How to host a Discord bot 24/7: a step-by-step guide

Why your bot stops when your PC turns off

A Discord bot is a program that stays connected to Discord all the time. While the program runs, the bot shows as online; when your computer shuts down, sleeps or loses its connection, the bot goes offline and stops answering commands.

So a bot available 24/7 needs a machine that is always on, with a stable connection, that restarts the bot when it crashes.

Three ways to run it

• Your computer or a Raspberry Pi: free, but the machine must stay on; a power or internet outage, a system update, and the bot stops.
• A VPS: a rented server you manage yourself. You install Node.js or Python and set up automatic restarts (pm2, systemd), updates, security, and an HTTPS certificate if your bot has a website.
• A bot host: you upload your code, the service installs it, runs it, restarts it and shows you the logs. That is what Invokara does.

Step 1: prepare your project

Your project must start with a single command: npm start, node index.js or python main.py. List your modules in package.json (Node.js) or requirements.txt (Python).

my-bot/
├── package.json        ← or requirements.txt for Python
├── index.js            ← entry file
├── .env                ← TOKEN=...
├── commands/
└── data/               ← your data (SQLite, JSON…)

Step 2: keep the token out of your code

Your token gives full control of your bot. Put it in a .env file or in your host's variables, never in plain text in your code or in a public GitHub repository.

TOKEN=your_discord_token

On Invokara, your .env is read as is, and variables saved in the Variables tab are encrypted; those holding a secret (token, key, password) are never shown again. The panel also checks the token and tells you which intents to enable in the Discord developer portal.

Step 3: put the bot online

1. Sign in to Invokara with your Discord account, no password to create.
2. Create a bot: a name, the language (Node.js 22 / 24 or Python 3.12) and a plan.
3. Upload your code: a .zip, a GitHub repository (deployed on every push) or a ready-made template.
4. Click Start: modules are installed and your entry file is found automatically.

Step 4: keep it online

A 24/7 bot must come back by itself after a crash. On Invokara it restarts automatically and you get a direct message; the console explains the error and what to do.

If it crashes 5 times in 10 minutes, it is paused: Discord resets the token of bots that keep reconnecting. You fix the issue, then start it again.

Step 5: monitor and update

• the live console, with the latest logs kept even after a stop;
• RAM and CPU charts;
• /restart, /logs and /status from Discord, with the Invokara bot;
• updates with a new upload or a git push; data files (SQLite, JSON…) are kept.