Discord as Config (dac)

👨🏼‍🔧 Manage Discord server settings with a repeatable, versionable config file.

⚠️ WARNING : While the library is now publicly available, it is still greatly unstable : files can be moved or renamed anytime. On the other hand, the CLI is future proof and the configuration format should not change much.

• ☑️ Prerequesites
  • 1. Install the CLI
  • 2. Create and get a Discord bot token
  • 3. Add a bot to a Discord server (guild)
• 🚀 Commands
  • list
  • compile
  • save
  • apply
• ⚙️ Guild configuration file
  • roles
  • categories
  • Types

☑️ Prerequesites

1. Install the CLI

Method 1 : with cargo

shell cargo install dac

To validate installation, run :

shell dac

Method 2 : standalone

Not yet available.

2. Create and get a Discord bot token

If you don't have created a bot yet, here's how to do it :

1. Go to https://discord.com/developers/applications, login and create an application.
2. Go to the created application, click on Bot on the sidebar and create a bot.
3. Go to the created Bot page and copy the token (might need to create it first).
   • :warning: Don't forget to save the token (in the environment variable DAC_DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN for dac).

P.S.: The same bot can be used for all of your Discord servers :wink:

3. Add a bot to a Discord server (guild)

If your bot hasn't been already added to the server that you want to manage with dac, here's how do add it :

1. On your bot's application page, go to OAuth2 on the sidebar
2. In the General section, add a placeholder Redirect URL (can be http://localhost) and Save
3. In the URL Generator section, select the identify scope. A new section for the redirect URL will appear, make sur to select one.
4. Then also select the bot scope. A new pannel with Permissions will appear. dac only needs the Manage Roles and Manage Channels permissions, so you can select those.
   • If you only want to test the bot for saving configs, you can leave all permissions unselected.
5. Navigate to the generated URL at the bottom of the page. This will bring you to an auth page, asking you to choose which server to add your bot to.
6. Confirm and your bot should have been added to your server!

P.S.: You will need to redo those steps for every server

P.P.S.: You can change the bot's permissions directly in the Server Settings without redoing all those steps :wink:

To validate the bot's read access, run :

shell dac list

🚀 Commands

:warning: All commands needs the evironment variable DAC_DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN to be set.

list

List bot's accessible servers. If you don't see access to your server, make sure to add your bot to it.

compile

Compile a template config to a full config file. Only the handlebars format is supported for now. Will compile to the original format (JSON or YAML).

Arguments

• --template, -t <TEMPLATE_FILE> : File to use as a template (contains handlebars tokens).
• --vars, -v <VARS_FILE> : File containing variables that populates the template. can be either YAML or JSON.
• --output, -o <OUTPUT_FILE> : Compiled config output file.
• --force, -f : Bypass the user confirmation step.

save

Save a server (guild) configuration.

Arguments:

• --guild, -g <GUILD_ID> : Id of the guild to save. To find your guild id, use list.
• --output, -o <OUTPUT_FILE> : Output file path. Both .json and .yaml/.yml files are supported.
• --force, -f : Bypass the user confirmation step.

apply

Apply changes to a server based on a configuration file.

Arguments

• --guild, -g <GUILD_ID> : Id of the guild to save. To find your guild id, use list.
• --input, -i <INPUT_FILE> : Configuration file to use. Both .json and .yaml/.yml files are supported. Make sure to correctly follow the configuration file schemas.
• --force, -f : Bypass the user confirmation step.

⚙️ Guild configuration file

The configuration file can be either a JSON file (.json) or a YAML file (.yaml or .yml). YAML file can include anchors and merges. It is used to describe the wanted state or a Discord server (guild).

Some examples can be found here.

roles

Fields

• name (string) : Name of the role. :warning: Every role needs to have a unique name.
• permissions (string[]) : List of permissions by name. You can read more about Discord's permissions on the Discord Developer Portal.
• show_in_sidebar (bool) : Show connection status of members with this role in the Members sidebar. The members will be categorized by role.
• is_mentionable (bool) : Allow everyone to mention this role with @ (ex: @team-01).
• color (optional string) : Color of the role, in hexadecimal format (without the #).

categories

Fields

• name (string) : Name of the category. :Warning: Every category needs to have a unique name.
• permissions_overwrites (PermissionsOverwrite[]) : List of permissions overwrites. You can read more on the Discord Developer Portal.

Types

• PermissionsOverwrite :
  • role (string) : Role to apply overwrites to.
  • allow (string[]) : Specifically allowed permissions overwrites for the role.
  • deny (deny[]) : Specifically denied permissions overwrites for the role.