Setup guide

Get MARVIN running in your server

From a fresh server to fully-configured moderation in under 5 minutes. The bot does most of the work — you mostly point at things and click.

Step 1 · Invite the bot

Click the link below. Discord will ask which server to add it to and confirm permissions. Pick your server and click Authorize.

Add MARVIN to Discord →

The invite URL includes both bot AND applications.commands scopes — both are required. If slash commands don't show up later, the bot was added with only the bot scope; re-invite with the link above.

Step 2 · Verify the bot joined

Open your server in Discord. You'll see a brand-new private channel called#bot-setup at the top of your channel list. It's only visible to you (the person who added the bot) and anyone with Manage Server permission.

The pinned message inside that channel is the welcome embed — it has:

• A direct link to your server's dashboard page
• This step-by-step quick start
• The list of which features are on by default vs need setup
• The Discord-native "revoke Mention Everyone from @everyone role" recommendation

If #bot-setup didn't appear, the bot may not have Manage Channels permission. Run /setup onboard in any channel as a member with Manage Server — it'll re-create the channel.

Step 3 · Open the dashboard

Click the Open Dashboard button in the welcome embed, or visit marvindiscord.com. Click Sign in with Discord in the top-right.

Discord will ask you to confirm. The dashboard only reads your username and the list of servers you're in — no message access, no friend list, no presence.

Step 4 · Pick your server

After OAuth, you'll land on the server picker. It shows every guild where:

• You have Manage Server permission (or higher), AND
• MARVIN is a member of that guild.

Click the card for the server you just added the bot to. You're now in that guild's dashboard.

Step 5 · Turn on features

The Setup status panel at the top of the page shows what's done and what's pending. Below it, the Features grid lists every feature with an on/off switch. Use the search box to find one quickly.

Defaults when MARVIN first joins:

• On by default: Moderation, Anti-Spam, Anti-Invite Links, Scam Image Detection, Activity log, Welcome & Leave
• Off until you set them up: NSFW Filter, Tickets & Modmail, Auto-moderation rules, Anti-Nuke, Anti-Raid, and the other opt-in features

Flipping a switch saves immediately — the change takes effect within about 30 seconds.

Step 6 · Configure each feature

Click Configure → on any feature that's on. You'll get a settings form for that feature — pick channels, roles, sensitivity, and what action to take. For example, Anti-Spam lets you toggle each pattern (rapid-fire, duplicates, mass mentions, emoji floods, ALL CAPS, @everyone/@here) on its own; the NSFW Filter lets you toggle each image category the same way.

Save your changes with the Save bar that appears when you have unsaved edits.

Step 7 · Set your roles

Open Roles in the sidebar. Map your Discord roles to bot purposes:

• bot_admin — members of this role get dashboard write access for this guild (alongside the guild owner)
• bot_mod — bypass filters, can run mod commands without Manage Messages
• auto_assign — automatically granted to every new member on join
• mute — legacy mute role (most setups can skip this and use Discord native timeouts)
• verified — granted after a verify/captcha flow (future feature, optional)

Pick from your server's actual Discord roles via the dropdowns. Each save is atomic.

Troubleshooting

The dashboard says "No eligible guilds yet"

One of two things:

• You don't have Manage Server in any of your guilds.
• MARVIN isn't in the guild you administer. Re-check the invite step.

I don't see slash commands

The bot was invited with only the bot scope, missingapplications.commands. Re-authorize via the invite link inStep 1 — Discord recognizes the bot is already there and just upgrades its scope.

The bot didn't create a #bot-setup channel

Either the bot doesn't have Manage Channels permission in your server, or the bot was added before this feature shipped. Run/setup onboard in any channel — it'll re-create it.

I removed the bot, can I get my settings back?

Yes — for 30 days. Add MARVIN back to the same server within that window and your feature settings, role mappings, ticket history, and activity log are all restored. After 30 days the data is permanently deleted.

Saved a setting but the bot is still doing the old thing

Changes take effect within about 30 seconds — wait a moment and try again. If it still doesn't pick up, check MARVIN is online via the status page.

Hit a wall not covered here? Reach us in the support server: