Installation

discord-luau is distributed via pesde, the Luau package manager. The quickest way to get started is with the create_app scaffolder, which sets up a complete project for you.

Prerequisites

Before running the scaffolder, make sure the following tools are installed:

Tool	Install
pesde	Luau package manager - used to run create_app and install dependencies
rokit	Toolchain manager - used during project setup to install your chosen runtime
lune	Luau runtime - used by pesde to execute the create_app script
zune	Luau runtime - invoked by create_app to run the interactive wizard

Scaffold a new project

Run the following command to launch the interactive project wizard:

pesde x discord_luau/create_app create

To scaffold into a specific directory, pass it as an argument:

pesde x discord_luau/create_app create ./my-bot

The wizard will check that your prerequisites are installed, then walk you through the following steps:

Prompt	Options	Default
Project Name	scope/project_name (lowercase, underscores)	-
IDE	vscode, nvim, zed	vscode
Runtime	zune, lune	zune
Use Git	Yes, No	Yes
License	Any SPDX identifier	MIT
Discord Token	Your bot token	-

Once confirmed, the wizard will automatically run:

1. rokit install - installs your chosen runtime via rokit
2. {runtime} setup - sets up the runtime environment
3. git init - initialises a git repository (if selected)
4. pesde install - installs discord-luau and its dependencies

Project structure

After scaffolding, your project will look like this:

my_project/
├── src/
│   └── init.luau       # Your bot's entry point
├── patches/            # Dependency patches applied by pesde
├── .env.luau           # Your bot token - do not commit this
├── .gitignore          # Excludes .env.luau and luau_packages/
├── .luaurc             # Luau type aliases
├── pesde.toml          # Package manifest
├── rokit.toml          # Toolchain manifest
└── selene.toml         # Linter config

Keep your token secret

.env.luau contains your bot token and is excluded from git by the generated .gitignore. Never commit it.

The generated entry point

src/init.luau contains a working bot that logs messages and prints when it comes online:

local discord = require("@self/../luau_packages/discord")
local classes = require("@self/../luau_packages/classes")
local builders = require("@self/../luau_packages/builders")

local env = require("@self/../.env")

local DISCORD_BOT_INTENTS = builders.intents
    .new({
        "Guilds",
        "GuildMessages",
        "MessageContent",
    })
    :build()

local bot = discord.bot.new({
    token = env.DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN,
    intents = DISCORD_BOT_INTENTS,
    reconnect = true,
})

bot.onMessage:listen(function(message: classes.Message)
    print(`Message sent by '{message.author.globalName}' said: '{message.content}'`)
end)

bot.onAllShardsReady:listenOnce(function()
    print(`Bot '{bot.user.username}' is online!`)
end)

bot:connectAsync():await()

Running your bot

Once setup is complete, run your bot with your chosen runtime. For example, with zune:

zune run src/init.luau

Or with lune:

lune run src/init.luau