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Creating commands

info

This page is a follow-up, and the base code used is from the previous page (Initial files). The code can be found on the GitHub repository here.

Discord also allows developers to register slash commands, which provides users a first-class way of interacting directly with your application. These slash commands shall be covered by the guide here, in the Interactions section.

A note on prefix commands

Bot commands that are initiated when a keyword is used along with a specified prefix (such as ! or $) are known as prefix commands (are also often referred to as text commands).

Message Intent - Privileged

It is to be noted that handling prefix commands require the message intent, which allows the bot to get content and data of messages sent by users. This intent has recently been privileged, i.e., it needs to be manually enabled for the bot application, and its requirement will eventually be reviewed if your bot is in over 100 servers.

You can read more about the message intent here.

Therefore, to minimize the permissions your bot has to use, we will be covering prefix commands under the Popular Topics section, and advancing with the basics of slash commands in this article; more advanced topics of the same will be covered in the Interactions section.

Registering commands

This section covers the bare minimum to get you started with registering slash commands. Once again, you can refer to this page for an in-depth coverage of topics, including guild commands, global commands, options, option types, autocomplete and choices.

Now, we shall continue with the base code used in the previous section.

main.py
import disnake
from disnake.ext import commands

bot = commands.Bot()


@bot.event
async def on_ready():
print("The bot is ready!")


bot.run("YOUR_BOT_TOKEN")

The first step is to use the @bot.slash_command coroutine, along with an async function in order to define the code for your slash command. Below is a script demonstrating the same (focus on the use of inter, which is short for interaction).

main.py
import disnake
from disnake.ext import commands

bot = commands.Bot()


@bot.event
async def on_ready():
print("The bot is ready!")


@bot.slash_command()
async def ping(inter):
...


bot.run("YOUR_BOT_TOKEN")

The inter passed into the function is analogous to context, or ctx used in prefix commands - it passes through all information relative to the interaction - data regarding the user who initiated the command, as an example. It is also necessary for replying to the use of the command.

Using ctx vs. inter

If you have experience with coding bots with discord.py, you would be familiar with using ctx as an abbreviation for passing context into the function. This guide will primarily be using inter, as it is short for interaction and refers to ApplicationCommandInteraction. Of course, you're open to using your preferred abbreviation in code.

Registering commands in specific guilds

Note that servers are referred to as "guilds" in the Discord API and disnake library. On running the above code, the slash command will be registered globally, and will be accessible on all servers the bot is in.

You can also use the guild_ids argument for the command to only be registered in a list of specified servers, for example your development server.

main.py
import disnake
from disnake.ext import commands

bot = commands.Bot()


@bot.event
async def on_ready():
print("The bot is ready!")


@bot.slash_command(guild_ids=[1234, 5678]) # Your server IDs go here.
async def ping(inter):
...


bot.run("YOUR_BOT_TOKEN")
Using test_guilds in commands.Bot()

When you have multiple commands registered under the same test guilds, it is convenient to only have your guild_ids defined once. Therefore, you can use the test_guilds argument in the commands.Bot() instance instead of passing guild_ids to every single command -

bot = commands.Bot(test_guilds=[1234, 5678])

Now that you're all set with registering the slash command, you can proceed with responding to the initiated command.

Responding to commands

You can respond to a slash command initiated by the user, using inter.response.send_message(). It is analogous to using ctx.send(), in that you can respond to the interaction with embeds, files, buttons/select menus or just plain text.

main.py
import disnake
from disnake.ext import commands

bot = commands.Bot()


@bot.event
async def on_ready():
print("The bot is ready!")


@bot.slash_command(guild_ids=[1234, 5678])
async def ping(inter):
await inter.response.send_message("Pong!")


bot.run("YOUR_BOT_TOKEN")

AbhigyanTripsused /ping
Disnake BotBot03/15/2024
Pong!

Server info command

inter.guild refers to the guild the interaction was sent in (a Guild instance), which exposes properties such as .name or .member_count.

main.py
import disnake
from disnake.ext import commands

bot = commands.Bot()


@bot.event
async def on_ready():
print("The bot is ready!")


@bot.slash_command()
async def server(inter):
await inter.response.send_message(
f"Server name: {inter.guild.name}\nTotal members: {inter.guild.member_count}"
)


bot.run("YOUR_BOT_TOKEN")

AbhigyanTripsused /server
Disnake BotBot03/15/2024
Server name: Disnake Guide
Total members: 2

tip

Refer to the Guild documentation for a list of all the available properties and methods.

You could also display the date the server was created, or the server's verification level. You would do those in the same manner - use inter.guild.created_at or inter.guild.verification_level, respectively.

User info command

A "user" refers to a Discord user. inter.author refers to the user the interaction was sent by (a User instance in DM contexts, or a Member instance in server contexts), which exposes properties such as .name or .id. (Using just inter.author will give the user's full tag.)

main.py
import disnake
from disnake.ext import commands

bot = commands.Bot()


@bot.event
async def on_ready():
print("The bot is ready!")


@bot.slash_command()
async def user(inter):
await inter.response.send_message(f"Your tag: {inter.author}\nYour ID: {inter.author.id}")


bot.run("YOUR_BOT_TOKEN")

AbhigyanTripsused /server
Disnake BotBot03/15/2024
Your tag: AbhigyanTrips#1234
Your ID: 123456789012345678

tip

Refer to the User and Member documentation for a list of all the available properties and methods.

And there you have it!

Resulting Code

The code showcased in this section can be found on our GitHub repository here.