How can I make a Discord bot's cog slash commands sync on demand or more quickly?

[CreatingStone]

I’m currently developing a Discord bot with py-cord and facing a challenge with the registration of slash commands. They appear to be registering globally rather than just within specific guilds, which causes delays in their visibility.

Here’s the content of my main bot script:

import discord
import os
from dotenv import load_dotenv

# Load environment variables
env_path = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'config', '.env')
load_dotenv(env_path)

# Get token and IDs
BOT_TOKEN = os.getenv("DISCORD_TOKEN")
SERVER_ID = os.getenv("DISCORD_GUILD")
APPLICATION_ID = os.getenv("DISCORD_APPLICATION")

# Create a bot instance
bot = discord.Bot()

# Event on bot ready
@bot.event
async def on_ready():
    print(f"{bot.user} is ready!")

# List of cogs to load
cogs = [
    'welcome',
    'calculator',
]

for cog in cogs:
    bot.load_extension(f'cogs.{cog}')

# Command to sync commands
@bot.command(name="sync")
async def sync_commands(ctx):
    synced = await bot.tree.sync()
    print(f"Synced {len(synced)} command(s) successfully.")

bot.run(BOT_TOKEN)

And here’s a snippet from one of my cog files:

import discord
from discord.ext import commands

class Welcome(commands.Cog):
    
    def __init__(self, bot):
        self.bot = bot

    @discord.slash_command(name="hi", description="Greets the user")
    async def greet(self, ctx):
        await ctx.respond('Hello!')
        
    @discord.slash_command(name="bye", description="Says goodbye")
    async def farewell(self, ctx):
        await ctx.respond('Goodbye!')

# Register the cog with the bot
def setup(bot):
    bot.add_cog(Welcome(bot))

I’ve encountered this sync function online, but I’m getting an error stating that ‘tree’ is undefined. What strategies can I apply to achieve faster or on-demand syncing for my slash commands? Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

[miat]

The ‘tree’ attribute doesn’t exist in py-cord; it’s an element from discord.py. Instead, you should use bot.sync_commands() for syncing. I experienced a similar challenge when transitioning between libraries.

For quicker, guild-specific syncing, consider adding guild_ids to your slash commands, for example: @discord.slash_command(name="hi", description="Greets the user", guild_ids=[YOUR_GUILD_ID]). This approach ensures commands are available almost immediately in the specified server, bypassing the delay associated with global command registration.

Also, modify your sync command like this:

@bot.slash_command(name="sync")
async def sync_commands(ctx):
    await bot.sync_commands()
    await ctx.respond("Commands synced!")

Remember, guild commands sync right away, while global commands can take up to an hour to refresh. It’s advisable to stick with guild-specific commands during development.

[JessicaDream12]

You’re mixing up discord.py and py-cord syntax. bot.tree.sync() is discord.py - py-cord uses bot.sync_commands() instead.

I hit this same issue building my first py-cord bot. Just swap your sync command:

@bot.slash_command(name="sync")
async def sync_commands(ctx):
    await bot.sync_commands()
    await ctx.respond("Commands synced successfully!")

Pro tip: use guild IDs during development. Add the guild_ids parameter to your bot instance or individual commands. Global commands take up to an hour to sync across Discord’s servers, but guild commands show up instantly. Saved me tons of time testing.

[Laura219]

yeah, that’s a classic py-cord vs discord.py confusion. here’s what i do - set debug_guilds when you create the bot: bot = discord.Bot(debug_guilds=[your_guild_id]). this automatically makes every slash command register as a guild command during dev work. beats adding guild_ids to each command one by one.