How to add a bot to your Discord server
Open the bot's invite link, choose your server from the dropdown, review the permissions it asks for, then click Authorize. You need the Manage Server permission on that server, which owners have by default. The bot joins within a few seconds and appears in your member list.
Below: the exact steps on desktop and mobile, what each permission actually does, and the three things that usually go wrong.
Before you start
- You need the Manage Server permission on the server you are adding to. Server owners always have it. If you do not, ask the owner to add the bot or to grant you that permission.
- Only servers where you hold that permission appear in the dropdown. An empty or short list is almost always a permission problem, not a bug.
- You cannot add a bot from a server you have merely joined. Being a member is not enough.
On desktop
Open the bot's invite link
Every bot has one. It is adiscord.com/oauth2/authorizelink, usually behind an “Add to Server” or “Invite” button on the bot's website or its listing on a bot directory.Pick your server
Choose it from the Add to Server dropdown. If you are signed into more than one Discord account in your browser, check you are on the right one before going further.Read the permissions
Discord lists exactly what the bot is asking for. You can untick anything you do not want, though the bot may then fail at whatever needed it. See what the permissions mean below.Click Authorize and pass the captcha
Discord may show a captcha. Once it clears, the bot joins immediately and shows up in your member list on the right.
On mobile
The flow is the same. Tapping an invite link opens Discord's authorization page in your phone's browser or the in-app browser, and you pick the server and authorize there.
One thing catches people out: the in-app browser may not be signed into the same Discord account as the app. If the server dropdown is empty or missing servers you own, open the same link in your normal browser and sign in there.
What the permissions actually mean
Most guides skip this, and it is the part worth understanding. These are the permissions bots commonly request.
- View Channels and Send Messages
- The minimum for a bot to see a command and reply to it.
- Manage Roles
- Needed for autoroles, reaction roles and level rewards. Discord also requires the bot's own role to sit ABOVE any role it hands out, which is the single most common cause of a bot that looks broken.
- Manage Messages
- Deleting spam, filtering content, and clearing channels.
- Kick and Ban Members
- Moderation commands. Safe to withhold if you only want the bot for levelling or welcome messages.
- Embed Links and Attach Files
- Rich responses like rank cards and welcome images. Without these the bot's replies arrive as plain text or not at all.
- Read Message History
- Needed by anything acting on older messages, such as bulk deletion or starboards.
Be careful with Administrator. It grants every permission at once, including ones Discord adds in future, and it lets the bot bypass channel-level restrictions. Plenty of bots ask for it because it is easier than listing what they need. Prefer a bot that asks for specific permissions, and only grant Administrator if you understand what you are handing over.
When it does not work
My server is not in the dropdown
You do not have Manage Server on it, or your browser is signed into a different Discord account. Those two cover almost every case.
The bot joined but shows as offline
That is the bot itself being down, not your server or your setup. Nothing you change on your side will fix it. Check the bot's status page or support server.
Its slash commands do not appear when I type /
Give it time and then reload. Commands registered globally can take up to an hour to propagate across Discord, and a client restart (Ctrl+R on desktop) often makes them appear sooner. If the bot registers commands per server they should be there immediately.
The bot replies “Missing Permissions”
Usually role hierarchy rather than a missing tick. A bot cannot manage a role positioned above its own, or moderate a member whose highest role sits above the bot's. Open Server Settings, then Roles, and drag the bot's role higher.
It works in some channels but not others
A channel-level override is denying it. Check the channel's permission settings, since those beat server-wide role permissions.
How to remove a bot
Open your member list, right click the bot, and choose Kick or Ban. Kicking is enough, and you can always add it again with the same invite link. Removing a bot does not delete data it already stored, so if that matters, check its privacy policy for how to request deletion.
Adding Nano
Nano is a free Discord bot with a web dashboard, covering moderation, automod, levelling, tickets, giveaways, an economy, welcome messages and reaction roles. The steps above are exactly the steps for adding it.
It asks for specific permissions rather than Administrator, and you can switch off any module you do not want from the dashboard afterwards. See the commands or what premium changes.