Setup guide

This guide walks you through setting up Thoth from scratch. No prior experience with Discord bots is required.

When you are done, your server will have:

• A ticket panel — buttons users click to open private support channels
• Staff channels — where transcripts, escalations, and learned tips go
• An AI assistant — Thoth replies in tickets using your documentation (once you add it)

Time needed: about 10–15 minutes for the Discord setup, plus time to add your docs.

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Before you start

You need:

Requirement	Why
Manage Server on your Discord server	Only server admins (or people they trust) can run setup commands
Permission to add a bot to the server	You will click “Add to Discord” on the Thoth website
(Recommended) A second Discord account or a friend	To test opening a ticket as a regular user

You do not need to use the website dashboard to get started. Everything in the steps below happens in Discord.

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Pick your path

Answer one question:

Does your server already have support channels (for example #support, #tickets, or categories for different ticket types)?

Your answer	Follow this path
No — we are starting fresh	Path 1: New server
Yes — we already run support in Discord	Path 2: Existing channels
I prefer the website for all settings	Path 3: Dashboard setup

Most beginners should use Path 1.

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Path 1: New server (recommended)

Step 1 — Add Thoth to your server

1. Go to thothsupport.dev.
2. Click Add to Discord (or use the invite link in the dashboard if you are already signed in).
3. Choose the server you want to set up.
4. On the permissions screen, leave the suggested permissions enabled. Thoth needs them to create channels, send messages, and post the ticket panel.
5. Click Authorize.

Success check:

• Thoth appears in your server’s member list (status should be online).
• If your server has a system messages channel, Thoth may post a short welcome there with setup hints.

If something went wrong: make sure you have “Manage Server” on that Discord server. Only admins (or roles with that permission) can add bots.

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Step 2 — Open the setup command

1. In Discord, go to any text channel where you can type (for example #general).
2. Type / to open the slash command menu.
3. Start typing thoth-config and select /thoth-config setup.
4. Press Enter.

Success check: a popup form titled “Thoth Support Setup” appears.

If the command does not show up:

• Wait a minute and try again (new commands can take up to an hour to appear globally, but usually show up within a few minutes).
• Make sure you typed / in a channel, not in a DM.
• Confirm Thoth is online in the member list.

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Step 3 — Fill in the setup form

Each field is explained below. You can copy the example values if you are unsure.

Ticket types

What it means: which kinds of support buttons users will see on the panel.

What to type: comma-separated names from this list:

Type name	Good for
customer	General help
technical	Bugs and technical issues
billing	Payments and invoices
sales	Pricing and purchases

Example: customer, technical

You can start with just customer if you want to keep it simple.

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Start channel name

What it means: the name of the channel where the ticket panel (buttons) will live.

What to type: a short name using letters and hyphens.

Example: start-support (the default is fine)

Thoth will create this channel for you. Tell your community: “Open a ticket in #start-support.”

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Staff role names

What it means: which Discord roles can see all tickets and manage support.

What to type: the exact names of your staff roles, separated by commas. These must match what you see in Server Settings → Roles.

Example: Support, Moderator

How to find role names:

1. In Discord, click your server name → Server Settings.
2. Open Roles.
3. Copy the names of roles that should handle tickets.

Tip: leave this blank only if you will add staff roles later in the dashboard Settings. Tickets will still work, but staff may not see them until roles are configured.

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Auto-learn from tickets

What it means: when staff close a ticket, Thoth can suggest short tips to reuse in future answers. You approve or remove each tip in Discord.

What to type: yes or no

Recommendation: yes for most teams.

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Transcript retention (days)

What it means: how long closed ticket transcripts are kept.

What to type: one of these numbers:

Value	Meaning
90	Keep for 90 days (good default)
30 or 60	Shorter retention
0	Keep forever (unlimited)

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Step 4 — Submit the form

1. Click Submit at the bottom of the form.
2. Wait a few seconds. Thoth will create channels and post the ticket panel.

Success check: you see a private reply (only you can see it) that says support channels were created, with links to the start channel and staff area.

What Thoth creates:

Channel / category	Purpose
#start-support (or your chosen name)	Ticket panel with buttons
Categories for each ticket type	Private channels appear here when users open tickets
#ticket-transcripts	Closed ticket logs
#staff-review	Escalated tickets for staff
#learned-tips	Suggested tips from resolved tickets

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Step 5 — Confirm everything worked

Run this command in Discord:

/thoth-config view

You should see:

• A linked start channel
• At least one enabled ticket type
• A message that setup is ready (or clear next steps if something is missing)

Then open your start channel in the channel list. You should see a message from Thoth with buttons like Customer Support and Technical Support.

If you see a permissions error: Thoth needs Manage Channels on its bot role.

1. Go to Server Settings → Roles.
2. Find the Thoth role (or whichever role the bot uses).
3. Turn on Manage Channels, View Channels, Send Messages, and Read Message History.
4. Run /thoth-config setup again.

More fixes: Troubleshooting.

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Step 6 — Add documentation (so Thoth can answer questions)

Thoth searches your content before replying. Without docs, it can still open tickets and escalate to staff, but AI answers will be limited.

Easiest options:

Method	Where	Best for
Paste or upload	Dashboard → Knowledge	FAQs, policies, guides
Quick note	Discord: /ingest content:Your text here	One-off answers you want immediately

After adding content:

1. Open the dashboard Knowledge page.
2. Use Playground to ask a real question your users would ask.
3. Check that the answer looks correct and cites your content.

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Step 7 — Test the full flow

Use a non-staff account (a second Discord account or a friend):

1. Go to the start channel and click a ticket type button.
2. A private channel opens — only that user and staff should see it.
3. Ask a question that is answered in your docs.
4. Confirm Thoth replies.
5. Click Request human if you want to test escalation.

Then as staff:

1. Reply in the ticket channel.
2. Run /close in that channel.
3. Confirm a transcript appears in #ticket-transcripts.
4. Confirm the user gets a rating DM (👍 / 👎 / Skip).

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You are done with Path 1

Before announcing support to your community, work through the launch checklist.

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Path 2: Existing channels

Use this if you already have channels like #support, #ticket-transcripts, or ticket categories, and you do not want Thoth to create new ones.

Step 1 — Add Thoth to your server

Same as Path 1, Step 1.

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Step 2 — Link your existing channels

1. In any text channel, run:

/thoth-config link

2. Thoth scans your server for common channel and category names.

Names Thoth looks for (examples):

Purpose	Example channel / category names
Ticket panel	#support, #tickets, #start-support
Transcripts	#ticket-transcripts, #transcripts
Staff review	#staff-review, #escalations
Tips	#learned-tips, #tips
Ticket categories	Customer Support Tickets, or categories containing “support” / “billing” / “technical”

Success check: Thoth replies with a list of what it linked. If it found a start channel, the ticket panel is posted there automatically.

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Step 3 — Handle partial matches

If Thoth links some channels but not all, the reply lists what is still missing.

Situation	What to do
Missing a few channels	Run /thoth-config setup to create only what is missing, or rename your channels to match the examples above and run /thoth-config link again
Names are very custom	Use the dashboard Settings → Channels → Use channels this server already has (channel migrator) to map them manually
Nothing was found	Use Path 1 instead

Run /thoth-config view to see current status and next steps.

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Step 4 — Add docs and test

Same as Path 1, Step 6 and Step 7.

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Path 3: Dashboard setup (advanced)

Use the website if you want finer control (custom ticket types, business hours, voice prompt, etc.) before touching Discord.

Overview

1. Sign in with Discord and select your server.
2. Open Settings and configure staff roles, ticket types, and options. See Settings for details.
3. Click Save.
4. In Discord, run:

/thoth autoconfig

This applies your saved settings by creating or updating channels and the ticket panel.

Important: saving in the dashboard alone does not change Discord. You must run /thoth autoconfig after each structural change (ticket types, staff roles, categories).

If you already have channels and do not want new ones created, use the dashboard channel migrator (Settings → Channels) instead of /thoth autoconfig.

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Quick reference

I want to…	Run this in Discord
Set up a new server from scratch	/thoth-config setup
Connect channels we already have	/thoth-config link
Check if setup is complete	/thoth-config view
Apply dashboard changes to Discord	/thoth autoconfig
Add a quick FAQ snippet	/ingest content:…

All setup commands require Manage Server.

Full command list: Discord commands.

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Common problems

Problem	Fix
“You need Manage Server permission”	Ask a server admin to run the command, or grant yourself Manage Server in Server Settings → Roles
Thoth lists missing permissions	Server Settings → Roles → Thoth → enable Manage Channels and the other listed permissions
/thoth-config link found nothing	Your channel names may not match common patterns — use Path 1 (setup) or the dashboard channel migrator
No ticket panel in the start channel	Run /thoth-config view. If status is not ready, run setup or link again
Thoth does not answer in tickets	Add content in Knowledge, then test in Playground. See Troubleshooting

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What to do next

1. Launch checklist — verify everything before you go live
2. How tickets work — what users and staff see day to day
3. Knowledge — build out your documentation