Discord Bot Deployment

This guide helps your customers deploy Discord bots on your Mamba Panel-powered hosting platform. Share this documentation with customers or adapt it for your knowledge base.

Prerequisites

Before deploying, customers need:

• Discord bot application with token from https://discord.com/developers/applications
• Bot source code (Node.js or Python)
• package.json (Node.js) or requirements.txt (Python) for dependencies
• Appropriate gateway intents enabled in Discord Developer Portal

Step 1: Purchase and Provision

1. Customer selects a Discord bot hosting plan from your store.
2. After payment, Mamba Panel automatically provisions the container.
3. Customer receives:
   • Portal access credentials
   • SFTP connection details
   • Initial console access

Provisioning typically completes in under 2 minutes.

Step 2: Upload Bot Code

Via SFTP (Recommended)

1. Connect using SFTP credentials from the portal (typically port 2022).
2. Upload bot files to /home/container.
3. Do not upload node_modules or .venv — install dependencies on the server.

Via Web File Manager

1. Open the file manager in the customer portal.
2. Drag and drop files or upload a ZIP archive.
3. Extract archives using the built-in extraction tool.

Best Practices

• Keep the entry file (index.js, bot.py, main.py) at the container root.
• Use .gitignore patterns to exclude build artifacts locally.
• Version control source code in Git before uploading.

Step 3: Install Dependencies

Node.js Bots

From the console panel:

npm install

Or with a lockfile:

npm ci

For pnpm users:

pnpm install

Python Bots

pip install -r requirements.txt

For Poetry projects, export first:

poetry export -f requirements.txt > requirements.txt
pip install -r requirements.txt

Native Dependencies

If the bot requires system packages (FFmpeg for music bots, etc.):

• Check if pre-installed on the node
• Contact support to request additional packages
• Consider pre-building native modules locally

Step 4: Configure Environment Variables

1. Navigate to Startup → Variables in the portal.
2. Add required variables:

Variable	Example	Purpose
DISCORD_TOKEN	MTIz...	Bot authentication
APPLICATION_ID	123456789	For slash commands
PREFIX	!	Command prefix (if used)
DATABASE_URL	mysql://...	Database connection

3. Mark sensitive values as hidden to prevent accidental exposure in logs.

Accessing Variables in Code

Node.js:

const token = process.env.DISCORD_TOKEN;

Python:

import os
token = os.getenv("DISCORD_TOKEN")

Step 5: Configure Startup Command

1. Go to Startup in the portal.
2. Verify or adjust the start command:

Node.js:

node index.js

or

node dist/index.js

Python:

python bot.py

or

python -m mybot

Step 6: Start and Verify

1. Click Start in the portal.

2. Watch the console for:

   • Dependency loading
   • Discord gateway connection
   • “Ready” or login confirmation message

3. Test the bot in Discord:

   • Verify it appears online
   • Test a basic command
   • Check slash command registration

Step 7: Enable Auto-Restart

Configure the watchdog to handle crashes:

1. Go to Settings → Auto-Restart.
2. Enable restart on crash.
3. Set restart delay (recommended: 5-10 seconds).
4. Configure maximum restart attempts before alerting.

Step 8: Schedule Maintenance Tasks

Set up recurring tasks:

1. Navigate to Schedules in the portal.
2. Create tasks for:
   • Daily restart (clears memory leaks)
   • Weekly dependency updates
   • Backup exports

Example schedule:

• Daily restart: 4:00 AM (low traffic time)
• Weekly update check: Sundays at 3:00 AM

CI/CD Integration

GitHub Actions Example

Automate deployments from your repository:

name: Deploy Bot
on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 20

      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm test

      - name: Deploy via SFTP
        uses: wlixcc/SFTP-Deploy-Action@v1.2
        with:
          server: ${{ secrets.SFTP_HOST }}
          username: ${{ secrets.SFTP_USER }}
          password: ${{ secrets.SFTP_PASS }}
          port: 2022
          local-path: "./"
          remote-path: "/home/container"
          exclude: "node_modules,.git"

      - name: Restart Bot
        run: |
          curl -X POST "${{ secrets.PANEL_URL }}/api/client/servers/${{ secrets.SERVER_ID }}/power" \
            -H "Authorization: Bearer ${{ secrets.PANEL_API_KEY }}" \
            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
            -d '{"signal":"restart"}'

Store secrets in GitHub repository settings.

Database Setup (Optional)

SQLite (Default)

SQLite works out of the box. Store the .db file in the container:

const db = new Database('./data/bot.db');

MySQL (Add-On)

1. Request MySQL access from support or enable in plan features.
2. Add connection string to environment variables.
3. Configure ORM or driver:

Node.js (mysql2):

const mysql = require('mysql2/promise');
const connection = await mysql.createConnection(process.env.DATABASE_URL);

Python (asyncpg/aiomysql):

import aiomysql
pool = await aiomysql.create_pool(host='...', user='...', password='...', db='...')

Troubleshooting Deployment

Issue	Solution
”Cannot find module”	Run npm install or check file paths
”ModuleNotFoundError”	Run pip install -r requirements.txt
Token invalid	Regenerate token in Discord Developer Portal
Intents error	Enable required intents in Developer Portal
Port already in use	Discord bots don’t need ports; check startup command
SFTP connection refused	Verify credentials and port (usually 2022)

Next Steps

• Operations Guide — Monitoring, scaling, backups
• Troubleshooting — Common errors and fixes
• Discord Bot Overview — Feature summary