---
title: "Discord"
description: "Trigger investigations and receive findings inside a Discord server."
---

OpenSRE's Discord integration lets you trigger investigations with the `/investigate` slash command and receive findings as formatted embeds in a dedicated thread — all without leaving Discord.

---

## Prerequisites

- A Discord server where you can add applications (server **Manage Server** permission).
- An OpenSRE host reachable from the public internet over HTTPS, so Discord can deliver interactions. For local development use a tunnel such as `ngrok`.

---

## Step 1: Create a Discord application and bot

1. Go to the [Discord Developer Portal](https://discord.com/developers/applications) and click **New Application**.
2. Give it a name (e.g. `OpenSRE`) and click **Create**.
3. Open the **Bot** tab on the left sidebar. (New applications are created with a bot user automatically.)
   - Under **Token**, click **Reset Token** and copy the value. This is your **Bot Token** — treat it like a password.
   - Under **Privileged Gateway Intents**, no additional intents are required.
4. Open the **General Information** tab and copy:
   - **Application ID**
   - **Public Key**

---

## Step 2: Set bot permissions and invite to your server

1. Open the **OAuth2 → URL Generator** tab.
2. Under **Scopes**, select:
   - `bot`
   - `applications.commands`
3. Under **Bot Permissions**, select:
   - `Send Messages`
   - `Create Public Threads`
   - `Send Messages in Threads`
   - `Embed Links`
   - `Read Message History`
4. Copy the generated URL and open it in your browser.
5. Select the server you want to add OpenSRE to and click **Authorize**.

---

## Step 3: Set the interactions endpoint URL

Discord requires your server to verify it owns the endpoint before slash commands will work.

1. In the **General Information** tab of your application, find **Interactions Endpoint URL**.
2. Set it to:
   ```
   https://<your-opensre-host>/discord/interactions
   ```
   Replace `<your-opensre-host>` with the public hostname where your OpenSRE server is running.
3. Click **Save Changes**. Discord will immediately send a `PING` to that URL and expect a valid response — OpenSRE handles this automatically.

<Note>
The `/discord/interactions` endpoint must be publicly reachable over HTTPS. If you are running locally, use a tunnel such as `ngrok` for testing.
</Note>

---

## Step 4: Configure the integration in OpenSRE

Run the setup wizard and select **Discord**:

```bash
opensre onboard
```

When prompted, enter:
- **Bot Token** — from Step 1
- **Application ID** — from Step 1
- **Public Key** — from Step 1
- **Default channel ID** *(optional)* — the channel where findings are posted when an investigation is triggered from the CLI rather than from a slash command. To find a channel ID, right-click the channel in Discord → **Copy Channel ID** (requires Developer Mode in Discord settings).

OpenSRE then registers the `/investigate` slash command on your application by calling Discord's API with the bot token and application ID. If the call fails (for example, because the token is wrong), you'll see a warning in the wizard output but the integration will still be saved — re-run the wizard with corrected credentials to retry.

The wizard writes the following environment variables to your `.env` file:

| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
| `DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN` | Bot token for API calls |
| `DISCORD_APPLICATION_ID` | Application ID for slash command registration |
| `DISCORD_PUBLIC_KEY` | Ed25519 public key for signature verification |
| `DISCORD_DEFAULT_CHANNEL_ID` | Fallback channel for CLI-triggered findings |

---

## Step 5: Trigger an investigation

In any Discord channel the bot has access to, run:

```
/investigate alert:<alert text or JSON>
```

OpenSRE will:
1. Acknowledge the command immediately (Discord's "thinking…" state).
2. Run the investigation in the background.
3. Post the findings as a rich embed in the same channel.
4. Create a thread on that message for follow-up context.

---

## Required bot permissions summary

| Permission | Why it's needed |
|---|---|
| `Send Messages` | Post the initial investigation result embed |
| `Create Public Threads` | Open a thread on the result message |
| `Send Messages in Threads` | Post follow-up content into the thread |
| `Embed Links` | Render structured embeds (root cause, evidence, recommendations) |
| `Read Message History` | Required for thread creation on existing messages |

---

## Troubleshooting

**Slash command not appearing in Discord**

The `/investigate` command is registered globally and may take up to one hour to propagate. Re-running `opensre onboard` and selecting Discord will re-register the command.

**`DISCORD_PUBLIC_KEY not configured` error on your server**

Ensure `DISCORD_PUBLIC_KEY` is set in your environment before starting the OpenSRE server. Re-run `opensre onboard` to write it to `.env`.

```
opensre onboard
```

**Discord returns "This interaction failed"**

The background investigation task encountered an error, or your server did not respond to the followup within Discord's 15-minute window. Check your OpenSRE server logs for details.

**401 on the interactions endpoint**

Your server's public key does not match the one Discord is signing with. Verify `DISCORD_PUBLIC_KEY` matches the value in the **General Information** tab of your Discord application.