I'm currently building a Discord app that allows me to view a user's status (online, DND, offline) and what songs they are listening to. This works perfectly in my own server:

My app works in the server

However, when I switch to DMs, none of my commands (activity, ping, user) show up:

Commands are missing in DMs

My project directory is structured as follows:

commands/
  └── utility/
        ├── ping.js
        ├── check_activity.js
        ├── user.js
server/
  ├── api.js
  ├── models/
        └── activity.js
deploy-commands.js
index.js

The commands work fine in a server but do not function in DMs, and I can't figure out why.

index.js (excluding MongoDB-related parts)

const fs = require('node:fs');
const path = require('node:path');
const { Client, Collection, Events, GatewayIntentBits, MessageFlags } = require('discord.js');
const { token } = require('./config.json');

const client = new Client({
    intents: [
        GatewayIntentBits.Guilds,
        GatewayIntentBits.GuildMessages,
        GatewayIntentBits.MessageContent,
        GatewayIntentBits.GuildMembers,
        GatewayIntentBits.GuildPresences,
    ],
});

clientmands = new Collection();
const foldersPath = path.join(__dirname, 'commands');
const commandFolders = fs.readdirSync(foldersPath);

for (const folder of commandFolders) {
    const commandsPath = path.join(foldersPath, folder);
    const commandFiles = fs.readdirSync(commandsPath).filter(file => file.endsWith('.js'));
    for (const file of commandFiles) {
        const filePath = path.join(commandsPath, file);
        const command = require(filePath);
        if ('data' in command && 'execute' in command) {
            clientmands.set(command.data.name, command);
        } else {
            console.warn(`[WARNING] The command at ${filePath} is missing a required "data" or "execute" property.`);
        }
    }
}

client.once(Events.ClientReady, readyClient => {
    console.log(`Ready! Logged in as ${readyClient.user.tag}`);
});

client.on(Events.InteractionCreate, async interaction => {
    if (!interaction.isChatInputCommand()) return;
    const command = interaction.clientmands.get(interactionmandName);

    if (!command) {
        console.error(`No command matching ${interactionmandName} was found.`);
        return;
    }

    try {
        await command.execute(interaction);
    } catch (error) {
        console.error(error);
        const errorMessage = 'There was an error while executing this command!';
        if (interaction.replied || interaction.deferred) {
            await interaction.followUp({ content: errorMessage, flags: MessageFlags.Ephemeral });
        } else {
            await interaction.reply({ content: errorMessage, flags: MessageFlags.Ephemeral });
        }
    }
});

client.login(token);

I have tried:

• Searching online for similar issues, but I couldn't find anything useful.
• Checking if I need different permissions or intents for DMs.

Is this happening because my bot relies on "guild"-related functions, which do not work in DMs? If so, what should I change to support both servers and DMs?

I'm new to JavaScript and Discord app development, so any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

---

also my deploy-commands.js:

const { REST, Routes } = require('discord.js');
const { clientId, guildId, token } = require('./config.json');
const fs = require('node:fs');
const path = require('node:path');

const commands = [];
const foldersPath = path.join(__dirname, 'commands');
const commandFolders = fs.readdirSync(foldersPath);

for (const folder of commandFolders) {
    const commandsPath = path.join(foldersPath, folder);
    const commandFiles = fs.readdirSync(commandsPath).filter(file => file.endsWith('.js'));
    for (const file of commandFiles) {
        const filePath = path.join(commandsPath, file);
        const command = require(filePath);
        if ('data' in command && 'execute' in command) {
            commands.push(command.data.toJSON());
        } else {
            console.log(`[WARNING] The command at ${filePath} is missing a required "data" or "execute" property.`);
        }
    }
}

const rest = new REST().setToken(token);

(async () => {
    try {
        console.log(`Started refreshing ${commands.length} application (/) commands.`);
        const data = await rest.put(
            Routes.applicationCommands(clientId),
            { body: commands },
        );

        console.log(`Successfully reloaded ${data.length} application (/) commands.`);
    } catch (error) {
        console.error(error);
    }
})();

I'm currently building a Discord app that allows me to view a user's status (online, DND, offline) and what songs they are listening to. This works perfectly in my own server:

My app works in the server

However, when I switch to DMs, none of my commands (activity, ping, user) show up:

Commands are missing in DMs

My project directory is structured as follows:

commands/
  └── utility/
        ├── ping.js
        ├── check_activity.js
        ├── user.js
server/
  ├── api.js
  ├── models/
        └── activity.js
deploy-commands.js
index.js

The commands work fine in a server but do not function in DMs, and I can't figure out why.

index.js (excluding MongoDB-related parts)

const fs = require('node:fs');
const path = require('node:path');
const { Client, Collection, Events, GatewayIntentBits, MessageFlags } = require('discord.js');
const { token } = require('./config.json');

const client = new Client({
    intents: [
        GatewayIntentBits.Guilds,
        GatewayIntentBits.GuildMessages,
        GatewayIntentBits.MessageContent,
        GatewayIntentBits.GuildMembers,
        GatewayIntentBits.GuildPresences,
    ],
});

clientmands = new Collection();
const foldersPath = path.join(__dirname, 'commands');
const commandFolders = fs.readdirSync(foldersPath);

for (const folder of commandFolders) {
    const commandsPath = path.join(foldersPath, folder);
    const commandFiles = fs.readdirSync(commandsPath).filter(file => file.endsWith('.js'));
    for (const file of commandFiles) {
        const filePath = path.join(commandsPath, file);
        const command = require(filePath);
        if ('data' in command && 'execute' in command) {
            clientmands.set(command.data.name, command);
        } else {
            console.warn(`[WARNING] The command at ${filePath} is missing a required "data" or "execute" property.`);
        }
    }
}

client.once(Events.ClientReady, readyClient => {
    console.log(`Ready! Logged in as ${readyClient.user.tag}`);
});

client.on(Events.InteractionCreate, async interaction => {
    if (!interaction.isChatInputCommand()) return;
    const command = interaction.clientmands.get(interactionmandName);

    if (!command) {
        console.error(`No command matching ${interactionmandName} was found.`);
        return;
    }

    try {
        await command.execute(interaction);
    } catch (error) {
        console.error(error);
        const errorMessage = 'There was an error while executing this command!';
        if (interaction.replied || interaction.deferred) {
            await interaction.followUp({ content: errorMessage, flags: MessageFlags.Ephemeral });
        } else {
            await interaction.reply({ content: errorMessage, flags: MessageFlags.Ephemeral });
        }
    }
});

client.login(token);

I have tried:

• Searching online for similar issues, but I couldn't find anything useful.
• Checking if I need different permissions or intents for DMs.

Is this happening because my bot relies on "guild"-related functions, which do not work in DMs? If so, what should I change to support both servers and DMs?

I'm new to JavaScript and Discord app development, so any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

---

also my deploy-commands.js:

const { REST, Routes } = require('discord.js');
const { clientId, guildId, token } = require('./config.json');
const fs = require('node:fs');
const path = require('node:path');

const commands = [];
const foldersPath = path.join(__dirname, 'commands');
const commandFolders = fs.readdirSync(foldersPath);

for (const folder of commandFolders) {
    const commandsPath = path.join(foldersPath, folder);
    const commandFiles = fs.readdirSync(commandsPath).filter(file => file.endsWith('.js'));
    for (const file of commandFiles) {
        const filePath = path.join(commandsPath, file);
        const command = require(filePath);
        if ('data' in command && 'execute' in command) {
            commands.push(command.data.toJSON());
        } else {
            console.log(`[WARNING] The command at ${filePath} is missing a required "data" or "execute" property.`);
        }
    }
}

const rest = new REST().setToken(token);

(async () => {
    try {
        console.log(`Started refreshing ${commands.length} application (/) commands.`);
        const data = await rest.put(
            Routes.applicationCommands(clientId),
            { body: commands },
        );

        console.log(`Successfully reloaded ${data.length} application (/) commands.`);
    } catch (error) {
        console.error(error);
    }
})();

• javascript
• mongodb
• discord
• discord.js

Share Improve this question Follow edited Mar 10 at 2:01 Stephanie Yao asked Mar 9 at 17:13 Stephanie YaoStephanie Yao 111 bronze badge 2

• stackoverflow/a/73975351/12368176 According to the answer in the other thread, you are missing an intent: GatewayIntentBits.DirectMessages and partial: Partials.Channel – ColinT Commented Mar 9 at 22:31
• @ColinT hi! i think this does not work for me..? still i can see my app when i open the button, but what shows is only the name and nothing below; i am also going to post my deploy-commands.js which obtained the commands and i think maybe something is wrong there – Stephanie Yao Commented Mar 10 at 1:57

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1 Answer 1

Sorted by: Reset to default 0

If the commands rely on guild-specific functions, then the commands will probably just crash/fail, but as far as I can tell they should still show up once registered, at least. It's a little hard to say since I don't know what your command body looks like, but if you have the intents correct, then it may be a contexts and/or integration_types issue. (Documentation link)

Command contexts: specifies where the command should be available: 0 = guild, 1 = in DMs with the bot directly, 2 = group DMs/private channels (if the user has the bot authorized on their account).

For integration_types:, that specifies which installation type the command should be available: 0 means the command will be available in guilds, while 1 means available to user-authorized installs.

You can combine contexts and integration types to specify multiple areas, too - example, one of my bot's 'available everywhere' commands:

{
    name: `trivia`,
    description: `Play a trivia game!`,
    integration_types: [0, 1],
    contexts: [0, 1, 2]
}

Good luck!