Forum Permission Bot

A Discord bot that enforces per-thread posting restrictions in forum channels and can monitor honeypot channels. In monitored forum threads, only the thread author (OP) and configured staff roles can reply. In honeypot channels, any non-staff account that sends a message is immediately banned.

How it works

1. A user creates a thread in a monitored forum channel (e.g. #mod-news)
2. Someone without permission posts a reply
3. The bot deletes the message and posts in the notification channel:

   @User Your message in #thread-name was removed — only the thread author and staff may post there. Please read the rules: #rules

For honeypot channels:

1. Add one or more channel IDs to honeypotChannelIds
2. Any account without a configured staff role that posts in one of those channels is banned
3. The bot requests Discord to delete the banned account's last 60 minutes of messages

Setup

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+ (or Docker)
• A Discord application with a bot token — discord.com/developers/applications

1. Enable Privileged Intents

In the Discord Developer Portal, go to your app → Bot and enable:

• Server Members Intent
• Message Content Intent

2. Invite the bot

Use OAuth2 → URL Generator with scope bot and permissions:

• View Channels
• Read Message History
• Manage Messages
• Send Messages
• Ban Members

3. Configure the bot

Copy .env.example to .env and fill in your bot token:

BOT_TOKEN=your_token_here

Edit config.json:

{
  "forumChannelIds": ["ID of the forum channel(s) to monitor"],
  "staffRoleIds":    ["Role ID(s) that can always post in any thread"],
  "honeypotChannelIds": ["ID of honeypot channel(s) where non-staff posts cause an instant ban"],
  "notificationChannelId": "Channel ID where violation notices are posted",
  "rulesChannelId":        "Channel or thread ID linked in violation notices"
}

To get IDs: enable Developer Mode in Discord settings, then right-click any channel, role, or thread → Copy ID.

4. Run

npm install
npm start

For development with auto-restart:

npm run dev

Docker / Portainer

Build and run with Docker Compose:

BOT_TOKEN=your_token_here docker compose up -d

For Portainer Stacks:

1. Push this repo to Git (.env is gitignored — the token stays local)
2. Stacks → Add stack → Repository, point at your repo
3. Add BOT_TOKEN under Environment variables
4. Deploy

The container is configured with restart: unless-stopped, so it survives crashes and server reboots automatically.

Project structure

├── index.js                    # Bot entry point
├── config.json                 # Channel and role IDs
├── src/
│   ├── config.js               # Config loader and validator
│   └── handlers/
│       └── messageCreate.js    # Core permission enforcement logic
├── Dockerfile
├── docker-compose.yml
├── .env.example
└── .gitignore