Setup

Setup takes about a minute and happens entirely inside Discord.

1. Add Howie

Use the Add Howie to your server button on howie.lol, or go straight to howie.lol/invite. Discord asks you to pick a server and shows the permissions Howie needs.

• You need the Manage Server permission in a server to add a bot to it.
• Leave every permission checked. Each one powers a specific feature; see Permissions for what breaks without it.

2. Safe defaults while you set up

Howie starts protecting your server the moment it joins, even before anyone runs /setup. Until you change them, it uses these settings:

Howie also posts a short welcome in your server's system channel, with a Set up Howie button and a Delete message button. Only members with Manage Server can use either. If your server has no system channel, or Howie can't post there, it posts the welcome in another text channel, starting with staff-only channels. If Howie can't post anywhere, it sends the welcome by DM to whoever added it or to the server owner. /setup doesn't work in DMs, so run it in your server.

3. Run /setup

Only members with the Manage Server permission can run /setup. It opens one form with your current settings filled in, and only you see it. The form has five sections:

1. Scams to catch. Every available type is checked. Uncheck any you don't want. New types start out checked. See scam types.
2. What Howie does. Ban, kick, timeout for 1 hour, timeout for 24 hours or delete only. Howie always deletes the scam posts. See actions.
3. Roles to skip. Optional. Howie ignores members with these roles, such as your moderators.
4. Report channel. Optional. Pick a text or announcement channel, or leave it empty for no reports. Reports don't include the scam's content. See Reports for what they show and how to keep a copy of deleted posts.
5. Options. Two checkboxes, both on by default.
   • AutoMod rules. Howie keeps Discord AutoMod rules that block known scam links before they post. Turning it off removes Howie's rules.
   • Allow appeals. People Howie acts on can undo it themselves at howie.lol/appeal, for example after their account was hijacked. Turned off, Howie doesn't send them the link, and the page lists your server's actions without undoing them. See Appeals.

When you submit, Howie saves your settings and replies with a summary only you can see. It also checks that it has the permissions your chosen action needs, that its role is high enough and that it can post in your report channel. If something is wrong, it tells you exactly what to fix.

To change a setting later, run /setup again or press Change settings on the summary.

4. Move Howie's role up

Discord only lets a bot ban, kick or give timeouts to members whose highest role is below the bot's highest role. If Howie's role sits at the bottom of the list, it can't act on anyone with a role.

1. Open Server Settings, then Roles.
2. Drag the Howie role above the roles your regular members have.
3. Keep it below your moderator and admin roles. Howie doesn't need to act on them.

Commands