Discord bot not responding: a checklist to find the cause

When a bot does nothing, the cause is usually small. Go through this list from the top. The first matching step almost always finds it.

The bot shows as offline

• The program is not running. Start it with npm start and watch the console.
• The login failed. "An invalid token was provided" means the token is wrong or was reset. Copy a fresh one.
• The host stopped the process. Check the logs of the host, and use a process manager.
• The wrong .env file is used. Make sure the variables are set where the bot starts.

The bot is online but no commands appear

• The deploy script was not run. Run npm run deploy.
• The invite link had no applications.commands scope. Create a new link with both scopes.
• GUILD_ID points to another server than the one you are looking at.
• The CLIENT_ID is from another application.
• The command has a default permission your role does not have. Check the command settings of the server.

"The application did not respond"

The bot did not answer within three seconds or crashed while handling the command. Look at the console for an error. For slow work, defer the reply first. A command that never replies produces this message.

The command runs but nothing happens

• Missing permissions of the bot role in that channel. The console shows "Missing Permissions" or "Missing Access".
• The role is above the bot role in the list, so the bot cannot manage it.
• A privileged intent is missing. Events such as member joins or message content do not arrive without it.

Errors you may see and what they mean

• Used disallowed intents: switch on the intent in the Developer Portal or remove it from the code.
• Unknown interaction: the bot replied too late or twice.
• Cannot send messages to this user: the member has direct messages closed.
• Rate limited: the bot sends too much too fast. Slow down loops.

Read the console

The console of the program is the best source. A generated bot catches errors per command, logs them with the command name and tells the member that something went wrong. Start there before you change code.

Ask the chat to fix it

Paste the error into the chat of the project. The AI sees the current code and can fix the exact line. Earlier versions are kept if the change is wrong.