I built a Discord bot using discord.js and it’s currently live on my server working perfectly. Now I want to add new features and need to test them locally on my development machine.
The problem is I’m not sure how to test my updated bot without messing up the one that’s already running for my users. Can I somehow run both versions at the same time?
If that’s not possible, do I need to create a separate bot application and get a different token? What’s the best way to handle development and testing when you already have a bot in production?
I’m worried about accidentally breaking the live bot while I’m working on new features. Any advice on the proper workflow for this situation would be really helpful.
yeah, def create a separate bot. it helps keep things organized n ensures the live one stays intact. also, naming it diff is crucial so u dont mix em up later. happy coding!
Yeah, you can definitely run two versions at once. Just create a second bot app in Discord’s developer portal and grab its token - pretty standard for dev/prod setups. Use environment variables to handle the config. I throw my dev token in a .env file and keep the prod token on the server. That way I can test locally without messing up the live bot. Been doing this for months - works great. Give your dev bot different permissions if you need to, and maybe use a staging branch for your code. When you’re ready to push live, you’ll know everything actually works since you tested it with the dev bot first.
Separation’s the right call, but set up a dedicated test server too. I learned this the hard way - testing on the same server confused users with duplicate commands everywhere. Just create a new Discord app in the developer portal, grab a fresh token, and make a private test server. You can experiment freely without breaking anything live. Use environment variables to switch between dev and production configs - keeps your code clean and stops you from accidentally deploying to the wrong place. Pro tip: document your testing process from day one. Trust me, you’ll thank yourself later when you’re juggling multiple features across different environments.