How to Host a Discord Bot 24/7

Introduction

To develop and host a Discord bot on Square Cloud, it’s essential to follow a structured sequence of configurations and prerequisites. This technical guide will cover the entire process, from initial setup to production deployment.

Prerequisites

Square Cloud Account: Register through the signup page using your email.
Active plan: Ensures dedicated resources and optimized performance for your application. Check our available plans and choose the most suitable for your needs.

This guide runs on the Node.js runtime or the Python runtime.

Create the project

You need a Discord account to create and manage bots. If you don’t have one, create it on the official Discord website.

Bot application on Discord

Create the application

Access the Developer Portal and click “New Application”. Define a name for your bot and click “Create” to create the application.

Creating a Discord application in Developer Portal

Generate the token

After creating the application, navigate to the “Bot” tab and click “Reset Token” to generate the authentication token. Copy it: you will set it as an environment variable on Square Cloud, never in your code.

Generating Discord bot authentication token

Turn on the privileged intents

The example bot reads the text of messages, so it needs the Message Content Intent. Stay in the “Bot” tab, scroll down to “Privileged Gateway Intents” and turn on Message Content Intent. This example doesn’t need the other two privileged intents (Presence and Server Members).

Enabling Discord privileged gateway intents

Keep your token secret: this token grants total control over the bot. Never write it in your code or put it in your ZIP: the examples below read it from the DISCORD_TOKEN environment variable.

Develop the bot

Write the bot with discord.js (Node.js) or discord.py (Python):

Discord.js (Node.js)
Discord.py (Python)

Verify that Node.js is installed on your system. If not, download it from the official Node.js website.
Initialize a new Node.js project:

Terminal

npm init -y

Install the discord.js library:

Terminal

npm install discord.js

Create a JavaScript file (e.g., index.js) and add the following code to create a basic Discord bot:

index.js

const { Client, Events, GatewayIntentBits } = require("discord.js");

const client = new Client({
  intents: [
    GatewayIntentBits.Guilds,
    GatewayIntentBits.GuildMessages,
    // Privileged: turn on "Message Content Intent" in the Developer Portal
    GatewayIntentBits.MessageContent,
  ],
});

client.once(Events.ClientReady, (readyClient) => {
  console.log(`Logged in as ${readyClient.user.tag}`);
});

client.on(Events.MessageCreate, (message) => {
  if (message.author.bot) return;
  if (message.content === "!hello") {
    message.reply("Hello!");
  }
});

// The token comes from the DISCORD_TOKEN environment variable
client.login(process.env.DISCORD_TOKEN);

The code uses discord.js v14, where the ready event is Events.ClientReady ("clientReady"). The old "ready" name is deprecated.

Verify that Python is installed on your system. If not, download it from the official Python website.
Install the discord.py library using pip:

Terminal

pip install discord.py

Create a Python file (e.g., main.py) and add the following code to create a basic Discord bot:

main.py

import os

import discord
from discord.ext import commands

intents = discord.Intents.default()
# Privileged: turn on "Message Content Intent" in the Developer Portal
intents.message_content = True

bot = commands.Bot(command_prefix="!", intents=intents)


@bot.event
async def on_ready():
    print(f"Logged in as {bot.user}")


@bot.command()
async def hello(ctx):
    await ctx.reply("Hello!")


# The token comes from the DISCORD_TOKEN environment variable
bot.run(os.environ["DISCORD_TOKEN"])

Create a requirements.txt file to list all external libraries needed for your project:

requirements.txt

discord.py

Configure Square Cloud

Create a squarecloud.app file at the root of your project, next to your main file. It tells Square Cloud how to run your bot:

DISPLAY_NAME=My Discord Bot
MAIN=index.js
MEMORY=512
VERSION=recommended
AUTORESTART=true

DISPLAY_NAME=My Discord Bot
MAIN=main.py
MEMORY=512
VERSION=recommended
AUTORESTART=true

MAIN is the file Square Cloud runs, and MEMORY is the bot’s RAM in MB. Bots need at least 256 MB; 512 MB leaves room to grow.
AUTORESTART=true starts the bot again if it crashes. See how auto restart works.
There is no SUBDOMAIN: a bot doesn’t serve web pages.

When you upload from the dashboard, the upload form can fill in these settings for you. See the configuration file reference for every field.

Set the bot token

Your code reads the token from the DISCORD_TOKEN environment variable, so the token never goes into your files. Set it in one of these ways:

Dashboard: on the upload page, open Advanced configuration and add a variable named DISCORD_TOKEN with your token as the value. For a bot that is already deployed, add it on the application’s Environment Variables page and restart the bot.
CLI: right after you upload the bot (see Deploy and verify), set it with squarecloud app env set and restart the bot:

squarecloud app env set DISCORD_TOKEN=your_token_here
squarecloud app restart

The bot reads its environment variables when it starts, so restart it after every change. See Environment variables for the other ways to manage them.

To run the bot on your computer first, set the variable in your terminal: export DISCORD_TOKEN=your_token_here on macOS and Linux, or $env:DISCORD_TOKEN="your_token_here" in PowerShell.

What goes in the ZIP

Your main file (index.js or main.py) and your other source files.
package.json or requirements.txt.
squarecloud.app.

Leave out node_modules, .venv and __pycache__: Square Cloud installs your dependencies when the bot starts.

Deploy and verify

Create the ZIP described above, then upload it:

Via dashboard

Access the Upload Page

Access the upload page and upload your project zip file.

Configure Your Environment

After uploading your zip, you will need to configure the name, main file or runtime environment and other settings for your project.
If you are uploading a web project, make sure to select “Web Publication” and set a subdomain to your project.

Deploy Your Project

Finally, click on the “Deploy” button to host your project on Square Cloud.
After deployment, you can monitor your project’s status and logs from the dashboard.

Confirm Your App Is Live

Your first deploy usually takes less than a minute. In the dashboard, wait for your application status to show as running and check the logs for any startup errors.
If you deployed a website or API, open https://<your-subdomain>.squareweb.app in your browser: you should see your application responding. If you deployed a bot, send it a command to confirm it is online.

App not starting? See the Troubleshooting guide for the most common causes and fixes.

Via CLI

To use this method, your project needs a configuration file named squarecloud.app at its root. It tells Square Cloud how to run your application.

Configuration file guide

Learn how to create the squarecloud.app configuration file that defines your application’s environment.

Install the CLI

Install the Square Cloud CLI. If you already have it, run the same command to update it:

curl -fsSL https://cli.squarecloud.app/install | bash

npm install -g @squarecloud/cli@latest

Run the command below. It opens your browser: approve the login there and the CLI is ready. There is no API key to copy. For scripts and CI, see CLI authentication.

squarecloud auth login

Upload Your Project

From your project folder, run the command below. The CLI zips the current folder, leaving out what squarecloud.ignore lists, and uploads it:

squarecloud upload

To upload a zip you created yourself, pass it with --file:

squarecloud upload --file <path/to/zip>

Confirm Your App Is Live

Your first deploy usually takes less than a minute. Check your application status and logs directly from the terminal:

squarecloud app status
squarecloud app logs

If you deployed a website or API, open https://<your-subdomain>.squareweb.app in your browser: you should see your application responding. If you deployed a bot, send it a command to confirm it is online.

App not starting? See the Troubleshooting guide for the most common causes and fixes.

Invite the bot to your server

To send the bot a command, add it to a Discord server:

Access the Developer Portal and select your bot.
Navigate to the “OAuth2” tab and go to “OAuth2 URL Generator”.
Under “Scopes”, check the “bot” option.
Under “Bot Permissions”, check only what the example needs: View Channels, Send Messages and Read Message History. Avoid Administrator: bots rarely need it, and a leaked token would then control your whole server.
Copy the generated URL, open it in your browser and add the bot to your server. The URL looks like this:

https://discord.com/oauth2/authorize?client_id=YOUR_CLIENT_ID&permissions=68608&scope=bot

68608 is the sum of those three permissions. Replace YOUR_CLIENT_ID with your application’s ID, shown on the “General Information” tab. If you add commands that need more permissions, generate a new URL with them checked. Then send !hello in a channel the bot can see. It replies with Hello!.

Testing the Discord bot after deployment

Common errors

An invalid token was provided

The logs show Error [TokenInvalid]: An invalid token was provided. (discord.js) or discord.errors.LoginFailure: Improper token has been passed. (discord.py). The DISCORD_TOKEN variable is missing or holds an old token. Copy the current token from the “Bot” tab, set it again and restart the bot. With discord.py, a KeyError: 'DISCORD_TOKEN' means the variable is not set at all.

Used disallowed intents

The logs show Error [DisallowedIntents]: Privileged intent provided is not enabled or whitelisted. (discord.js) or discord.errors.PrivilegedIntentsRequired (discord.py). The code asks for the Message Content Intent, but it is off in the Developer Portal. Turn it on in the “Bot” tab, as in Bot application on Discord, then restart the bot.

The bot is online but doesn’t answer `!hello`

Check that the bot can view and send messages in that channel, and that the Message Content Intent is on: without it, the bot receives messages with empty text. For more messages and fixes, see Discord bot errors.

Next steps

Discord bot errors

Fix an invalid token, missing intents and other common errors.

Environment variables

Manage your bot’s token and other secrets.

Lavalink server

Host a Lavalink server to play music in your bot.

For more about these libraries, see the official discord.py documentation and the official discord.js guide.

Contact us

If you continue facing technical difficulties, our specialized support team is available to assist you. Contact us and we’ll be happy to help you resolve any issue: support quality is a big part of why developers rate Square Cloud 4.9/5 across 402 reviews on Google and Trustpilot.

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How to Host a Discord Bot 24/7

Introduction

Prerequisites

Create the project

Bot application on Discord

Develop the bot

Configure Square Cloud

Set the bot token

What goes in the ZIP

Deploy and verify

Via dashboard

Via CLI

Configuration file guide

Invite the bot to your server

Common errors

An invalid token was provided

Used disallowed intents

The bot is online but doesn’t answer `!hello`

Next steps

Discord bot errors

Environment variables

Lavalink server

Contact us

​Introduction

​Prerequisites

​Create the project

​Bot application on Discord

​Develop the bot

​Configure Square Cloud

​Set the bot token

​What goes in the ZIP

​Deploy and verify

​Via dashboard

​Via CLI

Configuration file guide

​Invite the bot to your server

​Common errors

​An invalid token was provided

​Used disallowed intents

​The bot is online but doesn’t answer !hello

​Next steps

Discord bot errors

Environment variables

Lavalink server

​Contact us

Introduction

Prerequisites

Create the project

Bot application on Discord

Develop the bot

Configure Square Cloud

Set the bot token

What goes in the ZIP

Deploy and verify

Via dashboard

Via CLI

Invite the bot to your server

Common errors

An invalid token was provided

Used disallowed intents

The bot is online but doesn’t answer `!hello`

Next steps

Contact us