Discord Bot Integration

Bring BootStepper into the place your dancers already talk. The Discord bot connects server channels to collections, accepts dance requests, searches BootStepper, and keeps everyone in sync during live sessions.

Author: Raz Friman
Discord Server Install

Install the Bot Into Your Server

Click the install link documented in the Discord app README, choose your Discord server, and authorize the app. You need Manage Server, or equivalent permissions, to add bots.

Install BootStepper Discord Bot

What the Bot Is For

BootStepper collections already handle dance lists, live sessions, requests, and event planning. The Discord bot extends that workflow into a community server so dancers can interact from the same place they chat before, during, and after an event.

The core idea is simple: link a Discord channel or thread to a BootStepper collection. Once linked, members can request dances from Discord, hosts can show the current live-session item, and the channel can receive now-playing updates as the live session changes.

Setup Flow

  1. Install the bot using the Discord authorization link above. Keep the bot and slash-command scopes enabled.
  2. In BootStepper, open a collection you own and click Share, then the Discord Bot tile. The panel reveals the collection id and edit token, each with a copy button.
  3. In the target Discord channel or thread, run /link collection_id:<paste> edit_token:<paste> using the values you just copied. The bot confirms the channel is linked.
  4. Use /request, /nowplaying, and search commands in that linked channel.
  5. When you no longer want the channel connected, run /unlink collection_id:<paste> edit_token:<paste> from the same Share → Discord Bot panel.

Only the collection owner sees the Discord Bot tile in Share, since linking requires the edit token. If you don't see it, ask the collection owner to run the link from their account.

Commands and Capabilities

/link

Link a channel to a collection

Connect the current Discord channel or thread to a BootStepper collection. Open the collection on BootStepper, click Share, then Discord Bot to copy the collection id and edit token used by this command.

/unlink

Remove a collection link

Disconnect a collection from Discord when the event is over, the wrong channel was linked, or you want to move the integration elsewhere.

/request

Request dances from Discord

Members type a dance name, choose from BootStepper autocomplete results, and submit the request straight into the linked collection.

/nowplaying

Show the current live session item

Posts the current live session item with choreographers, music, up-next entries, and buttons back to the live view and collection.

/search

Search BootStepper broadly

Search dances, choreographers, songs, collections, and video channels from one command, with result links back to BootStepper.

/dance

Search dances only

Return focused dance results with difficulty, choreographers, songs, and links to the matching dance pages.

/choreographer

Search choreographers only

Find choreographer profiles from Discord, including country and dance counts when available.

Dance Requests from Discord

The most event-focused command is /request. As someone types a dance name, the bot searches approved BootStepper dances and shows autocomplete choices with title, choreographer, and primary song context. When the member picks one, the request is added to the linked collection.

Requests also preserve a useful requester name. The bot prefers the member's server nickname, then global display name, then username, so hosts can recognize who asked for a dance during a busy event.

Live-Session Updates

The bot supports two live-session patterns. A member can run /nowplaying to fetch the current state of the linked collection's live session. Separately, BootStepper can post new now-playing messages into linked Discord channels when the live session changes.

Now-playing messages include the current dance or song, available choreographer and music details, the next few upcoming entries, and buttons back to the BootStepper live view and collection.

Search Inside Discord

Not every Discord interaction has to be tied to a live event. The bot also acts as a search surface for BootStepper. Use /search for broad results across dances, choreographers, songs, collections, and video channels, or use /dance and /choreographer for focused searches.

Security and Permissions

Linking and unlinking require a BootStepper collection edit token, so a random Discord member cannot attach a server channel to someone else's collection. Only the collection owner can see this token via Share → Discord Bot, and the Discord interaction endpoint also verifies Discord request signatures before handling commands.

Install the bot only into servers you manage or trust, then link only the channels that should be allowed to submit requests or show live-session status for a collection.

Community Workflows

Ready to Run Requests from Discord?

Create or open a BootStepper collection, link it to a Discord channel, and let your dancers search, request, and follow along.

Start a Live Session