Discord Bot

Vaquill legal AI for Discord servers with prefix commands, per-channel memory, and source citations.

Run Vaquill inside any Discord server. Members ask legal questions with !ask, the bot replies with cited cases and statutes, and per-channel history keeps follow-ups natural. Source code at github.com/Vaquill-AI/integrations/discord-bot.

Features

• !ask, !starters, !reset, !help prefix commands (prefix is configurable)
• Per-channel conversation history (cap configurable, default 20 exchanges)
• “Show Sources” button on every response reveals cited case law and statutes
• Long answers paginated with Previous / Next buttons
• Starter-question buttons via !starters
• Per-user and per-channel rate limits with optional Redis backend
• Channel and role allowlists

Prerequisites

• A Discord account with Manage Server permission on at least one server
• Python 3.10+ (or Docker)
• Vaquill API key (starts with vq_key_). See Authentication.

Platform setup

1. Create the application

   Open the Discord Developer Portal, click New Application, name it (e.g. “Vaquill Legal AI”), and click Create.

2. Create the bot user and copy the token

   In the sidebar, click Bot, then Add Bot > Yes, do it!. Click Reset Token, copy the value, and save it as DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN. You cannot view this token again after leaving the page.

3. Enable Message Content Intent (critical)

   On the same Bot page, scroll to Privileged Gateway Intents. Toggle Message Content Intent on and click Save Changes.

   Without Message Content Intent the bot cannot read message text and will silently ignore every command. This is the most common cause of “bot online but does nothing”.

4. Generate the invite URL

   Go to OAuth2 > URL Generator.

   Under Scopes check:

   • bot
   • applications.commands

   Under Bot Permissions check:

   • Send Messages
   • Embed Links
   • Read Message History
   • Use Slash Commands
   • Add Reactions

   Copy the generated URL at the bottom of the page.

5. Invite the bot to your server

   Paste the URL into your browser, select the target server, click Authorize, and pass the CAPTCHA. The bot will appear offline in your members list until you start it.

Quickstart

1. Clone and install

   git clone https://github.com/Vaquill-AI/integrations.git
   cd integrations/discord-bot
   python -m venv venv
   source venv/bin/activate
   pip install -r requirements.txt
   
2. Configure

   cp .env.example .env
   

   Fill in:

   DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN=your_discord_bot_token
   VAQUILL_API_KEY=vq_key_your_api_key_here
   VAQUILL_COUNTRY_CODE=US
   
3. Run

   python bot.py
   

   On success you will see VaquillBot has connected to Discord!. In your server, try:

   !ask What does FRCP Rule 12(b)(6) require for a motion to dismiss?
   

Configuration

Top env vars - see the repo’s .env.example for the full set.

Variable	Required	Default	Description
DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN	Yes	-	Bot token from the Developer Portal
VAQUILL_API_KEY	Yes	-	Vaquill API key (vq_key_...)
VAQUILL_API_URL	No	https://api.vaquill.ai/api/v1	API base URL
VAQUILL_MODE	No	standard	standard (faster) or deep (more thorough)
VAQUILL_COUNTRY_CODE	No	-	Jurisdiction filter, e.g. US
DISCORD_COMMAND_PREFIX	No	!	Command prefix
RATE_LIMIT_PER_USER	No	10	Per-user limit per window
RATE_LIMIT_PER_CHANNEL	No	30	Per-channel limit per window
RATE_LIMIT_WINDOW	No	60	Sliding window in seconds
ALLOWED_CHANNELS	No	-	Comma-separated channel IDs (empty = all)
ALLOWED_ROLES	No	-	Comma-separated role IDs (empty = all)
REDIS_URL	No	-	Optional Redis URL for distributed rate limiting

Commands

Command	Aliases	Description
!ask <question>	!a, !q	Ask a legal question; supports follow-ups via channel history
!starters	!start, !questions	Show starter questions as clickable buttons
!reset	-	Clear conversation history for the current channel
!help	-	Show the help menu

Deployment

Docker

docker build -t vaquill-discord-bot .
docker run -d --name vaquill-discord-bot --env-file .env vaquill-discord-bot
docker logs -f vaquill-discord-bot

For Compose, create a minimal docker-compose.yml:

services:
  bot:
    build: .
    restart: unless-stopped
    env_file: .env

Then docker compose up -d.

Cloud hosts

Railway

railway init && railway up. Set DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN and VAQUILL_API_KEY in the Variables tab.

Render

New Web Service. Build: pip install -r requirements.txt. Start: python bot.py.

VPS + systemd

Run under a systemd unit with Restart=always. The bot does not need an open port.

Fly.io

fly launch, set secrets, fly deploy. Discord uses long-poll so no public URL is required.

Example systemd unit:

[Unit]
Description=Vaquill Discord Bot
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=botuser
WorkingDirectory=/opt/vaquill-discord-bot
ExecStart=/opt/vaquill-discord-bot/venv/bin/python bot.py
EnvironmentFile=/opt/vaquill-discord-bot/.env
Restart=always
RestartSec=10

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Fix
Bot is offline	Check DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN. Confirm python bot.py is running. On free cloud tiers, confirm the service is not sleeping.
Bot online but ignores commands	Enable Message Content Intent in the Developer Portal and restart. Confirm you are using the correct prefix (default !).
”Privileged intent provided is not enabled or whitelisted” on startup	Enable Message Content Intent in the Developer Portal.
”Missing Permissions” error	Re-invite the bot with the URL from the OAuth2 step. Or grant Send Messages / Embed Links / Read Message History on the bot’s role.
API errors (“Sorry, I couldn’t process your request”)	Verify VAQUILL_API_KEY. Confirm VAQUILL_API_URL is reachable. If using deep mode, confirm your plan supports it.
Rate-limit messages too quickly	Raise RATE_LIMIT_PER_USER or RATE_LIMIT_WINDOW in .env.

Related

Slack

Slash commands and Socket Mode equivalent.

Telegram

Lightest setup - BotFather only.

Chatbots overview

Compare all six platforms.

Authentication

How Vaquill API keys work.