Discord Community MCP

A local-first Model Context Protocol server that gives AI agents read-only Discord search, conversation recall, community research, and growth analysis through a bot account. Sending messages and reactions is available only when explicitly enabled.

What it can do

• Find conversations from a vague memory, even when the wording is uncertain
• Reconstruct context around a matching message
• Index selected Discord history in a local SQLite database
• Analyze activity, response times, participation, concentration, reciprocity, and themes
• Save member snapshots and analyze joins, departures, roles, and contributor growth
• Optionally send messages, replies, and reactions

Requirements

• Node.js 22.5 or newer
• A Discord application and bot token
• An MCP client that supports local stdio servers, such as Codex

1. Create a Discord bot

1. Open the Discord Developer Portal and create an application.
2. Open Bot, create the bot, and copy its token.
3. Under Bot → Privileged Gateway Intents, enable:
   • Message Content Intent for message text and search
   • Server Members Intent for member snapshots, join dates, roles, and growth
4. Presence Intent is not required.
5. Under OAuth2 → URL Generator, select the bot scope.
6. Give the bot View Channels and Read Message History. Add Send Messages or Add Reactions only if you plan to enable write tools.
7. Open the generated URL and invite the bot to your Discord server.

The bot can only access channels its Discord role is allowed to view.

2. Install

git clone https://github.com/blackgirlbytes/discord-community-mcp.git
cd discord-community-mcp
npm ci
npm run build
cp .env.example .env

Open .env and replace the placeholder token:

DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN=replace-with-your-bot-token
DISCORD_ENABLE_WRITE=false

Keep .env private. It is excluded from git.

3. Add it to an MCP client

Codex CLI

Use absolute paths so the client can start the server from any directory:

codex mcp add discord-community -- \
  node \
  --env-file=/absolute/path/to/discord-community-mcp/.env \
  /absolute/path/to/discord-community-mcp/dist/index.js

Restart Codex after adding the server.

Generic stdio configuration

Clients that use an mcpServers JSON object can use:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "discord-community": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "--env-file=/absolute/path/to/discord-community-mcp/.env",
        "/absolute/path/to/discord-community-mcp/dist/index.js"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Restart the MCP client after changing its configuration. You can then ask it to list the Discord servers and channels available to the bot.

Example questions

• “Find the conversation where someone said onboarding felt like homework.”
• “What did we decide about renaming the SDK last spring?”
• “Why are beta testers responding slowly? Look for evidence across the last three months.”
• “How has the community grown by month, and how does growth compare with participation?”
• “Which support questions went unanswered last week?”

For broad analysis, the agent should first synchronize the relevant channels and date range, check index coverage, and then run community research. Behavioral explanations should be presented as hypotheses unless messages directly support them.

Available tools

Tool	Purpose
discord_list_guilds	List servers available to the bot
discord_list_channels	List channels in a server
discord_read_messages	Read recent messages with pagination
discord_find_messages	Search for a vaguely remembered conversation
discord_get_message_context	Read messages surrounding a match
discord_sync_community_history	Build or refresh the local message index
discord_research_community	Produce an evidence packet for a community question
discord_get_community_index_status	Check indexed channels, dates, and coverage
discord_sync_member_snapshot	Save current membership, join-date, and role data
discord_analyze_growth	Analyze membership and participation over time
discord_send_message	Send a message when writes are enabled
discord_reply_to_message	Reply when writes are enabled
discord_add_reaction	React when writes are enabled

Data and privacy

Message content and membership metadata are stored unencrypted in data/discord-analytics.sqlite by default. Override the location with DISCORD_ANALYTICS_DB.

DISCORD_ANALYTICS_DB=/absolute/private/path/discord-analytics.sqlite

• Index only channels and date ranges needed for the analysis.
• Protect and delete the database according to your community's privacy policy.
• Give the bot the minimum Discord permissions it needs.
• Keep DISCORD_ENABLE_WRITE=false unless sending content is intentional.
• Rotate the bot token immediately if it is exposed.

Analysis limitations

• A message archive can show behavioral patterns but cannot prove why people behaved that way.
• Discord users may respond without using the Reply action, so reply metrics can undercount responses.
• Historical role membership is not reconstructed; older messages use the latest observed role.
• Exact departures are detected only between saved member snapshots.
• A first member snapshot cannot recover people who left before the bot observed them.
• Search and analytics cover only channels visible to the bot and history that was synchronized.
• Direct messages are not supported.

Write access

Write tools are registered but blocked by default. To enable them, update .env:

DISCORD_ENABLE_WRITE=true

The bot must also have the corresponding Discord permissions. Keep writes disabled for research-only installations.

Development

npm ci
npm run check
npm test

The server writes operational logs to stderr because stdout is reserved for the MCP stdio protocol.