Skip to content
NDC Developer Docs

Creating an Application & Bot

Welcome to the NDC Developer Platform! Every bot on NDC is powered by an Application. This guide walks you through creating your application, configuring your bot user, and adding it to your community.

Step 1: Open the Developer Portal

Section titled “Step 1: Open the Developer Portal”

To create and manage your bots, visit the NDC Developer Portal:

Click “New Application” in the top right corner. Give your application a name (for example, My Helper Bot) and confirm.

Step 2: Application Overview

Section titled “Step 2: Application Overview”

The General Information page displays your app’s core credentials:

  • App ID: The unique snowflake identifier for your application.
  • Application Name & Description: How your app is identified across NDC.
  • App Icon: Upload an avatar for your application.
  • Terms of Service & Privacy Policy URLs: Optional links for public bots.

[!TIP] Your App ID is public and safe to share. It is used in OAuth2 invite links and API lookups.

Step 3: Configure Your Bot

Section titled “Step 3: Configure Your Bot”

Click on the Bot tab in the left sidebar to access your bot credentials:

  1. Bot Username & Avatar: Customize how your bot looks and what name it displays in chat channels.

  2. Generate Bot Token: Click “Reset Token” (or “Copy Token”).

    [!CAUTION] Your Bot Token is the password to your bot. Anyone with this token can control your bot, read messages, and perform actions. Never commit your bot token to GitHub or share it publicly! Always store it in an environment variable (.env).

  3. Public Bot:

    • When enabled, any server owner on NDC can invite your bot to their community.
    • When disabled, only you (the application owner) can invite the bot.

  4. Privileged Gateway Intents: If your bot needs to read message content (e.g. prefix commands like !ping), ensure Message Content Intent is enabled under the Bot settings.

Section titled “Step 4: Generate an Invite Link (OAuth2)”

To add your bot to a server where you have the Manage Server or Administrator permission:

  1. Click on the Installation tab in the Developer Portal.
  2. Under Scopes, select bot (and optionally applications.commands for slash commands).
  3. Under Bot Permissions, select the permissions your bot requires:
    • Send Messages
    • Read Message History
    • View Channels
    • Embed Links / Attach Files
  4. Copy the generated Invite Link at the bottom of the page.
  5. Paste the link into your browser, select your community server, and click Authorize!

Your bot will now appear in your server’s member list (initially offline until you connect your bot script).

Next Steps

Section titled “Next Steps”

Now that your bot user exists and is invited to your community, head over to the quickstart guide:

👉 Build Your First NDC Bot →