How can I create a Discord bot to log messages from a specific channel?

Other Questions Discord bot
1

Hey everyone! I’m trying to figure out how to make a Discord bot that can keep track of all the messages sent in a particular channel. What I want is for the bot to automatically save the content of each message to some kind of database or storage system.

I’m not sure where to start with this. Does anyone have experience with Discord bots that can monitor and record messages? I’d love to hear about any code examples or libraries that might help me get this working.

Here’s a rough idea of what I’m thinking:

import discord
from discord.ext import commands
import sqlite3

bot = commands.Bot(command_prefix='!')

@bot.event
async def on_message(message):
    if message.channel.id == TARGET_CHANNEL_ID:
        store_message(message.content)

def store_message(content):
    conn = sqlite3.connect('messages.db')
    cursor = conn.cursor()
    cursor.execute('INSERT INTO messages (content) VALUES (?)', (content,))
    conn.commit()
    conn.close()

bot.run('YOUR_BOT_TOKEN')

Any suggestions on how to improve this or make it work better? Thanks in advance for your help!

2

hey there! i’ve done sumthin similar before. ur code looks good, but maybe add a timestamp to each message? also, consider using an async db library like aiosqlite for better performance. don’t forget to handle potential errors when storing messages. good luck with ur project!

3

Your approach is on the right track. I’d suggest enhancing it by implementing rate limiting to avoid hitting Discord’s API limits. Also, consider using a more robust database like PostgreSQL for scalability. You might want to add message editing and deletion tracking too, as it’s often crucial for comprehensive logging. Lastly, ensure you’re complying with Discord’s terms of service regarding data storage and user privacy. It’s a complex project, but quite rewarding once you get it running smoothly.

4

I’ve implemented a similar bot for my gaming community, and here’s what I learned:

Consider using a queue system to handle message processing. This helps manage high-traffic channels without overloading your database.

For storage, I found MongoDB worked well due to its flexibility with document structures. It easily handles varying message formats and attachments.

Don’t forget to log metadata like user IDs, timestamps, and message IDs. This extra info is invaluable for analysis later on.

Also, implement a way to export logs easily. We often needed to review past discussions, and having a simple export function saved tons of time.

Lastly, be mindful of privacy. We added commands to let users opt-out of logging if they wished. It’s not required, but it built trust in our community.