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discord-jda/jda

★ 4,659JavaAudience · developerComplexity · 3/5Setup · moderate

TLDR

A Java library for building Discord bots that handles the platform's real-time events, API rate limits, and caching automatically, so you can focus on writing bot logic in plain Java or Kotlin.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((JDA))
    What it does
      Discord bot library
      Java and Kotlin support
    Core features
      Event listener system
      API rate limit handling
      Configurable cache
    Bot patterns
      Single connection
      Sharded for large bots
    Use cases
      Slash command bots
      Moderation bots
      Notification systems
    Requirements
      Java 8 or newer
      Discord bot token
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Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Build a Discord bot in Java that listens for slash commands and responds to messages in a server.

USE CASE 2

Create a moderation bot that reacts to user events like joins, message edits, or voice channel activity.

USE CASE 3

Add Discord notifications to a Java application by sending messages through a bot using JDA's API wrapper.

Tech stack

JavaKotlinMavenJitPack

Getting it running

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

Requires creating a Discord Application and obtaining a bot token from the Discord developer portal before you can run any code.

In plain English

JDA, short for Java Discord API, is a Java library for building bots on Discord. It connects your Java application to Discord's real-time systems and REST API, so you can write code that reacts to messages, commands, voice events, and other platform activity. The library is open source and available through the standard Java package repositories Maven Central and JitPack. The library is built around three ideas. First, an event system: your bot registers listeners, and JDA calls them whenever something happens on Discord, such as a message being posted or a user joining a voice channel. Second, a set of tools for calling Discord's API: these handle the rate limits Discord imposes automatically, and they give you the choice of handling responses with callbacks, futures, or blocking calls. Third, a configurable cache that lets you trade memory usage for performance depending on the size and needs of your bot. To get started, you create a Discord Application in the developer dashboard, obtain a bot token, and then use JDA's builder classes to configure and launch your bot. JDA provides two builders: one for smaller bots running on a single connection and one for larger bots that need to split their load across multiple connections. The README includes working code examples for a message-logging bot and a slash-command bot, showing how both approaches look in practice. The minimum Java version required is Java 8. The library also works with Kotlin without extra configuration. Audio support in bots requires an additional dependency that handles the DAVE Protocol, which Discord uses for voice encryption. Full documentation, a wiki, and an FAQ are available on jda.wiki, and there is a Discord server for community support.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
How do I set up a basic Discord bot in Java using JDA that responds to a slash command?
Prompt 2
How do I use JDA's event listener system to log all messages posted in a Discord server to a file?
Prompt 3
How do I configure JDA's caching settings to reduce memory usage for a large Discord bot?
Prompt 4
How do I add voice and audio support to a JDA Discord bot using the DAVE Protocol dependency?
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