aurorabot/docs/guild-settings.md

Guild Settings System

The guild settings system enables per-guild configuration stored in the database, eliminating environment-specific config files and enabling runtime updates without redeployment.

Overview

Guild settings allow you to:

• Store per-guild configuration in the database
• Update settings at runtime without code changes
• Support multiple guilds with different configurations
• Maintain backward compatibility with file-based config

Architecture

Database Schema

guild_settings table:

Column	Type	Description
guild_id	bigint	Primary key (Discord guild ID)
student_role_id	bigint	Student role ID
visitor_role_id	bigint	Visitor role ID
color_role_ids	jsonb	Array of color role IDs
welcome_channel_id	bigint	Welcome message channel
welcome_message	text	Custom welcome message
feedback_channel_id	bigint	Feedback channel
terminal_channel_id	bigint	Terminal channel
terminal_message_id	bigint	Terminal message ID
moderation_log_channel_id	bigint	Moderation log channel
moderation_dm_on_warn	jsonb	DM user on warn
moderation_auto_timeout_threshold	jsonb	Auto timeout after N warnings
feature_overrides	jsonb	Feature flag overrides
created_at	timestamp	Creation time
updated_at	timestamp	Last update time

Service Layer

The guildSettingsService (shared/modules/guild-settings/guild-settings.service.ts) provides:

// Get settings for a guild (returns null if not configured)
await guildSettingsService.getSettings(guildId);

// Create or update settings
await guildSettingsService.upsertSettings({
  guildId: "123456789",
  studentRoleId: "987654321",
  visitorRoleId: "111222333",
});

// Update a single setting
await guildSettingsService.updateSetting(guildId, "welcomeChannel", "456789123");

// Delete all settings for a guild
await guildSettingsService.deleteSettings(guildId);

// Color role helpers
await guildSettingsService.addColorRole(guildId, roleId);
await guildSettingsService.removeColorRole(guildId, roleId);

Usage

Getting Guild Configuration

Use getGuildConfig() instead of direct config imports for guild-specific settings:

import { getGuildConfig } from "@shared/lib/config";

// In a command or interaction
const guildConfig = await getGuildConfig(interaction.guildId);

// Access settings
const studentRole = guildConfig.studentRole;
const welcomeChannel = guildConfig.welcomeChannelId;

Fallback Behavior

getGuildConfig() returns settings in this order:

1. Database settings (if guild is configured in DB)
2. File config fallback (during migration period)

This ensures backward compatibility while migrating from file-based config.

Cache Invalidation

Settings are cached for 60 seconds. After updating settings, invalidate the cache:

import { invalidateGuildConfigCache } from "@shared/lib/config";

await guildSettingsService.upsertSettings({ guildId, ...settings });
invalidateGuildConfigCache(guildId);

Admin Commands

The /settings command (Administrator only) provides full management:

Subcommands

Command	Description
/settings show	Display current guild settings
/settings set <key> [value]	Update a setting
/settings reset <key>	Reset a setting to default
/settings colors <action> [role]	Manage color roles

Settable Keys

Key	Type	Description
studentRole	Role	Role for enrolled students
visitorRole	Role	Role for visitors
welcomeChannel	Channel	Channel for welcome messages
welcomeMessage	Text	Custom welcome message
feedbackChannel	Channel	Channel for feedback
terminalChannel	Channel	Terminal channel
terminalMessage	Text	Terminal message ID
moderationLogChannel	Channel	Moderation log channel
moderationDmOnWarn	Boolean	DM users on warn
moderationAutoTimeoutThreshold	Number	Auto timeout threshold

API Endpoints

Method	Endpoint	Description
GET	/api/guilds/:guildId/settings	Get guild settings
PUT	/api/guilds/:guildId/settings	Create/replace settings
PATCH	/api/guilds/:guildId/settings	Partial update
DELETE	/api/guilds/:guildId/settings	Delete settings

Migration

To migrate existing config.json settings to the database:

bun run db:migrate-config

This will:

1. Read values from config.json
2. Create a database record for DISCORD_GUILD_ID
3. Store all guild-specific settings

Migration Strategy for Code

Update code references incrementally:

// Before
import { config } from "@shared/lib/config";
const role = config.studentRole;

// After
import { getGuildConfig } from "@shared/lib/config";
const guildConfig = await getGuildConfig(guildId);
const role = guildConfig.studentRole;

Files to Update

Files using guild-specific config that should be updated:

• bot/events/guildMemberAdd.ts
• bot/modules/user/enrollment.interaction.ts
• bot/modules/feedback/feedback.interaction.ts
• bot/commands/feedback/feedback.ts
• bot/commands/inventory/use.ts
• bot/commands/admin/create_color.ts
• shared/modules/moderation/moderation.service.ts
• shared/modules/terminal/terminal.service.ts

Implementation Files

File	Purpose
shared/db/schema/guild-settings.ts	Database schema
shared/modules/guild-settings/guild-settings.service.ts	Service layer
shared/lib/config.ts	Config loader with getGuildConfig()
bot/commands/admin/settings.ts	Admin command
web/src/routes/guild-settings.routes.ts	API routes
shared/scripts/migrate-config-to-db.ts	Migration script