Section titled Starting outStarting out

Our create-discord-bot command-line interface sets up a basic Discord bot to help you get started on your journey.

Section titled Creating your botCreating your bot

To use discord.js, you'll need to install Node.js, Deno, or Bun. discord.js v14 requires Node.js v16.11.0 or higher, but the long-term support (LTS) version is always recommended. For the purposes of this guide, we will be using Node.js.

To check if you already have Node.js installed, run node --version in your terminal. If it outputs v16.11.0 or higher, then you're good to go!

Tip

Section titled WindowsWindows

Download from the Node.js website.
Use fnm.
Use Volta.

Section titled macOSmacOS

Download from the Node.js website.
Use fnm.
Use Homebrew.
Use nvm.
Use Volta.

Section titled LinuxLinux

Visit this page to determine how you should install Node.js.
Use fnm.
Use nvm.
Use Volta.

After installing Node.js, you'll be able to create a new application from your desired package manager. If you're starting out fresh, installing Node.js will also install npm, a package manager for Node.js.

npm

yarn

pnpm

bun


npm create discord-bot

You'll be asked the directory to create the application in, as well as whether TypeScript should be used. Dependencies will automatically be installed for you. After this, you've just got your startup Discord bot template nearly ready!

In the next section, we will explain how to create an application to interact with Discord's API.