Introduction

Understand what addon development is, when you should use it, and where to start.

Addon development is how you add new code-driven features to ItsMyBot.

If you only need automations, custom messages, or custom commands built from existing blocks, start with scripts first.

What an addon is

An addon is a compiled package loaded by the bot from build/addons/<AddonName>.

An addon can add:

Discord interactions
Discord events
scripting actions and conditions
custom triggers
placeholder expansions
leaderboards
config files
translations

That is the important distinction: addons add new capabilities to the bot. Scripts mostly use capabilities that already exist.

When to build an addon

Build an addon when:

you want to add a real new feature to the bot
you need custom TypeScript logic
you need database models, API calls, or custom services
you want to extend the scripting engine itself

Do not start with an addon when:

you only want to automate existing bot behavior
you only need custom messages, modals, or buttons
you only need custom commands built from existing actions

For those cases, use these first:

What you need before starting

Before learning addon development, make sure you have:

the ItsMyBot GitHub repository, not only a marketplace build
basic TypeScript knowledge
basic understanding of class-validator
a local build of the bot that you can start and test

If those basics are still unclear, it is better to learn them first. Addon development becomes much easier once TypeScript classes, async code, and validation decorators already make sense.

Where to study real addons

Start with:

Addons docs for documented official addons
the ItsMyBot GitHub repository, especially src/addons

The bundled addons are useful references:

_Example for the starter template
Presets for script-related extensions
MCStatus for placeholder expansions
StatsChannel for a more practical addon with config and interactions

Where to start

Read the developer section in this order:

First Addon

Start here for the first setup, first addon class, first config file, and first working command.

Additional Features

Continue here when the addon needs more than the basics, such as events, leaderboards, actions, conditions, triggers, or expansions.

Reference

Use examples, utils, and the dictionary once the addon structure already makes sense.

If you are still unsure whether you need an addon, start with scripts first. They are faster to learn, faster to test, and already cover many common automations.