Installation Guide

This guide covers everything you need to install and configure the Discord Exporter Bot, including Discord bot setup, Python installation, Docker deployment, and environment configuration.

Setting Up Your Discord Bot

Create a Discord Application

Go to the Discord Developer Portal
Click New Application
Give your application a name (e.g., “Team Exporter Bot”)
Click Create

Create a Bot User

In your application, navigate to the Bot tab in the left sidebar
Click Add Bot and confirm
Under the bot’s username, click Reset Token to generate a new token
Copy this token - you’ll need it for your .env file

Keep your bot token secret! Never share it or commit it to version control. If exposed, reset it immediately in the Developer Portal.

Enable Required Intents

Scroll down to Privileged Gateway Intents and enable:

✅ Message Content Intent (required to read message contents)
✅ Server Members Intent (required for member information)

Click Save Changes.

Invite the Bot to Your Server

Navigate to the OAuth2 → URL Generator tab
Under Scopes, select:
- bot
Under Bot Permissions, select:
- Read Messages/View Channels
- Read Message History
- Send Messages
Copy the generated URL at the bottom
Open the URL in your browser and select your server
Click Authorize

Get Your Guild ID

Open Discord and go to User Settings → Advanced
Enable Developer Mode
Right-click your server icon and select Copy Server ID
Save this ID - you’ll need it for your .env file

Python Installation

Requirements

Python 3.11 or higher (required for zoneinfo support)
pip (Python package installer)

Installing Python

macOS
Linux
Windows

Using Homebrew:

brew install python@3.11

Verify installation:

python3 --version
# Should show Python 3.11.x or higher

Using apt (Ubuntu/Debian):

sudo apt update
sudo apt install python3.11 python3.11-venv python3-pip

Using dnf (Fedora):

sudo dnf install python3.11

Verify installation:

python3.11 --version

Download Python 3.11+ from python.org
Run the installer
Important: Check “Add Python to PATH” during installation
Verify installation in PowerShell or Command Prompt:

python --version

Setting Up the Project

Create project directory

mkdir discord-exporter-bot
cd discord-exporter-bot

Create and activate virtual environment (recommended)

macOS/Linux
Windows

python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate

python -m venv venv
.\venv\Scripts\activate

Using a virtual environment keeps your bot’s dependencies isolated from other Python projects.

Add bot.py and requirements.txt

Copy the bot.py file into your project directory.Create requirements.txt with the following dependencies:

requirements.txt

discord.py==2.3.2
python-dotenv==1.0.0
anthropic==0.40.0

Install dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt

This installs:

discord.py - Discord API wrapper for Python
python-dotenv - Load environment variables from .env files
anthropic - Anthropic Claude API client for AI digests

Environment Configuration

Creating Your .env File

Create a .env file in your project directory. Use this template based on .env.example:

.env

# Required
DISCORD_TOKEN=your_discord_bot_token_here
GUILD_ID=your_discord_server_id_here

# Optional - AI Digest Features
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your_anthropic_api_key_here

# Optional - Custom Output Path
DOKPLOY_VOLUME_PATH=/path/to/obsidian/vault

# Optional - GitHub Sync
GITHUB_REPO_URL=https://github.com/username/repo.git
GITHUB_TOKEN=your_github_personal_access_token

Environment Variables Reference

DISCORD_TOKEN

string

required

Your Discord bot token from the Developer Portal.How to get it: Bot tab → Reset Token → Copy

GUILD_ID

integer

required

Your Discord server’s ID.How to get it: Enable Developer Mode → Right-click server → Copy Server ID

ANTHROPIC_API_KEY

string

Your Anthropic API key for Claude AI digests.How to get it: Sign up at console.anthropic.com and create an API keyNote: The bot will run without this, but !digest command won’t work.

DOKPLOY_VOLUME_PATH

string

Custom path for digest output. Useful for saving directly to an Obsidian vault.Default: Saves to ./Daily Digests/ in the project directoryExample: /Users/yourname/Documents/Obsidian/TeamVault

GITHUB_REPO_URL

string

GitHub repository URL for auto-syncing digests.Format: https://github.com/username/repository.gitRequires: GITHUB_TOKEN must also be set

GITHUB_TOKEN

string

GitHub personal access token with repo scope.How to get it: GitHub Settings → Developer settings → Personal access tokens → Generate new token (classic) → Select repo scopeNote: The bot will commit digests with author “Discord Bot <bot@discord.local>”

Getting an Anthropic API Key

Visit console.anthropic.com and create an account.

Add credits

Navigate to billing and add credits to your account. Claude API usage is pay-as-you-go.

Daily digests typically use 10-50K tokens depending on message volume. At current pricing, this costs $0.01-0.05 per digest.

Generate API key

Go to API Keys section and click Create Key. Copy the key and add it to your .env file.

Docker Installation

For production deployments, Docker provides a clean, isolated environment.

Dockerfile

The bot includes a Dockerfile:

Dockerfile

FROM python:3.11-slim

# Install git (required for GitHub sync)
RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y git && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

# Set working directory
WORKDIR /app

# Install dependencies
COPY requirements.txt .
RUN pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt

# Copy bot code
COPY bot.py .

# Create directories
RUN mkdir -p /app/exports /app/digests

# Run the bot
CMD ["python", "-u", "bot.py"]

Building and Running

Build the Docker image

docker build -t discord-exporter-bot .

Run the container

docker run -d \
  --name discord-bot \
  --env-file .env \
  -v $(pwd)/exports:/app/exports \
  -v $(pwd)/digests:/app/Daily\ Digests \
  discord-exporter-bot

This command:

Runs the container in detached mode (-d)
Names the container discord-bot
Loads environment variables from .env
Mounts volumes for exports and digests (persists data outside container)

View logs

docker logs -f discord-bot

Press Ctrl+C to stop following logs.

Stop the bot

docker stop discord-bot

Restart the bot

docker start discord-bot

Make sure your .env file is in the same directory when running Docker commands, and never include it in your Docker image.

Docker Compose (Optional)

For easier management, create a docker-compose.yml:

docker-compose.yml

version: '3.8'

services:
  discord-bot:
    build: .
    container_name: discord-exporter-bot
    env_file:
      - .env
    volumes:
      - ./exports:/app/exports
      - ./digests:/app/Daily Digests
    restart: unless-stopped

Then run:

# Start
docker-compose up -d

# View logs
docker-compose logs -f

# Stop
docker-compose down

Verification Steps

After installation, verify everything is working:

Check bot connection

Run the bot and look for these log messages:

INFO - BotName#1234 has connected to Discord!
INFO - Bot is in 1 guild(s)
INFO - Connected to: Your Server Name
INFO - Text channels: 5
INFO - Daily digest task started

If you don’t see these messages, check that your DISCORD_TOKEN and GUILD_ID are correct in .env.

Test export command

In a Discord channel, type:

!export 1

Expected response:

Starting export of last 1 hours...
✅ Export complete!
• X messages
• Y channels
• Saved to `exports/discord_export_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS_ET.json`

Check that the JSON file was created in the exports/ directory.

Test digest command (if using Claude)

In a Discord channel, type:

!digest 1

Expected response:

🤖 Generating digest for last 1 hours...
✅ Daily Digest Generated
[Preview of digest content]
📁 Full digest: `Daily Digests/YYYY-MM-DD - Team Digest.md`

Check that the Markdown file was created in the Daily Digests/ directory (or your custom DOKPLOY_VOLUME_PATH).

Verify GitHub sync (if configured)

If you set up GitHub sync, after running !digest, check your GitHub repository to see if the commit was pushed:

Go to your GitHub repository
Look for a commit with message “Daily digest for YYYY-MM-DD”
Verify the digest file is in the repository

Check bot logs for:

INFO - Successfully pushed [filename] to GitHub

Wait for scheduled digest (optional)

The bot automatically runs a digest at midnight ET. Check logs the next day:

INFO - Running scheduled daily digest
INFO - ✅ Daily digest completed successfully

Troubleshooting

Bot doesn't connect to Discord

Symptoms: No log messages, or “Invalid token” errorSolutions:

Verify your DISCORD_TOKEN is correct in .env
Make sure you copied the token immediately after generating it (they’re only shown once)
Reset the token in Discord Developer Portal if needed
Check that .env file is in the same directory as bot.py

Bot connects but doesn't respond to commands

Symptoms: Bot is online, but !export and !digest do nothingSolutions:

Verify Message Content Intent is enabled in Discord Developer Portal
Make sure the bot has permissions to read and send messages in the channel
Check that you’re using the correct command prefix (!)
Look for permission errors in the logs

Export works but digest fails

Symptoms: !export succeeds but !digest returns an errorSolutions:

Verify ANTHROPIC_API_KEY is set in .env
Check that your Anthropic account has available credits
Test your API key with a simple curl request
Look for Claude API errors in the logs

GitHub sync not working

Symptoms: Digest generates but doesn’t appear in GitHubSolutions:

Verify both GITHUB_REPO_URL and GITHUB_TOKEN are set
Check that your token has repo scope
Ensure the repository exists and you have push access
Look for git errors in the logs
Make sure git is installed (required for GitHub sync)

Missing message content or mentions show as IDs

Symptoms: Export JSON shows empty content or unresolved mentions like <@123456>Solutions:

Enable Message Content Intent in Discord Developer Portal (required)
Enable Server Members Intent for proper member name resolution
Restart the bot after enabling intents

Next Steps

Configuration

Learn about environment variables and configuration options

Commands

Explore available commands and features

GitHub Integration

Set up GitHub sync and Obsidian integration

Usage Guide

Learn all commands and features

Integration

Connect with Obsidian and workflows

Get Started

Configuration

Commands

Features

API Reference

Installation

Installation Guide

Setting Up Your Discord Bot

Python Installation

Requirements

Installing Python

Setting Up the Project

Environment Configuration

Creating Your .env File

Environment Variables Reference

Getting an Anthropic API Key

Docker Installation

Dockerfile

Building and Running

Docker Compose (Optional)

Verification Steps

Troubleshooting

Next Steps

Configuration

Commands

GitHub Integration

Usage Guide

Integration

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

Configuration

Commands

Features

API Reference

Documentation Index

​Installation Guide

​Setting Up Your Discord Bot

​Python Installation

​Requirements

​Installing Python

​Setting Up the Project

​Environment Configuration

​Creating Your .env File

​Environment Variables Reference

​Getting an Anthropic API Key

​Docker Installation

​Dockerfile

​Building and Running

​Docker Compose (Optional)

​Verification Steps

​Troubleshooting

​Next Steps

Configuration

Commands

GitHub Integration

Usage Guide

Integration

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Installation Guide

Setting Up Your Discord Bot

Python Installation

Requirements

Installing Python

Setting Up the Project

Environment Configuration

Creating Your .env File

Environment Variables Reference

Getting an Anthropic API Key

Docker Installation

Dockerfile

Building and Running

Docker Compose (Optional)

Verification Steps

Troubleshooting

Next Steps