alia-bot

My personal Discord bot.

Usage

Prerequisites

• Node.js
• npm
• Docker and Docker Compose (for running the MySQL database)

Setting Up for Development

1. Clone the Repository

   git clone [Your Repository URL]
   cd alia-bot
   

2. Install Dependencies

   npm install
   

3. Environment Setup

   • Warning: Read the Setting Up a Test Guild section before dropping your bot token in a local file...
   • Create a .env file in the root directory with the following content:

     BOT_TOKEN=your_discord_bot_token
     NODE_ENV=development
     MYSQLDB_DATABASE=aliadb
     MYSQLDB_USER=aliabot
     MYSQLDB_PASSWORD=your_mysql_password
     MYSQLDB_ROOT_PASSWORD=your_mysql_root_password
     MYSQLDB_LOCAL_PORT=3307
     MYSQLDB_DOCKER_PORT=3306
     NODE_LOCAL_PORT=6868
     NODE_DOCKER_PORT=8080
     

   • Replace your_discord_bot_token, your_mysql_password, and your_mysql_root_password with your actual credentials.
   • Do not commit your .env file to source control to maintain security.

4. Start the MySQL Database

   • Run the following command to start the MySQL database using Docker Compose:

     docker-compose up -d mysqldb
     

5. Run the Application

   npm run start
   

Running Tests

• Linting: Run npm run lint to start ESLint.
• Unit Tests: Run npm run test to start the Jest test runner.

Setting Up a Test Discord Guild

Why Set Up a Test Guild?

Developing and testing a Discord bot can be exciting and challenging. However, it's crucial to do so in a safe and controlled environment. Using a test guild allows you to rigorously test and debug your bot without the risk of impacting your main guild or exposing your production bot token. This setup is especially important to keep your production token off your local machine, ensuring higher security and peace of mind.

Another key reason for this setup is to avoid the confusion and frustration of having two bots (development and production) responding to the same commands. If both your development and production bots are active in the same guild, they might both respond to commands, making it difficult to distinguish which bot's changes are being tested. Additionally, you don't want to turn off your production bot while developing, as it may be serving a live community.

By using a test guild, you can freely experiment, make changes, and encounter errors without any real-world consequences for your bot's users and without the confusion of overlapping bot responses.

Steps to Set Up a Test Guild

DiscordJS Guide has a great guide on this if you need a second reference Setting up a bot application

1. Create a New Discord Guild:

   • Open Discord and click on the plus icon on the left sidebar to create a new guild (server).
   • Follow the prompts to set up your new guild.

2. Create a New Discord Application:

   • Go to the Discord Developer Portal.
   • Click on the “New Application” button. Give it a name that indicates it’s for development/testing purposes.
   • Navigate to the “Bot” tab and click on “Add Bot”.

3. Enable Guild Messages Intent:

   • In the bot settings, ensure that the "Guild Messages" intent is enabled. This is necessary for your bot to react to live conversations in the guild.

4. Get the Bot Token:

   • Under the Bot tab, find and copy the bot token. This is your test bot token.
   • Keep this token private and never share it publicly.

5. Invite the Bot to Your Test Guild:

   • In the application settings, go to the “OAuth2” tab.
   • Under “Scopes”, select “bot”. Then, under “Bot Permissions”, select the permissions your bot needs.
   • Use the generated URL to invite your bot to the new Discord guild.

6. Configure the Development Environment:

   • Use the new bot token for development in your .env file or other environment variable configurations.
   • Ensure your application points to this test guild for all development and testing activities.

7. Run the Bot in the Test Guild:

   • After setting up your bot in the new guild and configuring the development environment, run your bot as usual.
   • This ensures that any development or testing activities do not interfere with your production bot or guild.

Additional Notes

• Testing Best Practices: Always test new features or bug fixes in your test guild before deploying changes to your production environment.
• Environment Separation: Ensure that your development and production environments are properly separated in your configuration files or environment variables to prevent accidents.

Database Setup and Onboarding Script

When setting up alia-bot for the first time, or after making significant changes to the database structure, it's important to ensure that your database is properly configured. This can involve initializing tables, loading initial data, or applying migrations. To simplify this process, an onboarding script can be used.

Onboarding Script

The onboarding script should automate the following tasks:

1. Create Database Tables: Run SQL scripts or use an ORM to create the necessary tables.
2. Load Initial Data: If your application requires initial data to function (like configuration settings), the script should handle this.
3. Apply Migrations: If you have database migrations, the script should apply them to bring the database to the latest schema version.

You can create a script (e.g., onboarding.js) in your project's root directory with the necessary logic and then include instructions in the README on how to run it.

Running the Onboarding Script

####### TODO: WRITE THE ONBOARDING SCRIPT

This is the beginning of the README. Read the rest at the original. Read the full README ↗