API Feature Request: Allow passing channel to "Add Guild Member"

[cryptiklemur]

Use Case: DiscordServers.com uses the Add Guild Member endpoint to add users to the server they want to join. Server owners would really appreciate the ability to specify what channel people see when they join the server, without updating the order of channels.

Edit:

Another acceptable solution would be an RPC url to redirect any open client to the given channel, assuming the user is in the server and can see the channel.

[LikeLakers2]

Just so my 😕 reaction doesn't go unexplained... why not use instant invites at that point, at least for this use case? While I don't think being able to pass a channel to Add Guild Member will be a bad idea (it's a good idea, at least in theory), I just don't understand why you can't use invites for that use case.

[z64]

Because Add Guild Member itself has an entirely different use case.

It allows you to very finely control who you let into a Discord server and when, because with the added OAuth2 step involved you can inspect the discord users account before adding them, possibly cross-referencing them with a 3rd party site (i.e. forum membership or subscriptions)

Instant invites are entirely public links (vs secure OAuth2) and you have no chance for an intermediate screening.

[LikeLakers2]

Okay... and why not just use a bot on that guild for that purpose? Also, we're talking about a website that advertises discord guilds. I don't see why it would absolutely need an app authorized for any reason other than as a sign-up method. What cross-referencing is that sort of website going to do that a bot on a guild couldn't already do?

[z64]

I'm confused by what you mean; Add Guild Member requires Bot authorization, and for the bot to already be present in that guild.

Consider, that I have a private Discord server for my Twitch followers. This allows you to securely add followers to your Discord servers:

1. You give the user an OAuth2 link with scope=identiy+connections+guilds.join
2. You query that user to get their Discord ID GET /users/@me
3. You get that users Twitch account GET /users/@me/connections
4. You use Twitch's API to check if they are following you
5. You use Add Guild Member to add them to the guild (this endpoint also allows you to add roles to the member immediately upon joining, in a single step)

What this issue about, is allowing to pass channel_id so that users land on a differently-placed #rules channel (for example) that isn't in the position of the guild's default channel.

[cryptiklemur]

Invites are not reliable, from a server-list perspective.

If you allow users to specify their own invite link you run into at least 2 main issues:

• Its difficult to ensure that links are permanent
• Also hard to tell when the link is expired / deleted.

If you move to a system where the bot creates invite links, you run into other issues.

• Do you only generate one?
• Do you generate one at a time on request, do you generate multiple and save them?
• What happens if it/they get(s) deleted.
• What happens if the server is at the limit of invites that can be generated.
• What if the server has denied creating server invites to all channels? Even with global perm, channel perms override this. This does not happen with Add Guild Member
• Lots of other minature problems with this solution too, too many to list

This is all very easily solved by asking the user for permission to add them to servers for them, and ensuring that the bot is given the 1 permission bit on joining. Invite links are no longer an issue.

The only downside to this is currently, you can't add a user to a specific channel, which is the purpose of this issue.

Addendum:

DiscordServers originally stored invites that the user could create on their own. This quickly ran into problems described above, and we spent most of our time guiding people how to set up their permissions correctly.
DiscordServers then moved to generating on request to join. This still had permission problems, and then ran into an issue where large servers like Overwatch stopped working due to hitting max invites.
We finally settled on using this endpoint, as it gave us the most reliable control, with the best possible friction score for our users.

[LikeLakers2]

Just so I don't seem like I'm ignoring what's been said in response, @aequasi I think I understand what you're getting at now. Please excuse me for my misunderstanding in my original comments. I was making a wrong assumption about how Add Guild Member worked!

[night]

There's no current way to pass client state like what channel to show from the server to the client reliably. A member has no concept of a channel, but rather the server itself. Invites belong to channels, and members belong to servers. When your client joins an invite, it knows the channel to show you on join after syncing the server. Adding a member from the server has no requirement that a client be open when the endpoint is called, so offline clients would never receive state. We also do not persist states outside of open client sessions. Because of the complexity needed to solve for such a small use case it's unlikely we would build a feature like this. The best you can really do if you want to use this OAuth2 flow is to redirect the user to the correct guild after the flow: https://discordapp.com/channels/:guild_id/:channel_id

In general invite links work much better for this use case (public server lists). You can easily script a bot which creates and caches invites for a guild, only replacing them if they expire or are removed. Handling edge cases like "What happens if the server is at the limit of invites that can be generated." or "What happens if the bot doesn't have permission" is just part of interfacing with any API where access control and limitations exist, and similar conditions exist even for your current integration (like what happens if a user revokes your app).

[cryptiklemur]

A simple link that I could redirect to, that would redirect the client for them, if the client is open, would be plenty for me.

In general invite links work much better for this use case (public server lists).

I'm not sure I agree with this, and in my use case, I definitely disagree. I don't have the time to field support questions and teach users how to use discord properly. Support wise, its a lot easier to tell people they have to have &permissions=1, than walk them through creating an invite link for the channel they want. This is a barrier to entry that I will not entertain.

From a purely "easy of use" standpoint, invite links do not "work much better".

From a technical standpoint, its also less friendly, as I have to have a script running constantly, (which hits your API too), that is checking for expired/invalid/dead invite links. This is not ideal.

[LikeLakers2]

From a technical standpoint, its also less friendly, as I have to have a script running constantly, (which hits your API too), that is checking for expired/invalid/dead invite links. This is not ideal.

It's not exactly something you need a script running constantly for:

When user requests to join a guild:
  Check if the cached invite still exists and works
    If it does, direct them to that invite
    If it doesn't, generate a new invite, and direct the user to that
      For guilds with a vanity URL, you might consider directing them to that instead
      Make sure to cache this invite for later use

Also, maybe it's me, but the permission problem you describe sounds like the exception, not the rule...

[cryptiklemur]

Its extra avenues of failure that I don't want to entertain.

Also, maybe it's me, but the permission problem you describe sounds like the exception, not the rule...

It may be an exception, but it happens enough. Doesn't discount the need for a better solution to avoid having to support, especially when the path to fixing the problem is more complicated than just using "Add Guild Member"

[Dramex]

Add Guild Member endpoint requires CREATE_INSTANT_INVITE permission too, you'll still need to support them if they removed that permission

[cryptiklemur]

Only need to add it on the initial bot oauth page.

To be able to create an invite you have to make sure that:

1. The user has selected what channel they want to create an invite for
2. The bot has permissions to create the invite in that channel

That permission, even if the bot has it server wide, can be negated in that channel. This is common, as lots of server owners deny create invite perms to @everyone in all channels.

With Add Guild Member, the only thing that is required, is that the bot has a role, with the server wide permission to create invites. This is done automatically when the user adds the bot. Server owners would have to go out of their way to either, deny that permission, or edit the bot role to prevent that.

A lot easier.

[JetCrooked]

That permission, even if the bot has it server wide, can be negated in that channel. This is common, as lots of server owners deny create invite perms to @everyone in all channels.

just replace &permissions=1 with &permissions=8 (or 9) and that wouldn't be a problem :)

[cryptiklemur]

Not going to ask for Admin perms. Way more permission than the bot needs.

[applebee1558]

Ik this is dead, but I would say that an option on the RPC api to point the user to that channel on the guild would be the best. The add members endpoint does it silently and nothing happens to the client except for the extra guild on the guild list. It’s probably more work for discord to make a gateway event that’s specifically for that purpose. Maybe a one time use token that’s granted when the member is added. The token could be used with a rpc endpoint that lets you point to the newly added guild and specify an channel?

[cryptiklemur]

A simple link that I could redirect to, that would redirect the client for them, if the client is open, would be plenty for me.

Any update on this? Is this possible now?