://discord.com/oauth2/authorize?client_id=[CLIENT_ID]&scope=bot
Select your server and complete the authorization process.

4. Get ready to code

Create the following directory structure:

├── config.json
├── main.go
└── bot
    └── bot.go
└── config
    └── config.go

Initialize your project and install the required packages:

# Replace [YOUR\_USERNAME] and [YOUR\_PROJECT\_NAME] accordingly
$ go mod init github.com/[YOUR\_USERNAME]/[YOUR\_PROJECT\_NAME]
$ go get github.com/bwmarrin/discordgo

5. JSON Configuration

Collect the token and bot prefix information from Steps 1 and 2:

{
    "token": "your_token_here",
    "BotPrefix": "!"
}

5b. config/config.go

package config

import (
    "encoding/json"
    "fmt"
    "io/ioutil"
    "os"
)

type Config struct {
    Token     string `json:"token"`
    BotPrefix string `json:"botPrefix"`
}

func ReadConfig() (*Config, error) {
    fmt.Println("Reading config.json...")
    data, err := ioutil.ReadFile("./config.json")
    if err != nil {
        return nil, err
    }
    fmt.Println("Unmarshalling config.json...")
    var cfg Config
    err = json.Unmarshal([]byte(data), &cfg)
    if err != nil {
        fmt.Println("Error unmarshalling config.json")
        return nil, err
    }
    return &cfg, nil
}

6. bot/bot.go

package bot

import (
    "fmt"

    "github.com/alfredosa/GoDiscordBot/config"
    "github.com/bwmarrin/discordgo"
)

var BotId string
var goBot *discordgo.Session

func Start() {
    cfg, err := config.ReadConfig()
    if err != nil {
        fmt.Println("Failed reading configuration:", err)
        return
    }

    goBot, err = discordgo.New("Bot " + cfg.Token)
    if err != nil {
        fmt.Println("Failed initializing Discord Session:", err)
        return
    }

    u, err := goBot.User("@me")
    if err != nil {
        fmt.Println("Failed getting current User:", err)
        return
    }

    BotId = u.ID

    goBot.AddHandler(messageHandler)

    err = goBot.Open()
    if err != nil {
        fmt.Println("Failed opening connection to Discord:", err)
        return
    }

    fmt.Println("Bot is now connected!")
}

func messageHandler(s *discordgo.Session, e *discordgo.MessageCreate) {
    if e.Author.ID == BotId {
        return
    }

    prefix := config.BotPrefix
    if strings.HasPrefix(e.Content, prefix) {
        args := strings.Fields(e.Content)[strings.Index(e.Content, prefix):]
        cmd := args[0][len(prefix):]
        arguments := args[1:]

        switch cmd {
        case "ping":
            _, err := s.ChannelMessageSend(e.ChannelID, "Pong!")
            if err != nil {
                fmt.Println("Failed sending Pong response:", err)
            }
        default:
            _, err := s.ChannelMessageSend(e.ChannelID, fmt.Sprintf("Unknown command %q.", cmd))
            if err != nil {
                fmt.Println("Failed sending Unknown Command response:", err)
            }
        }
    }
}

7. Bind everything and start the bot in main.go

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "github.com/alfredosa/GoDiscordBot/bot"
)

func main() {
    bot.Start()

    <-make(chan struct{})
}

8. Build and run the bot

$ go build
$ ./GoDiscordBot

9. Test the bot

Begin a private conversation with the bot and enter !ping, expecting a 'Pong!' response.
Mention the bot using '@botname ping', also receiving a 'Pong!' reply.

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Build a Discord Bot with Go - Step-by-Step Tutorial via Webhooks