Discord AI Chat Bot

A Discord bot that uses Anthropic's Claude AI to respond to messages in channels. Each channel maintains its own conversation history and custom system prompt (set via pinned messages).

Requirements

• Python 3.8 - 3.11 (Python 3.12+ not fully supported yet due to package compatibility)
• pip (Python package installer)

Features

• Responds to all messages in channels where it has access
• Maintains separate conversation histories per channel
• Uses pinned messages as custom system prompts for each channel
• Automatically splits long responses into multiple messages
• Includes commands to reset conversations and refresh system prompts

Creating your Discord Bot

1. Go to the Discord Developer Portal (https://discord.com/developers/applications)
2. Create your bot application
3. In the "Bot" section, enable these Privileged Gateway Intents:
   • PRESENCE INTENT
   • SERVER MEMBERS INTENT
   • MESSAGE CONTENT INTENT
4. Save changes
5. Use the OAuth2 URL Generator to create an invite link with these permissions:
   • Read Messages/View Channels
   • Send Messages
   • Read Message History
   • View Server Members
6. Follow the URL you generate and install it on your discord server.

Installation (Docker)

1. Install required dependencies: Ubuntu:

apt install docker.io docker-compose

Mac:

brew install docker

2. Download the .env template and the docker-compose file

curl -o .env https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fredsmith/discord-ai-chat/refs/heads/main/.env.example
curl -o docker-compose.yaml https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fredsmith/discord-ai-chat/refs/heads/main/docker-compose.yaml

6. Configure your environment variables in .env:
   • DISCORD_TOKEN: Your Discord bot token (get it from Discord Developer Portal)
   • ANTHROPIC_API_KEY: Your Anthropic API key (get it from Anthropic Console)

Installation (Python)

1. Ensure you have a compatible Python version installed (3.8 - 3.11):

python --version

If needed, install a compatible Python version. We recommend Python 3.11:

• On macOS with Homebrew: brew install [email protected]
• On macOS with asdf: asdf install python 3.11.8

2. Clone this repository:

git clone https://github.com/fredsmith/discord-ai-chat.git
cd discord-ai-chat

3. (Optional but recommended) Create a virtual environment:

python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate  # On macOS/Linux
# or
.\venv\Scripts\activate  # On Windows

4. Install required dependencies:

pip install -r requirements.txt

If you encounter any installation errors:

• Make sure you're using a compatible Python version (3.8 - 3.11)
• Try upgrading pip: pip install --upgrade pip
• If using macOS, you might need to install additional build tools: xcode-select --install

5. Create a .env file from the template:

cp .env.example .env

6. Configure your environment variables in .env:
   • DISCORD_TOKEN: Your Discord bot token (get it from Discord Developer Portal)
   • ANTHROPIC_API_KEY: Your Anthropic API key (get it from Anthropic Console)

Usage

1. Start the bot:

docker-compose up -d

or

python bot.py

2. Set up channel-specific prompts:

   • Pin a message in any channel to set its system prompt
   • The first pinned message will be used as the system prompt
   • If no message is pinned, a default helpful assistant prompt is used

3. Available commands:

   • !reset: Reset the conversation history for the current channel
   • !refresh_prompt: Refresh the system prompt from pinned messages

Channel-Specific Prompts

Each channel can have its own personality or purpose by setting a custom system prompt. To set a channel's prompt:

1. Write your desired system prompt as a message in the channel
2. Pin that message to the channel
3. Use !refresh_prompt to apply the new system prompt

Example system prompts:

• "You are a helpful programming assistant. Provide code examples and explanations."
• "You are a creative writing coach. Help users improve their writing skills."
• "You are a friendly chat companion. Engage in casual conversation."

Troubleshooting

1. Runtime Issues:
   • Verify your Discord bot token is correct
   • Ensure the bot has proper permissions in your Discord server
   • Check that your Anthropic API key is valid
   • Make sure the bot has access to read/send messages in channels

Notes

• The bot maintains conversation history per channel until reset
• Long responses are automatically split into multiple messages
• Each channel's conversation is independent
• System prompts can be updated at any time by changing the pinned message