Send messages, DMs, embeds, polls, forum posts, threads, schedule events, and manage roles in Discord servers with Zernio API - No bot hosting, no gateway, no intents approval

Quick Reference

Property	Value
Content limit	2,000 characters (message content)
Embeds per message	10 (max 6,000 chars total)
Images per message	Up to 10 attachments
Image formats	JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP
Image max size	25 MB (higher on boosted servers)
Video formats	MP4, MOV, WebM
Video max size	25 MB (up to 500 MB on boosted servers)
Post types	Messages, Embeds, Polls, Forum Posts, Threads
Scheduling	Yes
Direct Messages	Outbound only
Role management	Yes (list / assign / remove)
Member listing	Yes (cursor pagination)
Pinned messages	Yes (list / pin / unpin)
Scheduled Events	Yes (create / list / update / cancel / delete)
Inbox (DM replies)	No (Discord requires a Gateway connection)
Inbox (Comments)	No
Analytics	No (Discord Bot API limit)

Discord integration uses a centralized bot token model. You do NOT need to create a Discord Application, request privileged intents, or host a gateway connection. You add the Zernio bot to your server via OAuth and POST to our REST API.

Key points:

No bot hosting required - we manage the bot infrastructure
No intents approval - MESSAGE_CONTENT and other privileged intents are handled at the bot level
No gateway/sharding - you never connect a WebSocket; everything is REST
The bot needs: Send Messages, Embed Links, Attach Files, Send Messages in Threads, Create Public Threads, Manage Messages (for pin/unpin), Manage Roles (for role assignment), and Manage Events (for scheduled events) permissions - all granted at install time on new connections.
Already-connected servers: existing Zernio installs predate the Manage Roles and Manage Events permissions. If those endpoints return 502, ask a server admin to either re-invite the bot (picks up new permissions automatically) or manually grant the missing permission on the bot's role in Server Settings → Roles.

Note on the Server Members Intent: the GET /v1/discord/guilds/{guildId}/members endpoint requires the "Server Members Intent" enabled on the Zernio Discord app. This is on by default for new bot installs. If listing members returns an empty array with no error, this intent is the likely cause.

OAuth Scopes

Discord posting works through a bot installation rather than user-token publishing, so only two OAuth scopes are involved:

Scope	What it enables
`bot`	Install the Zernio bot into your server; all posting happens through the bot
`guilds`	List the servers you manage so you can pick where to post

Zernio requests all scopes in a single OAuth flow when the account is connected (see Connecting Accounts); scopes cannot be requested individually. To check what a connected account can currently do, call Account Health: it reports posting and analytics capability derived from the scopes the user actually granted.

Quick Start

Send a message to a Discord channel:

const { post } = await zernio.posts.createPost({
  content: 'Hello from Zernio API!',
  platforms: [
    {
      platform: 'discord',
      accountId: 'YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID',
      platformSpecificData: {
        channelId: '1234567890'
      }
    }
  ],
  publishNow: true
});
console.log('Posted to Discord!', post._id);

result = client.posts.create_post(
    content="Hello from Zernio API!",
    platforms=[
        {
            "platform": "discord",
            "accountId": "YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID",
            "platformSpecificData": {
                "channelId": "1234567890"
            }
        }
    ],
    publish_now=True,
)
print(f"Posted to Discord! {result.post['_id']}")

curl -X POST https://zernio.com/api/v1/posts \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "content": "Hello from Zernio API!",
    "platforms": [
      {
        "platform": "discord",
        "accountId": "YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID",
        "platformSpecificData": {
          "channelId": "1234567890"
        }
      }
    ],
    "publishNow": true
  }'

Connection

Discord uses OAuth2 with our centralized bot:

Call GET /v1/connect/discord?profileId=YOUR_PROFILE_ID to get the bot invite URL
The user authorizes the bot to join their server
After authorization, the user selects which channel to post to via /connect/discord/select-channel
The connected account appears in GET /v1/accounts

Each connected account represents one Discord server. The channelId in platformSpecificData determines which channel receives the message.

Webhook Identity (Bot Customization)

By default, messages are posted as "Zernio" with the bot's avatar. You can customize the display name and avatar at two levels:

Account-level default (applies to every post from this account):

curl -X PATCH https://zernio.com/api/v1/connect/discord \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "accountId": "YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID",
    "webhookUsername": "My Brand",
    "webhookAvatarUrl": "https://example.com/logo.png"
  }'

Per-post override (overrides account default for a single post):

{
  "platforms": [{
    "platform": "discord",
    "accountId": "YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID",
    "platformSpecificData": {
      "channelId": "1234567890",
      "webhookUsername": "Special Announcement",
      "webhookAvatarUrl": "https://example.com/special-logo.png"
    }
  }],
  "publishNow": true
}

Webhook usernames must be 1-80 characters and cannot contain "clyde" or "discord". Send an empty string to reset to the default ("Zernio").

Embeds

Send rich embedded content alongside or instead of plain text:

{
  "content": "New release shipping today!",
  "platforms": [{
    "platform": "discord",
    "accountId": "YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID",
    "platformSpecificData": {
      "channelId": "1234567890",
      "embeds": [{
        "title": "v2.3.0 Release Notes",
        "description": "Dark mode, new API endpoints, faster uploads.",
        "color": 5814783,
        "url": "https://example.com/changelog",
        "footer": { "text": "Shipped today" },
        "fields": [
          { "name": "New Features", "value": "3", "inline": true },
          { "name": "Bug Fixes", "value": "12", "inline": true }
        ]
      }]
    }
  }],
  "publishNow": true
}

Each message supports up to 10 embeds with a combined character limit of 6,000 across all embed fields.

Native Polls

Create Discord-native polls (same UX as the Discord client):

{
  "platforms": [{
    "platform": "discord",
    "accountId": "YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID",
    "platformSpecificData": {
      "channelId": "1234567890",
      "poll": {
        "question": { "text": "Ship it now or wait until Monday?" },
        "answers": [
          { "poll_media": { "text": "Ship now" } },
          { "poll_media": { "text": "Wait for Monday" } }
        ],
        "duration": 24,
        "allow_multiselect": false
      }
    }
  }],
  "publishNow": true
}

Poll Property	Value
Max answers	10
Duration range	1 - 768 hours (32 days)
Default duration	24 hours
Multi-select	Optional (default: false)

Polls are standalone messages. You cannot combine a poll with media attachments in the same message (Discord API limitation).

Forum Posts

Post starter messages to forum channels (type 15):

{
  "content": "Community call notes for January 15",
  "platforms": [{
    "platform": "discord",
    "accountId": "YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID",
    "platformSpecificData": {
      "channelId": "9999999999",
      "forumThreadName": "Community Call - Jan 15",
      "forumAppliedTags": ["11111111", "22222222"]
    }
  }],
  "publishNow": true
}

forumThreadName (required for forum channels) becomes the thread title
forumAppliedTags are snowflake IDs of existing forum tags (max 5 tags per post)
Use listForumTags(channelId) to discover available tags

Threads

Create a follow-up thread under any published message:

{
  "content": "Main announcement here",
  "platforms": [{
    "platform": "discord",
    "accountId": "YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID",
    "platformSpecificData": {
      "channelId": "1234567890",
      "threadFromMessage": {
        "name": "Discussion Thread",
        "autoArchiveDuration": 1440,
        "rateLimitPerUser": 0
      }
    }
  }],
  "publishNow": true
}

autoArchiveDuration options: 60, 1440 (1 day), 4320 (3 days), or 10080 (7 days) minutes. rateLimitPerUser sets slow-mode in seconds (0-21600).

Announcement Crosspost

Auto-crosspost messages from announcement channels (type 5) so followers in other servers receive them:

{
  "platformSpecificData": {
    "channelId": "ANNOUNCEMENT_CHANNEL_ID",
    "crosspost": true
  }
}

This is a no-op for regular text channels.

Edit & Delete

Edit: PUT /v1/posts/{postId} updates the Discord message content and embeds
Delete: DELETE /v1/posts/{postId} deletes the Discord message or cancels a scheduled one

Rate Limits

Discord applies per-channel, per-guild, and global rate limits. Zernio handles 429 responses with exponential backoff and respects the X-RateLimit-Reset-After header automatically. You never need to implement retry logic.

platformSpecificData Reference

Field	Type	Required	Description
`channelId`	string	Yes	Target channel snowflake ID
`embeds`	array	No	Up to 10 Discord embed objects (6,000 chars total)
`poll`	object	No	Native poll (question, answers, duration). Cannot combine with media
`crosspost`	boolean	No	Auto-crosspost in announcement channels
`forumThreadName`	string	Forum channels	Thread title for forum starter message
`forumAppliedTags`	string[]	No	Tag snowflake IDs for forum posts (max 5)
`threadFromMessage`	object	No	Create a thread under the published message
`threadFromMessage.rateLimitPerUser`	number	No	Slow-mode seconds for thread (0-21600)
`tts`	boolean	No	Text-to-speech message
`webhookUsername`	string	No	Override display name for this post (1-80 chars)
`webhookAvatarUrl`	string	No	Override avatar URL for this post

Channel Management

List available channels in the connected guild:

const { channels } = await zernio.discord.getDiscordChannels({
  path: { accountId: 'YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID' },
});

res = client.discord.get_discord_channels(account_id="YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID")

curl https://zernio.com/api/v1/accounts/YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID/discord-channels \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Switch the connected channel:

curl -X PATCH https://zernio.com/api/v1/connect/discord \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "accountId": "YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID",
    "channelId": "NEW_CHANNEL_ID"
  }'

Only text (0), announcement (5), and forum (15) channels are supported. A new webhook is automatically created in the target channel.

Direct Messages

Send a 1:1 message from the bot to a Discord user. Useful for operational messages outside the channel post flow — onboarding, billing reminders, password resets, support pings.

curl -X POST https://zernio.com/api/v1/discord/dms \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "accountId": "YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID",
    "userId": "1234567890123456789",
    "content": "Welcome to Acme! Reply STOP to opt out."
  }'

Same payload shape as channel posts — also accepts embeds, attachments, and tts. At least one of content, embeds, or attachments is required.

Discord constraints to know about:

The bot can only DM users it shares at least one guild with.
If the recipient has DMs disabled for non-friends, Discord returns 403 (surfaces as a 502 platform error).
Recipient must be identified by Discord snowflake ID (not username). No public API exists to resolve a username to a snowflake without the privileged guild_members.read scope.

Role & Member Management

Four endpoints for community-ops automation: list roles, list members (paginated), and assign / remove roles per member. Path shape mirrors Discord's own API so you can map mentally with zero translation.

List all roles in a guild (id, name, color, position, permissions, flags):

curl "https://zernio.com/api/v1/discord/guilds/GUILD_ID/roles?accountId=YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

List members (cursor-paginated, default 100/page, max 1,000):

curl "https://zernio.com/api/v1/discord/guilds/GUILD_ID/members?accountId=YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID&limit=100" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Response:

{
  "data": [
    {
      "user": { "id": "...", "username": "...", "global_name": "..." },
      "nick": null,
      "roles": ["ROLE_ID_A", "ROLE_ID_B"],
      "joined_at": "2024-01-15T10:30:00.000Z"
    }
  ],
  "pagination": { "nextCursor": "USER_ID", "hasMore": true }
}

Pass &after=NEXT_CURSOR on the next call until hasMore: false.

Assign a role to a member (idempotent):

curl -X PUT "https://zernio.com/api/v1/discord/guilds/GUILD_ID/members/USER_ID/roles/ROLE_ID?accountId=YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Remove a role from a member (idempotent):

curl -X DELETE "https://zernio.com/api/v1/discord/guilds/GUILD_ID/members/USER_ID/roles/ROLE_ID?accountId=YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Discord hierarchy rule: the bot's highest role must be above the target role. If the bot is demoted in the guild's role hierarchy, it loses the ability to assign higher roles even with the Manage Roles permission. The @everyone role (where roleId == guildId) cannot be manipulated.

Pin / Unpin Messages

Pin messages in a channel for community-ops automation: announcement of the week, rules channel updates, auto-pin freshly published posts.

List pinned messages (max 50 per channel, sorted most-recent first):

curl "https://zernio.com/api/v1/discord/channels/CHANNEL_ID/pins?accountId=YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Pin a message (idempotent):

curl -X PUT "https://zernio.com/api/v1/discord/channels/CHANNEL_ID/pins/MESSAGE_ID?accountId=YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Unpin a message (idempotent):

curl -X DELETE "https://zernio.com/api/v1/discord/channels/CHANNEL_ID/pins/MESSAGE_ID?accountId=YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Discord caps a channel at 50 pinned messages. Attempting to pin a 51st returns 400 — unpin one first.

Scheduled Events

Create Discord-native scheduled events — distinct from messages. They show up in the server's Events panel and Discord auto-notifies interested members ahead of start time. Perfect for AMAs, game tournaments, office hours, livestreams, web3 community events.

Three event types via discriminated union on entity.type:

External event (Zoom, IRL, off-platform livestream):

curl -X POST https://zernio.com/api/v1/discord/guilds/GUILD_ID/events \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "accountId": "YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID",
    "name": "Weekly AMA",
    "description": "Bring your questions about the roadmap.",
    "startsAt": "2026-06-15T18:00:00Z",
    "entity": {
      "type": "external",
      "location": "https://zoom.us/j/123456789",
      "endsAt": "2026-06-15T19:00:00Z"
    }
  }'

For external events, both location and endsAt are required.

Voice channel event:

{
  "accountId": "YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID",
  "name": "Game Night",
  "startsAt": "2026-06-20T20:00:00Z",
  "entity": { "type": "voice", "channelId": "VOICE_CHANNEL_ID" }
}

Stage channel event: same shape as voice, with "type": "stage" and a stage channel id.

List events (optionally with RSVP count):

curl "https://zernio.com/api/v1/discord/guilds/GUILD_ID/events?accountId=YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID&withUserCount=true" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Get / Update / Delete one event:

# Fetch
curl "https://zernio.com/api/v1/discord/guilds/GUILD_ID/events/EVENT_ID?accountId=YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

# Update (any subset of fields)
curl -X PATCH "https://zernio.com/api/v1/discord/guilds/GUILD_ID/events/EVENT_ID" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "accountId": "YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID", "name": "Updated title" }'

# Cancel (status transition - preserves the event in guild history)
curl -X PATCH "https://zernio.com/api/v1/discord/guilds/GUILD_ID/events/EVENT_ID" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "accountId": "YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID", "status": "cancelled" }'

# Hard delete (no history retained)
curl -X DELETE "https://zernio.com/api/v1/discord/guilds/GUILD_ID/events/EVENT_ID?accountId=YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Discord doesn't have a dedicated "cancel" endpoint — cancellation is a status transition via PATCH (status: 'cancelled'). Use PATCH if you want the event preserved in the guild's event history; use DELETE for a hard delete with no record.

Event Property	Value
Name	Max 100 chars
Description	Max 1,000 chars
Privacy level	Always GUILD_ONLY (Discord deprecated PUBLIC events)
External events	Require `location` (max 100 chars) + `endsAt`
Voice/stage events	Require `channelId`; `endsAt` optional
Cover image	Optional base64 data URI (PNG / JPEG / GIF)
Start time	Must be in the future

Connection & posting

Connect Discord Account - OAuth flow and bot installation
Create Post - Post creation and scheduling
Discord Settings - Update webhook identity and switch channels
Discord Channels - List guild channels

Direct Messages

POST /v1/discord/dms - Send a 1:1 DM from the bot to a Discord user

Role & Member management

GET /v1/discord/guilds/{guildId}/roles - List all roles in a guild
GET /v1/discord/guilds/{guildId}/members - Paginated member list
PUT /v1/discord/guilds/{guildId}/members/{userId}/roles/{roleId} - Assign a role
DELETE /v1/discord/guilds/{guildId}/members/{userId}/roles/{roleId} - Remove a role

Pinned messages

GET /v1/discord/channels/{channelId}/pins - List pinned messages
PUT /v1/discord/channels/{channelId}/pins/{messageId} - Pin a message
DELETE /v1/discord/channels/{channelId}/pins/{messageId} - Unpin a message

Scheduled Events

POST /v1/discord/guilds/{guildId}/events - Create an event (external / voice / stage)
GET /v1/discord/guilds/{guildId}/events - List events (optionally with RSVP count)
GET /v1/discord/guilds/{guildId}/events/{eventId} - Fetch one event
PATCH /v1/discord/guilds/{guildId}/events/{eventId} - Update or cancel (status: 'cancelled')
DELETE /v1/discord/guilds/{guildId}/events/{eventId} - Hard delete