Development setup

Complete guide to setting up your Answer Overflow development environment

Development setup

This guide will help you set up Answer Overflow for local development.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following installed:

Bun 1.3+

Fast JavaScript runtime and package manager

Node.js 18+

Required for some tooling compatibility

Discord account

For creating a test bot application

Git

Version control system

VSCode users: Open the answeroverflow.code-workspace file for recommended settings and extensions.

Installation

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/answeroverflow/answer-overflow.git
   cd answer-overflow
   
2. Install dependencies

   bun install
   

   This will install all dependencies for the entire monorepo.

3. Set up environment variables

   Copy the example environment file:

   cp .env.example .env
   

   Follow the instructions in .env.example to configure your environment variables.

4. Set up the database

   Initialize and configure the Convex database:

   cd packages/database
   bun db:push
   bun db:wipe
   cd ../..
   
5. Start development

   bun dev
   

   This starts all apps in development mode using Turbo.

Discord bot setup

To develop the Discord bot, you’ll need to create a test bot application.

Create a Discord application

1. Go to Discord Developer Portal

   Visit the Discord Developer Portal and create a new application.

   Name it something like “AO Dev Test”.

2. Create a bot user

   In the portal, click Bot and add a bot.

   Enable the following privileged intents:

   • Server Members
   • Message Content
3. Copy your bot token

   Click Reset Token and copy it to a safe place (like your .env file).

   .env

   DISCORD_TOKEN=your_bot_token_here
   

   Never share your bot token publicly. Treat it like a password.

4. Configure OAuth2

   In OAuth2 → General:

   1. Copy your Client ID and Client Secret
   2. Add redirect: http://localhost:3000/api/auth/callback/discord
   3. Change authorization method to “In-app Authorization”
   4. Check bot and applications.commands scopes

   .env

   DISCORD_CLIENT_ID=your_client_id
   DISCORD_CLIENT_SECRET=your_client_secret
   
5. Set bot permissions

   Enable these permissions:

   • Manage Server
   • Create Instant Invite
   • Read Messages/View Channels
   • Send Messages
   • Create Public Threads
   • Send Messages in Threads
   • Manage Threads
   • Embed Links
   • Read Message History
   • Add Reactions
   • Use Slash Commands
6. Generate invite link

   Use this template (replace YOUR_ID):

   https://discord.com/oauth2/authorize?client_id=YOUR_ID&permissions=328565083201&scope=bot+applications.commands
   

   Or use the Discord Permissions Calculator.

7. Invite to test server

   Create a test Discord server and invite your bot using the generated link.

Development workflow

Running individual apps

To run a specific app or package:

# Run only the Discord bot
cd apps/discord-bot
bun dev

# Run only the main site
cd apps/main-site
bun dev

# Run the database in dev mode
cd packages/database
bun dev

Available scripts

Root scripts

# Install dependencies
bun i

# Run all apps in development
bun dev

# Run with local databases
bun dev:with:dbs

# Build all apps
bun build

# Type checking
bun typecheck

# Run tests
bun test

# Lint and fix
bun lint:fix

# Format code
bun format

Testing

Run the test suite:

# Run all tests
bun run test

# Test a specific package
cd packages/database
bun test:watch

# Run E2E tests
cd apps/bot-e2e
bun test

Troubleshooting

Bun installation fails

Make sure you have Bun 1.3+ installed:

bun --version

If needed, upgrade Bun:

curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash

Discord bot doesn't connect

1. Verify your DISCORD_TOKEN is correct
2. Check that required intents are enabled
3. Ensure the bot is invited to your test server
4. Check the logs for error messages

Type errors in the editor

1. Run bun install to ensure dependencies are up to date
2. Run bun typecheck to see all type errors
3. For Convex types, run cd packages/database && bun codegen

Environment variables not loading

1. Ensure .env file exists in the root directory
2. Check that the file has the correct format (no quotes around values)
3. Restart the development server after changing .env

Next steps

Architecture

Learn about the system architecture

Contributing

Read the contribution guidelines

API Reference

Explore the API documentation

Discord Community

Get help from the community

If you encounter any issues, please reach out in our Discord community!