Use the API from Discord

Many groups organize their events on Discord. This example shows how a Discord command could use the OpenMeshTak API, so that people join an event themselves instead of an organizer adding each one by hand. It is about the API calls, not about building a Discord bot; any bot framework works.

The idea

A participant types /join in your Discord server. Your bot then:

1. reads the person's Discord user ID and Discord roles;
2. picks the matching OpenMeshTak role and group;
3. adds the person to the event with one API call; and
4. replies with the callsign, or with what went wrong.

Participanttypes /join in Discord

→

Your botmaps the Discord roles to a role and group

→

OpenMeshTakPUT external member returns the member or a sync issue

→

Your botreplies “You joined Bravo”

This does not create a login. The person becomes an event member identified by their Discord ID, nothing more. It is not "Sign in with Discord".

What the bot needs

• An API client limited to this one event, with the permission members.sync.
• The event's ID, and the slugs of the roles and groups you map to.
• A table from Discord roles to OpenMeshTak slugs, kept in the bot's own configuration:

Discord role	OpenMeshTak role	OpenMeshTak group
Team Bravo	participant	bravo
Team Bravo Lead	team-lead	bravo
Medics	medic	medic

OpenMeshTak never sees the Discord roles. The bot decides; the API only receives the result.

The call

The bot sends one request per /join, the external member sync:

HTTP

PUT /api/v1/events/{eventId}/external-members/discord/{discordUserId}
Authorization: Bearer <API key>
Content-Type: application/json

{ "username": "peter", "eventRole": "participant", "group": "bravo" }

SDK

const result = await client.upsertExternalMember(eventId, "discord", discordUserId, {
  username: "peter",
  eventRole: "participant",
  group: "bravo",
});

It is safe to repeat. Running /join again after a role change updates the same member instead of creating a second one.

The reply

The response has one of two shapes:

outcome	Meaning	What the bot could reply
member	The person is a member. change says created, updated or unchanged; member holds the callsign.	"You joined Bravo as Peter."
sync-issue	Something needs an organizer, for example a callsign conflict or an unknown group. The membership stays unchanged.	"An organizer needs to check your entry."

Organizers see open sync issues in the event's members view and can resolve them there.

Going further

• Web access: a Discord member has no password. With the extra permission member-claims.create, the bot can create an access link and send it to the person in a direct message, never in a channel.
• Show the setup: read the person's profile to reply with their radio name and channels.