Server and Channel Management

What Discord apps can do with servers and channels, and what permissions they need.

Discord apps can programmatically interact with Discord servers (guilds) and channels. This includes reading content, posting messages, managing members, creating channels, and more. Nearly all of these actions require the bot to have the appropriate permissions in the target server or channel.

What Apps Can Do

Some examples of server and channel management features include the ability to do the following. Check out the API Reference for a complete list of endpoints and capabilities.

Guilds

• Read guild metadata: name, icon, member count, features
• List and manage roles (create, update, delete, assign to members)
• Kick and ban members
• Manage and audit server events
• List guild integrations and webhooks

Channels

• List and read channels across the server
• Create, edit, and delete channels and threads
• Set channel permissions and position
• Read and send messages (subject to message permissions)
• Manage pinned messages

Members

• Fetch member profiles and role assignments
• Add or remove roles from members
• Modify member nicknames
• Manage member timeouts

Key Permissions

Most server and channel operations require explicit permissions. Check out our Permissions reference for a full list of permissions. Common ones include:

Permission	What It Enables
MANAGE_GUILD	Edit server settings, view audit log
MANAGE_CHANNELS	Create, edit, delete channels
MANAGE_ROLES	Create and manage roles below the bot’s highest role
KICK_MEMBERS	Remove members from the server
BAN_MEMBERS	Permanently ban members
MANAGE_MESSAGES	Delete messages from other users, pin messages
VIEW_CHANNEL	See a channel and its message history
SEND_MESSAGES	Post messages in a channel

Permissions can be overridden at the channel level, so a bot may have server-wide permissions but be restricted in specific channels (or vice versa).

Further Reading

Guild Resource

Full API reference for guild endpoints and objects.

Channel Resource

Full API reference for channel endpoints, message sending, and threads.