Remote bot via a Discord slash command (no n8n)

This wires a Discord /wms slash command straight to the remote-bot API's four actions — no n8n, no workflow to build. Discord calls WMS directly over HTTPS whenever you type the command; WMS verifies the request really came from Discord (a cryptographic signature, not a password) and runs the action.

Do the setup in the API guide first — a real Access Control entry and a bot PIN. You don't need WMS_BOT_API_PORT turned on for this guide specifically (this uses its own route), though there's no harm leaving it on too if you also use the n8n guide.

One difference from that guide that matters here: it says the Discord ID field can be any string you'll remember, since n8n is the one constructing that field and can send anything. That's not true for this guide — Discord itself fills in your real account ID on every slash command, so whatever you link here must be that exact number, not a made-up placeholder. To get it: in Discord, Settings → Advanced → turn on Developer Mode, then right-click your own name/avatar anywhere → Copy User ID. Use that (a long number, not your username) as the Discord ID when setting up your link. Linking anything else — including something that happens to match your WMS username — fails every command with "unauthorized," no matter how right the PIN is.

How this is different from the n8n guide

n8n needed a Discord bot that stays logged in, listening for messages, and WMS's bot API only listens on 127.0.0.1 — so n8n had to be bridged onto the same loopback to reach it (the whole "one gotcha" section in that guide). This is simpler: Discord's slash commands work by Discord itself calling a URL you give it, once, whenever someone runs the command. That means:

• No persistent bot process to keep running or restart if it crashes.
• No new Cloudflare Tunnel hostname — the URL is just a new path on a domain you already have pointed here (tui.example.com), so there's one less thing to add in Cloudflare.
• Instead of a loopback check, every request is verified with a signature Discord attaches — only Discord's real servers can produce a valid one.

Part 1 — Create the Discord application

1. Go to discord.com/developers/applications → New Application. Name it anything (e.g. "WMS Bot").
2. On General Information, copy the Public Key — a long hex string. This is what proves a request really came from Discord; it's not a secret (it's a public key), but keep it exact.
3. Go to the Bot tab → Add Bot if one wasn't created automatically. Copy its Token too — you only need this once, to register the command in Part 2, not for ongoing use.
4. Go to OAuth2 → URL Generator. Tick scopes bot and applications.commands, then open the generated URL and invite it to a server you're in.

Part 2 — Register the /wms command

This is a one-time setup call to Discord's API — paste your own Application ID (General Information page) and Bot Token (from step 3 above) into this and run it once from any shell:

curl -X PUT "https://discord.com/api/v10/applications/YOUR_APPLICATION_ID/commands" \
  -H "Authorization: Bot YOUR_BOT_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '[{
    "name": "wms",
    "description": "WMS admin actions",
    "options": [
      {"type":1,"name":"reassign","description":"Reassign or release a ticket","options":[
        {"type":4,"name":"ticket_id","description":"Ticket ID","required":true},
        {"type":3,"name":"pin","description":"Your bot PIN","required":true},
        {"type":3,"name":"to","description":"Username to assign to (blank releases it)","required":false}
      ]},
      {"type":1,"name":"message","description":"Message a user","options":[
        {"type":3,"name":"username","description":"Who to message","required":true},
        {"type":3,"name":"body","description":"Message text","required":true},
        {"type":3,"name":"pin","description":"Your bot PIN","required":true}
      ]},
      {"type":1,"name":"kick","description":"Kick a live session","options":[
        {"type":3,"name":"session_id","description":"Session ID","required":true},
        {"type":3,"name":"message","description":"Reason shown to the user","required":true},
        {"type":3,"name":"pin","description":"Your bot PIN","required":true}
      ]},
      {"type":1,"name":"tickets","description":"List open tickets","options":[
        {"type":3,"name":"pin","description":"Your bot PIN","required":true}
      ]},
      {"type":1,"name":"alerts","description":"List open accuracy alerts","options":[
        {"type":3,"name":"pin","description":"Your bot PIN","required":true}
      ]},
      {"type":1,"name":"proof","description":"Attach a photo/scan of a finished paper checklist","options":[
        {"type":3,"name":"set","description":"Set number (e.g. 75192)","required":true},
        {"type":11,"name":"photo","description":"A jpg, png or PDF of the finished paper checklist","required":true},
        {"type":3,"name":"note","description":"Optional note","required":false},
        {"type":3,"name":"pin","description":"Your bot PIN","required":true}
      ]}
    ]
  }]'

Option type:11 is Discord's ATTACHMENT type — it adds a file-upload button right inside the slash command, so there's nothing to paste or link.

If you already registered /wms before proof (or alerts) existed, re-run this same command — it's a full replace, not an append, so it picks up the new subcommand along with the existing ones.

A JSON array in reply (one object, "name":"wms") means it registered. It can take up to an hour to show up for everyone the first time (Discord's own caching, nothing to do with WMS), though usually it's much faster.

Part 3 — Turn the WMS side on

Same place as every other optional setting in this project — the settings file, not a TUI screen (see the API guide's Part 1, step 3 for exactly where that is and why). Add:

"WMS_DISCORD_PUBLIC_KEY": "the hex string from step 2 above"

and restart wms-gateway.service. This is the only thing that turns the route on — it's off entirely (not reachable, 404) until this is set, same "empty = off" convention as everything else optional here. As with the bot API port, this is a one-line server change — just ask if you'd rather not edit it yourself.

Part 4 — Point Discord at it

Back on the General Information page in the Developer Portal, set Interactions Endpoint URL to:

https://tui.example.com/discord/interactions

(or whichever public hostname you already have pointed at the main WMS web gateway — it doesn't need to be a new one). Discord immediately sends a test request to that URL and only saves it if WMS responds correctly — so do Part 3 first, or this step will fail with "could not be verified."

Using it

In any server the bot's been invited to:

/wms tickets pin:1234
/wms reassign ticket_id:42 pin:1234 to:pat
/wms message username:pat body:"please double check your last set" pin:1234
/wms kick session_id:abc123 message:"logged off remotely" pin:1234
/wms alerts pin:1234
/wms proof set:75192 photo:[attach a file] note:"all parts present" pin:1234

/wms proof is the same effect as wms lego attach from the CLI: it verifies the attached file is a genuine, readable jpg/png/PDF (not just trusting the extension), stores a copy, and records it against the set's current (or most recent) check — set it going first with wms lego paper-done <set> (or an in-progress CLI check) if there isn't one yet, same requirement as the CLI command has. It doesn't flag the check disputed on its own; an admin does that from the CLI (wms lego attach --flag) or the dashboard's recheck action after actually looking at the attached photo.

Every reply is visible only to you (Discord calls this "ephemeral") — the same instinct as the API's collapsed 401s: a bot action's result isn't meant for the whole channel to see.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Likely cause
"The interaction failed"	Usually a wrong PIN or missing permission — same causes as the API guide's table, just surfaced as a Discord error message instead of JSON
❌ unauthorized even with the right PIN	The linked Discord ID isn't your real account ID — see the callout above. A placeholder string (like a WMS username) will never match what Discord actually sends
Discord won't save the Interactions Endpoint URL	WMS_DISCORD_PUBLIC_KEY isn't set yet, the gateway hasn't restarted since, or the URL doesn't point at a hostname actually proxying to this server
/wms doesn't show up in Discord at all	Give it up to an hour the first time; otherwise double-check Part 2 actually returned the command back in its JSON reply
Locked out (429-equivalent reply)	Same five-wrong-PINs, five-minute lock as the API — see the API guide's Part 4
❌ set 75192-1 has no check yet... on /wms proof	Run wms lego paper-done <set> (or start a CLI check) first — a proof attaches to an existing check, it doesn't create one
❌ ... isn't a readable jpg, png or pdf	The attached file is corrupt, or isn't actually one of those three formats despite its name/extension