Creating a Discord bot might sound complicated at first, but a very simple bot can actually be built in just a few minutes.

In this post we'll create a small bot using Discord.js that logs in and responds to a basic command.

No frameworks. No complicated architecture. Just the basics.

1. Create a Discord application

First, go to the Discord Developer Portal.

Create a new application, then:

1. Go to Bot
2. Click Add Bot
3. Copy your bot token (you'll need this later)

⚠️ Never share your bot token. It is essentially the password for your bot.

2. Create a new Node.js project

Create a new folder for your bot and initialize a project.

mkdir my-discord-bot
cd my-discord-bot
npm init -y

Now install Discord.js:

npm install discord.js

This installs the latest version of Discord.js.

3. Create the bot file

Create a file called:

index.js

This file will contain the code for our bot.

Your folder should now look like this:

my-discord-bot/
│
├── index.js
├── package.json
└── node_modules/

4. Write the bot code

Open index.js and paste the following code.

const { Client, GatewayIntentBits } = require('discord.js');

const client = new Client({
  intents: [
    GatewayIntentBits.Guilds,
    GatewayIntentBits.GuildMessages,
    GatewayIntentBits.MessageContent
  ]
});

/* Changed from "ready" to "clientReady" in DJS v14 */
client.once('clientReady', () => {
  console.log(`Logged in as ${client.user.tag}`);
});

client.on('messageCreate', message => {
  if (message.author.bot) return;

  if (message.content === '!ping') {
    message.reply('Pong! 🏓');
  }
});

client.login('YOUR_BOT_TOKEN');

Replace: YOUR_BOT_TOKEN with the bot token you copied earlier.

5. Invite the bot to your server

Go back to the Discord Developer Portal.

Navigate to:

OAuth2 → URL Generator

Select the following scopes:

- bot
- applications.commands

Then give the bot these permissions:

- Send Messages
- Read Message History

Discord will generate an invite link for you.

Open that link in your browser and invite the bot to your server.

6. Run the bot

Start the bot with:

node index.js

If everything worked correctly, your terminal should show something like:

Logged in as MyBot#1234

Now go into your Discord server and type:

!ping

Your bot should respond with:

Pong! 🏓

And just like that — your first bot is running.

How the code works

Let's break down the important parts.

Creating the client

const client = new Client({
  intents: [
    GatewayIntentBits.Guilds,
    GatewayIntentBits.GuildMessages,
    GatewayIntentBits.MessageContent
  ]
});

This creates the Discord client and tells Discord what events the bot should receive.

Without the correct intents, the bot won't receive message events.

The ready event

client.once('clientReady', () => {
  console.log(`Logged in as ${client.user.tag}`);
});

This runs when the bot successfully logs into Discord.

Listening for messages

client.on('messageCreate', message => {})

This event runs every time a new message is sent in a server the bot can see.

Ignoring bots

if (message.author.bot) return;

This prevents bot loops where bots reply to other bots forever.

The command

if (message.content === '!ping') {
  message.reply('Pong! 🏓');
}

If someone sends !ping, the bot replies with Pong!.

What to build next

Once your first bot works, you can start adding features like:

• slash commands
• moderation tools
• welcome messages
• logging systems
• leveling systems
• custom commands

Most bots start small and slowly grow as you experiment.

Final thoughts

Building your first Discord bot is a great introduction to working with APIs, events, and JavaScript applications.

The hardest part is usually just starting.

Once the bot logs in and sends its first message, everything else becomes much easier to understand.

If you're curious about bot development, try adding new commands and experimenting with Discord.js features. You might be surprised how powerful these bots can become.