Discord Message Logger

The question worth settling before enabling any logging is how long entries stay. A log that keeps message content indefinitely stops being a moderation aid and becomes a database of everything your members ever said, which is a liability if the bot or its host is ever compromised.

Most moderation genuinely needs days rather than months. Disputes surface quickly, and a report about something said six months ago is rarely resolved by the log. Setting a short window costs almost nothing operationally and removes most of the risk.

For servers with European members this is not only good practice. Retention has to be proportionate to a stated purpose under GDPR, and 'we kept it because the bot defaulted to forever' is not one.

The audit log records administrative actions - bans, kicks, role changes, channel edits, webhook creation - and retains them for 45 days. It does not record message content, and it does not record ordinary messages being sent.

Message deletions appear only when a moderator deletes someone else's message. A user deleting their own leaves no audit entry at all, which is the gap that logging bots exist to fill.

Viewing the audit log requires the View Audit Log permission. It is read-only for everyone including administrators, so entries cannot be removed.

A bot that logs message edits and deletions works by caching messages as they arrive and comparing against later events. That requires the Message Content privileged intent, which Discord grants only after review for bots in more than 100 servers.

Because such a bot holds message content, it falls under Discord's developer policy and, for European members, under data protection law. Servers running one should disclose it in their rules - members generally accept moderation logging when told, and react badly to discovering it.

Retention is the part usually left unconfigured. A log that keeps everything forever is a liability rather than a moderation tool; most servers need days, not years.

Backup important announcements, save planning records, or archive history. A JSON export is the most useful for scripts.