Discord Threads

Discord Threads

Discord plugin for Claude Code with per-session thread routing. Fork of the official Discord plugin with added support for session-isolated threads and full permission context in messages.

When the bot receives a message, the MCP server forwards it to Claude and provides tools to reply, react, and edit messages.

Prerequisites

• Bun — the MCP server runs on Bun with discord.js and the MCP SDK. Dependencies are auto-installed on first launch.

Quick Setup

Default pairing flow for a single-user DM bot. See ACCESS.md for groups and multi-user setups.

1. Create a Discord application and bot.

Go to the Discord Developer Portal and click New Application. Give it a name.

Navigate to Bot in the sidebar. Give your bot a username.

Scroll down to Privileged Gateway Intents and enable Message Content Intent — without this the bot receives messages with empty content.

2. Generate a bot token.

Still on the Bot page, scroll up to Token and press Reset Token. Copy the token — it's only shown once. Hold onto it for step 5.

3. Invite the bot to a server.

Discord won't let you DM a bot unless you share a server with it.

Navigate to OAuth2 → URL Generator. Select the bot scope. Under Bot Permissions, enable:

• View Channels
• Send Messages
• Send Messages in Threads
• Create Private Threads
• Read Message History
• Attach Files
• Add Reactions

Integration type: Guild Install. Copy the Generated URL, open it, and add the bot to any server you're in.

For DM-only use you technically need zero permissions — but enabling them now saves a trip back when you want guild channels or session threads later.

4. Install the plugin.

These are Claude Code commands — run claude to start a session first.

Install the plugin:

/plugin marketplace add axiumfoundry/claude-discord-threads-plugin
/plugin install discord-threads@axiumfoundry-plugins

5. Restart Claude Code.

Exit and start a new claude session. The skill commands (/discord-threads:configure, /discord-threads:access) won't be available until you restart.

6. Give the server the token.

/discord:configure MTIz...

Writes DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN=... to ~/.claude/channels/discord/.env. You can also write that file by hand, or set the variable in your shell environment — shell takes precedence.

To run multiple bots on one machine (different tokens, separate allowlists), point DISCORD_STATE_DIR at a different directory per instance.

7. Relaunch with the channel flag.

The server won't connect without this — exit your session and start a new one:

claude --channels plugin:discord-threads@axiumfoundry-plugins

8. Pair.

With Claude Code running from the previous step, DM your bot on Discord — it replies with a pairing code. If the bot doesn't respond, make sure your session is running with --channels. In your Claude Code session:

/discord:access pair <code>

Your next DM reaches the assistant.

9. Auto-allow Discord tools (recommended).

By default, every Discord reply/react/edit triggers a permission prompt. To auto-approve all Discord tools, add this to ~/.claude/settings.json:

{
  "permissions": {
    "allow": [
      "mcp__plugin_discord-threads_discord__reply",
      "mcp__plugin_discord-threads_discord__react",
      "mcp__plugin_discord-threads_discord__edit_message",
      "mcp__plugin_discord-threads_discord__fetch_messages",
      "mcp__plugin_discord-threads_discord__download_attachment"
    ]
  }
}

Or merge with your existing permissions if you already have an allow array.

10. Lock it down.

Pairing is for capturing IDs. Once you're in, switch to allowlist so strangers don't get pairing-code replies. Ask Claude to do it, or /discord-threads:access policy allowlist directly.

Session threads

When running multiple Claude Code sessions simultaneously, each session can create its own Discord thread so messages are routed to the correct session instead of being broadcast to all of them.

Setup: Enable Developer Mode in Discord (User Settings → Advanced), right-click the text channel where threads should be created → Copy Channel ID. Then run:

/discord:configure threads <channel_id>

This saves DISCORD_THREAD_CHANNEL_ID to ~/.claude/channels/discord/.env. To disable: /discord:configure threads off.

How it works:

• On startup, the bot creates a private thread in the configured channel, named after the project directory and git branch (e.g. myapp/feature-auth 2026-03-27 a3f1).
• Messages in that thread are only delivered to the session that created it.
• DMs continue to work as before — routed to whichever session receives them.
• When the session ends, the bot posts "Session ended." in the thread.

Optional env vars (add manually to ~/.claude/channels/discord/.env):

Variable	Default	Description
DISCORD_SESSION_NAME	(auto: dir/branch date suffix)	Explicit thread name override (max 100 chars).
DISCORD_SESSION_ARCHIVE	false	Set to true to archive the thread when the session ends.

Permissions: Private threads require the bot to have Create Private Threads permission. If missing, the server falls back to public threads automatically.

Access control

See ACCESS.md for DM policies, guild channels, mention detection, delivery config, skill commands, and the access.json schema.

Quick reference: IDs are Discord snowflakes (numeric — enable Developer Mode, right-click → Copy ID). Default policy is pairing. Guild channels are opt-in per channel ID.

Tools exposed to the assistant

Tool	Purpose
reply	Send to a channel. Takes chat_id + text, optionally reply_to (message ID) for native threading and files (absolute paths) for attachments — max 10 files, 25MB each. Auto-chunks; files attach to the first chunk. Returns the sent message ID(s).
react	Add an emoji reaction to any message by ID. Unicode emoji work directly; custom emoji need <:name:id> form.
edit_message	Edit a message the bot previously sent. Useful for "working…" → result progress updates. Only works on the bot's own messages.
fetch_messages	Pull recent history from a channel (oldest-first). Capped at 100 per call. Each line includes the message ID so the model can reply_to it; messages with attachments are marked +Natt. Discord's search API isn't exposed to bots, so this is the only lookback.
download_attachment	Download all attachments from a specific message by ID to ~/.claude/channels/discord/inbox/. Returns file paths + metadata. Use when fetch_messages shows a message has attachments.

Inbound messages trigger a typing indicator automatically — Discord shows "botname is typing…" while the assistant works on a response.

Attachments

Attachments are not auto-downloaded. The <channel> notification lists each attachment's name, type, and size — the assistant calls download_attachment(chat_id, message_id) when it actually wants the file. Downloads land in ~/.claude/channels/discord/inbox/.

Same path for attachments on historical messages found via fetch_messages (messages with attachments are marked +Natt).