Express Integration

Overview

This guide walks you through building a complete Discord webhook server using Express.js and the discord-interactions library. You’ll learn how to handle both interactions and webhook events with proper signature verification.

Quick Start

Install dependencies

npm install express discord-interactions

Set up environment variables

Create a .env file with your Discord application credentials:

CLIENT_PUBLIC_KEY=your_public_key_here
PORT=8999

Create your server

Create server.js and add the basic setup

Run your server

node server.js

Basic Server Setup

Here’s a minimal Express server with Discord interactions:

const express = require('express');
const {
  InteractionType,
  InteractionResponseType,
  verifyKeyMiddleware,
} = require('discord-interactions');

const app = express();

app.post(
  '/interactions',
  verifyKeyMiddleware(process.env.CLIENT_PUBLIC_KEY),
  (req, res) => {
    const interaction = req.body;
    
    if (interaction.type === InteractionType.APPLICATION_COMMAND) {
      res.send({
        type: InteractionResponseType.CHANNEL_MESSAGE_WITH_SOURCE,
        data: {
          content: 'Hello world',
        },
      });
    }
  }
);

app.listen(8999, () => {
  console.log('Server listening at http://localhost:8999');
});

Complete Server Example

Here’s a full-featured server handling both interactions and webhook events:

const express = require('express');
const {
  InteractionType,
  InteractionResponseType,
  InteractionResponseFlags,
  MessageComponentTypes,
  ButtonStyleTypes,
  verifyKeyMiddleware,
  verifyWebhookEventMiddleware,
  WebhookType,
} = require('discord-interactions');

const app = express();

// Health check endpoint (useful for monitoring)
app.get('/health', (req, res) => {
  res.send('ok');
});

// Interactions endpoint
app.post(
  '/interactions',
  verifyKeyMiddleware(process.env.CLIENT_PUBLIC_KEY),
  (req, res) => {
    const interaction = req.body;
    
    // Handle different interaction types
    if (interaction.type === InteractionType.APPLICATION_COMMAND) {
      const commandName = interaction.data.name;
      
      // Route to command handlers
      const response = handleCommand(commandName, interaction);
      res.send(response);
    } 
    else if (interaction.type === InteractionType.MESSAGE_COMPONENT) {
      const customId = interaction.data.custom_id;
      
      // Handle component interactions
      const response = handleComponent(customId, interaction);
      res.send(response);
    }
    else if (interaction.type === InteractionType.MODAL_SUBMIT) {
      const customId = interaction.data.custom_id;
      
      // Handle modal submissions
      const response = handleModal(customId, interaction);
      res.send(response);
    }
  }
);

// Webhook events endpoint
app.post(
  '/events',
  verifyWebhookEventMiddleware(process.env.CLIENT_PUBLIC_KEY),
  (req, res) => {
    const event = req.body;
    
    if (event.type === WebhookType.EVENT) {
      // Process event asynchronously
      processEvent(event.data.event).catch(console.error);
    }
  }
);

// Command handlers
function handleCommand(commandName, interaction) {
  switch (commandName) {
    case 'hello':
      return {
        type: InteractionResponseType.CHANNEL_MESSAGE_WITH_SOURCE,
        data: {
          content: `Hello, ${interaction.member?.user?.username || 'friend'}!`,
        },
      };
      
    case 'buttons':
      return {
        type: InteractionResponseType.CHANNEL_MESSAGE_WITH_SOURCE,
        data: {
          content: 'Click a button!',
          components: [
            {
              type: MessageComponentTypes.ACTION_ROW,
              components: [
                {
                  type: MessageComponentTypes.BUTTON,
                  style: ButtonStyleTypes.PRIMARY,
                  label: 'Primary',
                  custom_id: 'button_primary',
                },
                {
                  type: MessageComponentTypes.BUTTON,
                  style: ButtonStyleTypes.SUCCESS,
                  label: 'Success',
                  custom_id: 'button_success',
                },
              ],
            },
          ],
        },
      };
      
    default:
      return {
        type: InteractionResponseType.CHANNEL_MESSAGE_WITH_SOURCE,
        data: {
          content: 'Unknown command',
          flags: InteractionResponseFlags.EPHEMERAL,
        },
      };
  }
}

// Component handlers
function handleComponent(customId, interaction) {
  if (customId.startsWith('button_')) {
    return {
      type: InteractionResponseType.UPDATE_MESSAGE,
      data: {
        content: `You clicked the ${customId.replace('button_', '')} button!`,
        components: [], // Remove buttons
      },
    };
  }
  
  return {
    type: InteractionResponseType.UPDATE_MESSAGE,
    data: {
      content: 'Component interaction received',
    },
  };
}

// Modal handlers
function handleModal(customId, interaction) {
  return {
    type: InteractionResponseType.CHANNEL_MESSAGE_WITH_SOURCE,
    data: {
      content: 'Modal submitted successfully!',
      flags: InteractionResponseFlags.EPHEMERAL,
    },
  };
}

// Event processor
async function processEvent(event) {
  console.log('📨 Event received:', event.type);
  
  // Add your event processing logic here
  switch (event.type) {
    case 'APPLICATION_AUTHORIZED':
      console.log('App authorized by user:', event.user?.username);
      break;
      
    case 'ENTITLEMENT_CREATE':
      console.log('New entitlement created');
      break;
      
    default:
      console.log('Unhandled event type:', event.type);
  }
}

const PORT = process.env.PORT || 8999;
app.listen(PORT, () => {
  console.log(`Discord webhook server listening at http://localhost:${PORT}`);
  console.log(`Interactions endpoint: http://localhost:${PORT}/interactions`);
  console.log(`Events endpoint: http://localhost:${PORT}/events`);
});

Middleware Configuration

Do not use body-parsing middleware on interaction and event routes. The verification middleware needs access to the raw request body.

❌ Wrong Approach

// DON'T DO THIS
const express = require('express');
const app = express();

// This will break signature verification!
app.use(express.json());

app.post('/interactions', 
  verifyKeyMiddleware(PUBLIC_KEY),
  (req, res) => { /* ... */ }
);

✅ Correct Approach

// Option 1: Skip body parsing for webhook routes
app.use((req, res, next) => {
  if (req.path === '/interactions' || req.path === '/events') {
    return next(); // Skip body parsing
  }
  express.json()(req, res, next);
});

// Option 2: Only parse specific routes
app.post('/api/some-route', express.json(), (req, res) => {
  // Body parsed here
});

app.post('/interactions', 
  verifyKeyMiddleware(PUBLIC_KEY),
  (req, res) => {
    // Raw body handled by middleware
  }
);

Environment Variables

Create a .env file and load it with a package like dotenv:

# .env
CLIENT_PUBLIC_KEY=your_discord_public_key
PORT=8999
NODE_ENV=production

// Load environment variables
require('dotenv').config();

const PUBLIC_KEY = process.env.CLIENT_PUBLIC_KEY;

if (!PUBLIC_KEY) {
  console.error('CLIENT_PUBLIC_KEY environment variable is required');
  process.exit(1);
}

Error Handling

Add proper error handling to your Express server:

// Global error handler
app.use((err, req, res, next) => {
  console.error('Server error:', err);
  
  res.status(500).json({
    error: 'Internal server error',
    message: process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development' ? err.message : undefined,
  });
});

// Handle 404
app.use((req, res) => {
  res.status(404).json({
    error: 'Not found',
    path: req.path,
  });
});

// Graceful shutdown
process.on('SIGTERM', () => {
  console.log('SIGTERM received, shutting down gracefully');
  server.close(() => {
    console.log('Server closed');
    process.exit(0);
  });
});

Logging

Add request logging for debugging:

// Simple request logger
app.use((req, res, next) => {
  console.log(`${new Date().toISOString()} ${req.method} ${req.path}`);
  next();
});

// Detailed interaction logging
app.post('/interactions', 
  verifyKeyMiddleware(PUBLIC_KEY),
  (req, res) => {
    const interaction = req.body;
    
    console.log('Interaction received:', {
      type: interaction.type,
      id: interaction.id,
      user: interaction.member?.user?.username || interaction.user?.username,
      command: interaction.data?.name,
      component: interaction.data?.custom_id,
    });
    
    // Handle interaction...
  }
);

Testing Locally

Using ngrok

Expose your local server to Discord:

Install ngrok

npm install -g ngrok

Start your Express server

node server.js

Start ngrok

ngrok http 8999

Update Discord Developer Portal

Copy the ngrok URL (e.g., https://abc123.ngrok.io) and set it as your Interactions Endpoint URL in the Discord Developer Portal: https://abc123.ngrok.io/interactions

Health Check Endpoint

Use a health check for monitoring:

app.get('/health', (req, res) => {
  res.json({
    status: 'ok',
    timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
    uptime: process.uptime(),
  });
});

Production Deployment

Using PM2

Keep your server running with PM2:

npm install -g pm2

# Start server
pm2 start server.js --name discord-bot

# View logs
pm2 logs discord-bot

# Restart on code changes
pm2 restart discord-bot

# Auto-restart on system reboot
pm2 startup
pm2 save

Environment-Specific Configuration

const config = {
  development: {
    port: 8999,
    logLevel: 'debug',
  },
  production: {
    port: process.env.PORT || 80,
    logLevel: 'info',
  },
};

const env = process.env.NODE_ENV || 'development';
const currentConfig = config[env];

app.listen(currentConfig.port, () => {
  console.log(`Server running in ${env} mode on port ${currentConfig.port}`);
});

TypeScript Setup

For TypeScript projects, add proper typing:

import express, { Request, Response, NextFunction } from 'express';
import {
  InteractionType,
  InteractionResponseType,
  verifyKeyMiddleware,
} from 'discord-interactions';

const app = express();

interface DiscordInteraction {
  type: InteractionType;
  id: string;
  data?: {
    name?: string;
    custom_id?: string;
    [key: string]: any;
  };
  member?: {
    user?: {
      username: string;
      id: string;
    };
  };
  [key: string]: any;
}

app.post(
  '/interactions',
  verifyKeyMiddleware(process.env.CLIENT_PUBLIC_KEY!),
  (req: Request, res: Response) => {
    const interaction = req.body as DiscordInteraction;
    
    if (interaction.type === InteractionType.APPLICATION_COMMAND) {
      res.send({
        type: InteractionResponseType.CHANNEL_MESSAGE_WITH_SOURCE,
        data: {
          content: 'Hello from TypeScript!',
        },
      });
    }
  }
);

const PORT = parseInt(process.env.PORT || '8999', 10);
app.listen(PORT, () => {
  console.log(`Server listening on port ${PORT}`);
});

Advanced Patterns

Command Registry

Organize commands using a registry pattern:

class CommandRegistry {
  constructor() {
    this.commands = new Map();
  }
  
  register(name, handler) {
    this.commands.set(name, handler);
  }
  
  handle(interaction) {
    const commandName = interaction.data.name;
    const handler = this.commands.get(commandName);
    
    if (!handler) {
      return {
        type: InteractionResponseType.CHANNEL_MESSAGE_WITH_SOURCE,
        data: {
          content: 'Unknown command',
          flags: InteractionResponseFlags.EPHEMERAL,
        },
      };
    }
    
    return handler(interaction);
  }
}

const registry = new CommandRegistry();

// Register commands
registry.register('hello', (interaction) => ({
  type: InteractionResponseType.CHANNEL_MESSAGE_WITH_SOURCE,
  data: { content: 'Hello!' },
}));

registry.register('ping', (interaction) => ({
  type: InteractionResponseType.CHANNEL_MESSAGE_WITH_SOURCE,
  data: { content: 'Pong!' },
}));

// Use in route
app.post('/interactions', 
  verifyKeyMiddleware(PUBLIC_KEY),
  (req, res) => {
    const interaction = req.body;
    
    if (interaction.type === InteractionType.APPLICATION_COMMAND) {
      res.send(registry.handle(interaction));
    }
  }
);

Rate Limiting

Protect your endpoint with rate limiting:

const rateLimit = require('express-rate-limit');

const limiter = rateLimit({
  windowMs: 15 * 60 * 1000, // 15 minutes
  max: 100, // Limit each IP to 100 requests per window
  message: 'Too many requests from this IP',
});

// Apply to all routes
app.use(limiter);

// Or specific routes
app.post('/interactions', limiter, verifyKeyMiddleware(PUBLIC_KEY), ...);

Best Practices

Keep your public key in environment variables, never in source code
Use the verification middleware on all Discord webhook routes
Implement proper error handling and logging
Add health check endpoints for monitoring
Use environment-specific configurations

Always validate and sanitize user input from interactions before using it in your application logic.

For production deployments, consider using a process manager like PM2 or containerizing with Docker.

Complete Working Example

Here’s the exact example from the repository:

const express = require('express');
const util = require('node:util');
const {
  InteractionType,
  InteractionResponseType,
  verifyKeyMiddleware,
  verifyWebhookEventMiddleware,
} = require('discord-interactions');

const app = express();

app.post(
  '/interactions',
  verifyKeyMiddleware(process.env.CLIENT_PUBLIC_KEY),
  (req, res) => {
    const interaction = req.body;
    if (interaction.type === InteractionType.APPLICATION_COMMAND) {
      res.send({
        type: InteractionResponseType.CHANNEL_MESSAGE_WITH_SOURCE,
        data: {
          content: 'Hello world',
        },
      });
    }
  },
);

app.post(
  '/events',
  verifyWebhookEventMiddleware(process.env.CLIENT_PUBLIC_KEY),
  (req, _res) => {
    console.log('📨 Event Received!');
    console.log(
      util.inspect(req.body, { showHidden: false, colors: true, depth: null }),
    );
  },
);

app.get('/health', (_req, res) => {
  res.send('ok');
});

app.listen(8999, () => {
  console.log('Example app listening at http://localhost:8999');
});

Get Started

Guides

Examples

Overview

Quick Start

Basic Server Setup

Complete Server Example

Middleware Configuration

❌ Wrong Approach

✅ Correct Approach

Environment Variables

Error Handling

Logging

Testing Locally

Using ngrok

Health Check Endpoint

Production Deployment

Using PM2

Environment-Specific Configuration

TypeScript Setup

Advanced Patterns

Command Registry

Rate Limiting

Best Practices

Complete Working Example

Next Steps

Message Components

Signature Verification

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

Guides

Examples

​Overview

​Quick Start

​Basic Server Setup

​Complete Server Example

​Middleware Configuration

​❌ Wrong Approach

​✅ Correct Approach

​Environment Variables

​Error Handling

​Logging

​Testing Locally

​Using ngrok

​Health Check Endpoint

​Production Deployment

​Using PM2

​Environment-Specific Configuration

​TypeScript Setup

​Advanced Patterns

​Command Registry

​Rate Limiting

​Best Practices

​Complete Working Example

​Next Steps

Message Components

Signature Verification

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

Quick Start

Basic Server Setup

Complete Server Example

Middleware Configuration

❌ Wrong Approach

✅ Correct Approach

Environment Variables

Error Handling

Logging

Testing Locally

Using ngrok

Health Check Endpoint

Production Deployment

Using PM2

Environment-Specific Configuration

TypeScript Setup

Advanced Patterns

Command Registry

Rate Limiting

Best Practices

Complete Working Example

Next Steps