OpenClaw Discord Bot Complete Setup Guide (2026)

February 21, 2026

Want OpenClaw in your Discord server as a 24/7 AI assistant? This guide walks you through:

✅ Creating a Discord bot application
✅ Getting Bot Token and configuring permissions
✅ OpenClaw integration and testing
✅ Multi-server management and privacy controls
✅ Troubleshooting common issues

For Discord server admins and developers.

I. Create Discord Application

1. Access Developer Portal

Open Discord Developer Portal and log in.

2. Create New Application

Click “New Application” (top-right)
Enter application name (e.g., OpenClaw Bot)
Agree to terms, click “Create”

3. Configure Basic Info

In General Information:

Name: Bot display name (editable)
Description: Bot functionality description
Avatar: Upload profile picture (optional)
Tags: Add search tags (optional)

Save changes.

II. Create Bot and Get Token

1. Go to Bot Settings

Left menu → “Bot” → “Add Bot” → Confirm “Yes, do it!“

2. Configure Bot Options

On the Bot page, configure:

Required Settings

Option	Recommended	Description
PUBLIC BOT	❌ Off	Prevent unauthorized additions to other servers
REQUIRES OAUTH2 CODE GRANT	❌ Off	OAuth2 flow not needed
PRESENCE INTENT	✅ On	Allow reading online status
SERVER MEMBERS INTENT	✅ On	Allow reading member list
MESSAGE CONTENT INTENT	✅ On	Must enable or bot can’t read messages

⚠️ Important: MESSAGE CONTENT INTENT must be enabled or the bot won’t receive messages!

3. Get Bot Token

Find “TOKEN” section on Bot page
Click “Reset Token” (first time) or “Copy” (already generated)
Copy token (format like MTxxNDY4xxx.GxxxxQ.yyyzzz)

🔐 Security: Token = password. Never share, don’t commit to Git!

III. Generate Invite Link and Add to Server

1. Go to OAuth2 Settings

Left menu → “OAuth2” → “URL Generator”

2. Select Scopes

Check:

✅ bot
✅ applications.commands (if using Slash Commands)

3. Select Bot Permissions

In BOT PERMISSIONS, select:

Minimum Permissions (Recommended)

✅ Read Messages/View Channels — Read channels
✅ Send Messages — Send messages
✅ Send Messages in Threads — Reply in threads
✅ Embed Links — Send embeds
✅ Attach Files — Send files
✅ Read Message History — Read history
✅ Add Reactions — Add emoji reactions

Optional Permissions

Manage Messages — Delete messages (cleanup)
Manage Threads — Manage threads
Use Slash Commands — Use slash commands

4. Copy Invite Link

Bottom GENERATED URL will show a link like:

https://discord.com/api/oauth2/authorize?client_id=1234567890&permissions=274877958144&scope=bot%20applications.commands

Copy this link, open in browser, select server, click “Authorize”.

IV. OpenClaw Configuration

1. Edit Config File

vim ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json

2. Add Discord Channel

In channels section:

channels:
  - kind: discord
    token: "Your Bot Token"          # Token from step II
    allowedGuilds:                   # Allowed server IDs (optional)
      - "987654321098765432"         # Your Discord server ID
    allowedChannels: []              # Empty = all channels allowed
    allowedUsers: []                 # Empty = all users allowed

3. Get Server ID (Guild ID)

In Discord client:

Enable developer mode: User Settings → Advanced → Developer Mode
Right-click server name → Copy ID
Paste into allowedGuilds list

4. Complete Config Example

gateway:
  mode: local
  port: 18789

providers:
  - id: anthropic
    kind: anthropic
    apiKey: sk-ant-xxx

models:
  default: anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5
  fallbacks:
    - anthropic/claude-opus-4-6

plugins:
  allow:
    - web_search
    - web_fetch
    - exec
    - browser

channels:
  - kind: discord
    token: "MTxxNDY4xxx.GxxxxQ.yyyzzz"
    allowedGuilds:
      - "123456789012345678"

5. Restart OpenClaw

openclaw gateway restart

# Check logs to confirm connection
openclaw gateway logs | grep discord

Success logs should show:

[Discord] Connected as OpenClaw Bot#1234
[Discord] Serving 1 guild(s)

V. Usage & Testing

1. Basic Conversation

In any Discord channel:

@OpenClaw Bot Hello, introduce yourself

Bot should reply.

2. Thread Mode (Recommended)

To avoid spam, use threads:

Send message mentioning bot
After bot replies, click reply to create thread
Continue conversation in thread (no need to @Bot every time)

3. Direct Message Mode

Send DM directly to bot:

Help me write a Python web scraper

⚠️ Note: DM requires user and bot to share a server, and bot config must allow it.

VI. Advanced Configuration

1. Restrict to Specific Channels

Only allow in #ai-chat and #dev-talk:

channels:
  - kind: discord
    token: "xxx"
    allowedGuilds:
      - "123456789012345678"
    allowedChannels:
      - "111111111111111111"  # #ai-chat channel ID
      - "222222222222222222"  # #dev-talk channel ID

Get channel ID: Developer mode → right-click channel → Copy ID

2. Restrict to Specific Users

Only allow admins:

channels:
  - kind: discord
    token: "xxx"
    allowedUsers:
      - "333333333333333333"  # Admin A
      - "444444444444444444"  # Admin B

3. Multi-Server Support

One bot serving multiple Discord servers:

channels:
  - kind: discord
    token: "xxx"
    allowedGuilds:
      - "123456789012345678"  # Server A
      - "987654321098765432"  # Server B

4. Custom Trigger Words

By default requires @Bot to reply, configure keywords:

channels:
  - kind: discord
    token: "xxx"
    triggerWords:
      - "ai"
      - "assistant"
      - "openclaw"

Now messages containing these words trigger replies (no @ needed).

VII. Troubleshooting

1. `Error: Privileged intent provided is not enabled or whitelisted`

Cause: Forgot to enable MESSAGE CONTENT INTENT.

Fix:

Return to Discord Developer Portal
Go to your app → Bot → Privileged Gateway Intents
Enable MESSAGE CONTENT INTENT
Save and restart OpenClaw

2. Bot Online but Not Replying

Debug steps:

# Check logs
openclaw gateway logs | tail -50

# Verify config loaded
openclaw config get | grep discord

Possible causes:

Wrong allowedGuilds or allowedChannels config
Didn’t @Bot (and no trigger words configured)
Insufficient bot permissions (check channel permission overrides)

3. `Invalid Token`

Cause: Token incorrect or expired.

Fix:

Return to developer portal → Bot → Reset Token
Copy new token and update openclaw.json
Restart OpenClaw

4. Bot Not Online

Debug:

# Confirm OpenClaw running
ps aux | grep openclaw

# Check Discord connection status
curl http://localhost:18789/api/health

5. Message Send Fails `Missing Permissions`

Cause: Bot doesn’t have send message permission in that channel.

Fix:

Go to Discord server settings → Roles
Find bot role, ensure it has Send Messages permission
Check channel-specific permission overrides (right-click channel → Edit Channel → Permissions)

VIII. Best Practices

1. Security Recommendations

✅ Disable PUBLIC BOT to prevent unauthorized additions
✅ Use environment variables for token, don’t hardcode
✅ Rotate token periodically
✅ Use allowedGuilds to limit servers

2. Performance Optimization

For large servers (1000+ members):

channels:
  - kind: discord
    token: "xxx"
    rateLimit:
      messagesPerMinute: 20    # Limit messages per minute
    cacheSize: 1000             # Message cache size

3. Logging & Monitoring

# Real-time Discord events
openclaw gateway logs --follow | grep '\[Discord\]'

# Count messages
openclaw gateway logs | grep 'Message received' | wc -l

IX. Deploy to Cloud Server

After local testing, deploy to cloud for 24/7 uptime:

🔥 Tencent Cloud — 2C2G sufficient, Hong Kong low latency
🌍 Vultr — Global datacenters, hourly billing
💧 DigitalOcean — $200 free credit, stable

Deployment steps:

# SSH to server
ssh user@your-server-ip

# Install OpenClaw
curl -fsSL https://openclaw.com/install.sh | sh

# Configure openclaw.json (see above)
vim ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json

# Use systemd daemon
sudo systemctl enable openclaw
sudo systemctl start openclaw

# Check status
sudo systemctl status openclaw

X. Slash Commands (Optional)

Discord Slash Commands provide a friendlier interface.

Register Commands

In developer portal → your app → Bot → Slash Commands:

Click “Create Command”
Configure:

Field	Example
Name	`ask`
Description	`Ask OpenClaw AI a question`
Options	`question` (String, Required)

OpenClaw Config

channels:
  - kind: discord
    token: "xxx"
    slashCommands:
      - name: ask
        description: "Ask AI"
      - name: search
        description: "Web search"

Usage

In Discord, type /ask question: What is AI? to trigger.

Summary Checklist

Before deployment, confirm:

✅ Discord Application created
✅ Bot Token obtained and secured
✅ MESSAGE CONTENT INTENT enabled
✅ Bot added to server with correct permissions
✅ OpenClaw openclaw.json configured correctly
✅ allowedGuilds includes target server ID
✅ Logs show Discord connection success
✅ Test messages receive replies

Related Guides:

Questions? Join the OpenClaw Discord community for help.

Was this article helpful?

💬 Submit detailed feedback (GitHub Issue)

OpenClaw Discord Bot Complete Setup Guide (2026)

I. Create Discord Application

1. Access Developer Portal

2. Create New Application

3. Configure Basic Info

II. Create Bot and Get Token

1. Go to Bot Settings

2. Configure Bot Options

Required Settings

3. Get Bot Token

III. Generate Invite Link and Add to Server

1. Go to OAuth2 Settings

2. Select Scopes

3. Select Bot Permissions

Minimum Permissions (Recommended)

Optional Permissions

4. Copy Invite Link

IV. OpenClaw Configuration

1. Edit Config File

2. Add Discord Channel

3. Get Server ID (Guild ID)

4. Complete Config Example

5. Restart OpenClaw

V. Usage & Testing

1. Basic Conversation

2. Thread Mode (Recommended)

3. Direct Message Mode

VI. Advanced Configuration

1. Restrict to Specific Channels

2. Restrict to Specific Users

3. Multi-Server Support

4. Custom Trigger Words

VII. Troubleshooting

1. Error: Privileged intent provided is not enabled or whitelisted

2. Bot Online but Not Replying

3. Invalid Token

4. Bot Not Online

5. Message Send Fails Missing Permissions

VIII. Best Practices

1. Security Recommendations

2. Performance Optimization

3. Logging & Monitoring

IX. Deploy to Cloud Server

X. Slash Commands (Optional)

Register Commands

OpenClaw Config

Usage

Summary Checklist

Core Guides (Recommended)

Was this article helpful?

💬 Comments

1. `Error: Privileged intent provided is not enabled or whitelisted`

3. `Invalid Token`

5. Message Send Fails `Missing Permissions`