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First Time Setup Guide

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jlagedo edited this page Jun 17, 2026 · 29 revisions
ACT Discord Triggers mascot

This guide walks you through creating a Discord bot, inviting it to your server, installing the plugin, and connecting the two.

Prerequisites

  • Windows with Advanced Combat Tracker installed. (ACT itself requires the .NET Framework 4.8 runtime, so if ACT runs, you're covered.)
  • A Discord account, and Manage Server permission on the server you want the bot to join (or an admin who can invite it for you).

ℹ️ You do not need to install Node.js. A node.exe runtime is bundled inside the release — voice runs in that bundled process so the plugin can support Discord's DAVE encryption. Just keep the whole plugin folder together (see Step 3).

Step 1: Create a Discord Bot

  1. Go to the Discord Developer Portal → Applications and click New Application.
  2. Give it a name (this becomes the bot's display name) and click Create.
  3. (Optional) Under General Information, add a description and an icon — for example, the mascot above. 🐱
  4. In the left sidebar, open the Bot tab.
  5. Under Privileged Gateway Intents, the defaults are fine — this plugin only needs to join voice and play audio, so no privileged intents are required.

Step 2: Invite the Bot to Your Server

  1. In the left sidebar, open OAuth2.

  2. Under OAuth2 URL Generator, tick the bot scope.

  3. In the Bot Permissions list that appears, tick at minimum:

    • View Channels
    • Connect
    • Speak

    (Granting Administrator also works, but the three above are all the bot actually needs.)

  4. Copy the generated URL at the bottom of the page and open it in your browser.

  5. Pick the server you want the bot to join from the dropdown and click Authorize. You must have Manage Server on that server, or it won't appear in the list — if so, send the link to a server admin instead.

🔊 The bot must be able to see and connect to the voice channels you want it to join. If your admin restricts its permissions, make sure those channels are still accessible to it.

Step 3: Install the Plugin

  1. Download the latest ACT_DiscordTriggers-*.zip from the Releases page.
  2. Right-click the downloaded zip → Properties → tick Unblock → OK, before extracting. Windows flags node.exe/DLLs downloaded from the internet, and skipping this can trip SmartScreen or antivirus.
  3. Extract the zip into your ACT plugins folder: %AppData%\Advanced Combat Tracker\Plugins. You should end up with a Plugins\ACT_DiscordTriggers\ folder containing ACT_DiscordTriggers.dll, node.exe, bundle.js, and a node_modules\ folder. Keep all of these files together in that folder — the plugin spawns the bundled node.exe next to itself.
  4. Run Advanced Combat Tracker as Administrator.
  5. Open the Plugins tab → Browse…, select ACT_DiscordTriggers.dll inside the ACT_DiscordTriggers folder, and click Add/Enable Plugin.
  6. Restart ACT, then click the new Discord Triggers tab.

⚠️ Always restart ACT after adding or updating the plugin. Just enabling/disabling it is not enough.

Step 4: Get Your Bot Token & Connect

  1. Back in the Developer Portal, open your application → Bot tab.
  2. Click Reset Token (the first time, this reveals the token), confirm, and Copy it.
    • Treat this token like a password — never share it or commit it anywhere. Anyone with it controls your bot. If it leaks, return here and reset it.
  3. Paste the token into the Discord Bot Token field on the plugin's Discord Triggers tab. Your token and selections are saved when you close ACT, so you only do this once.
  4. Restart ACT. If everything is correct, the bot comes online whenever ACT is running.

Using the Bot

Once set up, the bot logs in automatically every time you start ACT. On the Discord Triggers tab, pick a server and channel from the dropdowns and press Join Channel to make the bot enter that voice channel.

From then on, any trigger that plays text-to-speech or a sound — whether from ACT Custom Triggers or Triggernometry — is routed through the bot so everyone in the channel hears it. See the FAQ for how to choose which triggers go to Discord vs. stay as personal callouts.

Help & Known Issues

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