Discord Bot for the official Make School discord server

Set up:

Before setting up, make sure you have node and npm installed.

Before working on this project, consider checking out this tutorial on using discord.js - for the time being, this tutorial is only useful until 'Commands with user inputs.' We will move further with the project at a later date. At that point, more of the tutorial will be useful so feel free to read ahead!

1. Clone this repository onto your local machine using git CLI: git clone git@github.com:Dino-Martinez/Make-School-Discord-Bot.git
2. CD into the project root directory /Make-School-Bot
3. Install dependencies/style guides using npm ci
4. Create a file named .env at the root directory, and add the line BOT_TOKEN=<TOKEN GOES HERE> replacing the right hand side with your bot token.
5. Make sure you switch to the dev branch before making any changes git checkout dev
6. Before pushing to github, make sure you enforce styling:
   • Run npm run lint <file_path> to receive styling suggestions.
   • Run npm run fix <file_path> to automatically fix incorrect styling. Note: this will not always fix everything, you may have to fix certain things manually.

The basics:

Functionality that isn't a command

If you want to add functionality that isn't just a command (like !help), you have a few options:

• Add it into index.js if it uses a different Discord Client Event
• Add it into Processor.js or Logger.js if it directly processes message content or if it extends the logging functionality
• If neither, then create a new js file under src/. Then, require that file into index.js and use it as necessary.

Creating commands

In order to create a new command, simply add it into a folder within src/commands. For example, if you want to make a command that sends users cat pictures, create the file /commands/fun/cats.js. A command file should be structured as follows (see existing commands for reference):

module.exports = {
  name: '<name of command>',
  description: '<description of command>',
  usage: '<usage information to be displayed by !help>',
  minArgs: <minimum number of arguments for the command to work>,
  cooldown: <cooldown time in seconds>,
  dmCommand: <true if this command can be used in dms, false otherwise>,
  guildCommand: <true if this command can be used in servers, false otherwise>,
  execute (props) {
    // Your code goes here
  }
}

This will define your command code as a module that index.js can understand, so your bot will be able to utilize it with little effort on your part. The props parameter is an object which you can destructure at your discretion. It contains the message sent, the args provided, the client running our bot, and the prefix that our bot uses to distinguish commands from normal messages. For more information on object destructuring, check out these docs.

Sending messages from the bot

In order have our bot send messages, all we have to do is use the message prop we just mentioned. If you want to just send a normal message in the same channel that our command was issued, use message.channel.send('Your response'). If you want to reply directly to the user (@ them in the channel the command was issued), use message.reply('Your response'). If you want to DM the person who issued the command, use message.author.send('Your response').

Using rich embeds

In order to have our bot send a rich embed message, we can use the helpers/EmbedWrapper.js class. Simply add const { EmbedWrapper } = require('../../EmbedWrapper.js') to the top of your command file, and then build an embed with const response = new EmbedWrapper('Embed Title'). Next, add fields to the embed with response.addField('name of field', 'value for field', inline) where inline is a boolean representing if the field is meant to display in-line. To add multiple fields at once, we can call

response.addFields(
  {
    name:'name',
    value:'value',
    inline:true},
  },
  {
    name:'name2',
    value:'value2',
    inline:true,
  },
  ...
)

Then, to send the embed, just use message.channel.send(response)

Further Documentation:

Check out discord.js for more information on everything available through the Discord API.

Check out node.js for more information on the Node runtime and environments.

Check out the Mozilla Docs for more information on JavaScript as a whole.

Future Features List:

If you want to add a cool feature but can't think of anything, pick something off this list!

High Priority:

• All purpose information:
  • !faq command that takes a frequently asked question and returns an answer
  • !code-help command that takes a code question/topic and either returns an answer or a link to some smart google search or maybe DMs a list of resources
• Miscellaneous functionality:
  • Bot configuration (prefix, log channel, embed color, etc)
  • Configure Keyv to track existing users, rather than only tracking new users

Low Priority:

• Fun stuff:
  • Text game commands like tic tac toe, rock paper scissors, hangman, etc.
  • !space-facts command that returns a random space fact (maybe pulled from an API)
  • Channel points per user, added whenever the user sends a message (with cooldown to avoid incentivizing spam). Maybe a bonus for images/links, or for receiving certain reactions
• Utilities:
  • !remindme command that allows users to be DM'd the contents of a message they specify at a later time
  • Mod Mail feature - if the bot recieves a dm with !mail, send the contents to a special #mod-mail channel in the server and @ staff roles
  • Dynamic utilities handler to make adding non-command functionality easy

Existing features:

• ✅Dynamic command handler to make adding new commands easy.
• ✅Dynamic help command to allow users to learn how the bot works
• ✅Simple info command to receive information about the server
• ✅Simple message sanitizing/parsing, with very basic profanity filter
• ✅Dynamic embed creator to make pretty messages easier to build
• ✅Dynamic logging functionality to allow important events to be tracked
• ✅Dynamic cooldown handling for commands
• ✅!project-ideas command that returns a list of cool project ideas (maybe add query functionality)