Install the following Python library:
```bash
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:
```env
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 for a Discord bot

To run your bot, you first need its token. Go to https://discord.com/developers/applications and open the application you created earlier. Select the "Bot" section in the left-hand menu and copy the token shown under the bot's username. This token is a secret key that grants full control of your Discord bot, so never share it or store it in plain text. For safety, keep it in an environmental variable so it stays on your local machine and is not exposed once your code is uploaded to a server. See the child node on setting up environmental variables for how to do this.

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**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

1. To run a bot in a Discord server, 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`
Make sure to replace `CLIENT_ID` with your own client ID (copied from the same page).
4. Below, select the permissions you want the bot to have. Copy and paste the generated link in a browser to invite the bot to one of your servers.

Setting up your Discord Developer Application

A Discord guild (server) ID is a unique identifier required to configure a bot for a specific server, particularly for deploying slash commands. To obtain a guild ID:

1. Open Discord **User Settings**.
2. Navigate to **Advanced** under **App Settings**.
3. Enable **Developer Mode**.
4. Right-click the server icon in your server list and select **Copy ID**.

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