Discord MCP

Local, read-only Discord MCP server. It uses stdio and direct Discord REST API calls—there is no HTTP listener, Kubernetes deployment, Gateway connection, event cache, or write tool.

Safety boundaries

• DISCORD_ALLOWED_GUILDS is required; the server fails to start without it.
• DISCORD_ALLOWED_CHANNELS is optional but recommended. When set, all channel and message reads outside it are rejected.
• Message tools always return message bodies. Enable Message Content Intent for the bot in Discord Developer Portal; without it, Discord returns empty content fields.
• The bot needs only View Channel and Read Message History for the initial tools. Do not grant Administrator, management, moderation, webhook, invite, or voice permissions.
• The bot token stays in your local MCP configuration or a local .env file; .env is ignored by Git.

Tools

• discord_list_guilds
• discord_list_channels
• discord_get_channel
• discord_list_messages
• discord_get_message

All tools are read-only. Message reads support a bounded limit (1–100) and a before or after cursor. The service never downloads attachments and never returns attachment URLs.

Setup

npm install

Copy .env.example to an ignored local .env file if you want a convenience template, then export it deliberately before running the development command:

set -a
. ./.env
set +a
npm run dev

Populate DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN and the numeric guild ID in that local file. Use Discord's Developer Mode to copy IDs. Add channel IDs to DISCORD_ALLOWED_CHANNELS before enabling the server for a shared guild.

Build and verify without contacting Discord:

npm run check
npm run build

Codex configuration

Export the configuration variables in the same local environment that launches the Codex CLI. Do not put the token in this repository or config.toml.

Add this local MCP entry to ~/.codex/config.toml, replacing the path with your clone path:

[mcp_servers.discord]
command = "node"
args = ["/absolute/path/to/discord-mcp/dist/index.js"]
cwd = "/absolute/path/to/discord-mcp"
env_vars = [
  "DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN",
  "DISCORD_ALLOWED_GUILDS",
  "DISCORD_ALLOWED_CHANNELS",
]

For example, in the shell you use to start Codex:

export DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN='...'
export DISCORD_ALLOWED_GUILDS='your-guild-id'
export DISCORD_ALLOWED_CHANNELS='your-test-channel-id'
codex

Build first, then restart Codex from that environment. If you use the ChatGPT desktop app rather than Codex CLI, configure the environment at the app-launch level or use the app's MCP-server form; a variable exported in an unrelated Terminal window will not be inherited by the already-running app.

Development

npm run dev
npm test
npm run typecheck

npm run dev reads environment variables from the current shell. It deliberately does not load .env automatically so the token cannot be accidentally supplied through an unexpected execution path.