Install the following Python library:
```python
python3 -m pip install dotenv
```
In your project folder create a file called ".env" in your root directory. Open the file with your editor and create a line for your token with the following syntax:
```python
TOKEN=input_your_token_here
GUILD_ID=paste_your_guild_ID_here
THIRD_VAR=another_variable_goes_here
```
**IMPORTANT**

If you use git or some other version control make sure to exclude the .env file from your repositories as we want this file to remain local!


Your environmental variables are now set up and we will import them into our code once we start programming the bot.

Setting up environmental variables

In order to run your bot you first need to get the token for your application. Go to https://discord.com/developers/applications and find your previously created application. Navigate to the "bot" section in the left hand menu and copy the token found under the bot's username.

The token is a very secret key that allows you to control your Discord bot so make sure that no one else has access to it! To ensure that it is safe we will use environmental variables to store the token. This will ensure that your token remains only on your local machine and is not present in plain text once uploaded to a server.
Refer to the following child node on how to get environmental variables set up.

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

**Installing Discord.py**

If you don't already have pip installed, then look through the intro modules for this Python course or follow the pip documentation linked in this node. Once you have it installed, run the following command from your terminal:
```python
python3 -m pip install discord.py
```

**Installing Discord Slash Commands**

The main way of interacting with modern Discord bots is via slash commands which makes it easier to provide options to the user and simplifies using the bot. To get started with slash commands, run the follow command from your terminal:
```python
python3 -m pip install discord-py-slash-command
```

Prerequisites

Getting your bot's token

1. In order to run a bot in a Discord server, you need to first create an application at https://discord.com/developers/applications. Name it whatever you want (this is not the name of your bot just yet).

2. Go to the "Bot" section on the left hand menu and create a new bot. This is the name of the bot that will actually show up in your server.

3. Navigate to the "OAuth2" section and add the following link as a redirect:
```
https://discordapp.com/oauth2/authorize?&client_id=CLIENT_ID&scope=bot
```
and make sure to replace "CLIENT_ID" with your own client ID (copy it from the same page).

4. Then, below select what permissions you want the bot to have, copy and paste the link in a browser to invite it to one of your servers.

Setting up your Discord Developer Application

A guild (server) ID is required to run a bot with slash commands. If launching a bot globally you would need some extra steps to incorporate many guilds into your bot. In our case we will just be deploying our bot to one server. Complete the following steps to get the ID of the server you wish to deploy your bot in.


1. Go to Discord settings.

2. Head over to the "Advanced" tab under "App Settings".

3. Enable "Developer Mode".

4. Go back to your server list, right click your server, and press "Copy ID".


(optional but recommended) Create an environmental variable for your guild ID in case you want to test the same bot on two different servers. This would simplify the process by requiring you to change only your local environment rather than modifying the code itself.

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