Botcord documentation

Everything you need to run your own Discord bot from a clean desktop app.

Introduction

Botcord is a desktop client for your own Discord bot. You log in with a bot token instead of a user account, then browse the servers your bot is in, read and send messages as the bot, manage members, and play music in voice channels — all from a familiar Discord-style interface.

Botcord uses the official Discord Bot API via discord.js. It is not a self-bot and does not log into user accounts.

Install

Go to botcord.dev and click Download Botcord.
Choose Windows (.exe installer) or macOS (.dmg).
Run it. On Windows, Botcord installs to your programs and appears in the Start-menu search as Botcord. On macOS, drag it into Applications.

Botcord keeps itself up to date — when a new version ships you'll see an Update Ready button in the top-right of the window. Click it to install and restart.

Get a bot token

Open the Discord Developer Portal and select (or create) your application.
Go to Bot → Reset Token and copy the token.
Scroll to Privileged Gateway Intents and enable Message Content, Server Members and Presence Intent.

Treat your token like a password. Anyone with it can control your bot. Botcord encrypts it with your OS keychain and never sends it anywhere except Discord.

Chat & messages

Pick a server from the left rail, then a channel. You can:

Send messages with Enter (Shift+Enter for a new line).
Use markdown: **bold**, *italic*, ~~strike~~, `code` and code blocks.
Attach a file with the ＋ button.
Right-click any message for Reply, Edit, Copy Text, Copy Link, Copy ID and Delete (you can edit/delete messages your bot sent).
Search a channel with the search box in the header.

Reactions & emoji

Hover a message and click the reaction button, or right-click for the full menu, then pick an emoji. Custom and animated server emoji render as images and can be reacted with. Reactions appear under the message instantly.

Members & DMs

The member list (toggle with the people icon) shows online members grouped by role. Double-click a member to open a DM with them, as long as your bot shares a server with that user.

Voice & music

Click a 🔊 voice channel to make your bot join it.
Open the Music panel (the music note in the bottom-left).
Type a song name or a YouTube URL and click Add, or add a local audio file for a soundboard clip.
Control playback with play/pause, skip, stop, loop, shuffle and the volume slider.

Music requires the Message Content intent and a stable connection. Playback uses YouTube; availability can vary by region.

Themes & settings

Open Settings → Appearance to switch between Light, Dark, Ash, Onyx and Sync (follow your OS), pick one of 19 color themes, set a custom accent color, or enable compact messages — all applied instantly. Under Bot Presence you can set your bot's status and "Playing…" activity.

Notifications

In Settings → Notifications choose how desktop alerts behave:

All messages — notify for every message your bot can see.
Only @mentions & DMs (default) — only when your bot is directly mentioned, its role is pinged, or it receives a DM.
Nothing — no desktop notifications.

Botcord never notifies for the channel you're actively reading.

Updating

Botcord checks for updates on launch and in the background. When one is downloaded, the Update Ready button appears in the title bar — click it to install and relaunch. You can keep working until you're ready.

Troubleshooting

"Enable the intents" on login

Turn on Message Content, Server Members and Presence Intent in the Developer Portal → Bot, then log in again.

No members showing

The member list needs the Server Members (and ideally Presence) intent. Without them, Botcord falls back to a basic list.

Music won't play

Make sure the bot joined a voice channel first, and that it has permission to Connect and Speak there.

Still stuck? Ask in our Discord or email lucas@botcord.dev.