Discord App Directory: How to List Your Bot

How do you list a bot in the Discord App Directory?

To list a bot in the Discord App Directory, first verify the app in the Developer Portal. Verification unlocks a Discovery section. Fill in the required fields there (support server, description), make sure the app has at least one tag, an install link, a privacy policy and terms of service, then click Enable Discovery on the Discovery Status tab. Discord’s docs say the app can take up to 24 hours to appear, and it stays listed only while it follows Discord’s developer rules and content requirements.

Everything below comes from Discord’s developer documentation and developer help center, checked on November 5, 2026. Discord changes these pages often, so open the live versions before you plan around a detail. If you want the wider growth plan (permissions, onboarding, bot lists, retention), see How to grow a Discord bot. This page goes deep on the directory itself.

Who is eligible: verification comes first

The App Directory is not open to every bot. Discord’s App Directory: App profile pages article says the Discovery section only appears in the Developer Portal once your app is verified. If your app is unverified or its verification is pending, you will not see the tab at all.

What verification involves

Discord’s help article How Do I Get My App Verified? says verification “is required for your app to scale past 100 servers”. Each app has an App Verification tab with a checklist. When every item is green, you click Verify App. The key item is identity: the owner of the developer team that owns the app verifies their ID through Stripe, and the same article says you may be asked to reverify periodically. Discord’s Stripe Identity Verification FAQ puts that at once every three years.

• Age. Under An Update on Verifications for Users Under 16, IDs of people under 16 no longer qualify. A younger developer needs a co-developer, parent or guardian aged 16 or over to own the team and verify. That person must keep team ownership afterward, because ownership cannot be transferred after verification.
• Server count. The current Discord articles do not list a minimum server count for verification or for the directory. The number that matters is the ceiling: an unverified bot stops at 100 servers.
• Privileged intents are a separate track. Discord’s Changes to Privileged Intent Access article says verification and privileged intent review are now separate. Apps under 10,000 users can switch the Guild Members, Presence and Message Content intents on themselves. Once an app passes 10,000 users, the owner has 90 days to apply.

The Discovery Status checklist

After verification you get two tabs under Discovery. Discovery Settings holds the listing content. Discovery Status shows which requirements are done, and its Enable Discovery button only becomes clickable when all of them are. Some requirements live outside the Discovery section, which is where most people get stuck.

The install link rule comes from the Application resource documentation: with an install link set, an “Add App” button appears on your profile and App Directory page; with None, the button disappears and “your app will not be eligible for the App Directory”. Discord recommends the Discord Provided Link for most apps. It uses the Default Install Settings (scopes and permissions) you choose on the Installation page.

For the support server, Discord’s Enabling Your Community Server article lists what Community needs, including a verified email verification level, the explicit media content filter, and a rules channel.

Filling in the listing page

Discord’s Discovery Best Practices guide and the profile pages article describe every field. Only the support server and description are required on the Discovery Settings tab, but the optional fields are what make someone click Add App.

Three descriptions, three jobs

• General Information description (max 400 characters). Shown in your bot user’s profile when someone clicks the bot inside Discord.
• Summary (max 200 characters). Shown in App Directory search results. Discord’s advice is to open with the problem a user wants solved, not a vague claim.
• Expanded description. Shown on your product page and supports markdown. Lead with the value, then explain how to get started after installing.

An illustrative before and after for a raid scheduling bot. Weak summary: “RaidPal is the best all-in-one bot for your server.” Better: “Schedule raids, collect sign-ups with buttons, and ping the right roles 15 minutes before start. Set up in one command.”

Media, links, languages and tags

• Media carousel. Up to 5 images or videos. Video must be on YouTube (public or unlisted). The carousel rotates, but Discord suggests putting your best asset, ideally a video, first. Show the bot working inside a real server.
• External links. Up to 5, with free-form names and URLs: website, docs, GitHub, socials.
• Supported languages. Select every language the bot supports, then add localized description text for each.
• Tags. Up to 5 words users would type into search. Discord’s overview says search results are ranked by relevance to the query and by popularity based on usage, so honest, specific tags beat broad ones.

Use the Preview App Directory button on the Discovery Settings tab, or open https://discord.com/application-directory/<application_id> in your browser, to check the page before you opt in.

Content rules and review

Discord’s docs describe no separate approval queue after you click Enable Discovery, unlike bot lists. Staying listed depends on ongoing compliance. The profile pages FAQ says meeting the checklist does not guarantee inclusion, and Discord reserves the right to remove apps from the directory at any time, for example over trust and safety concerns or NSFW imagery.

The App Directory Inclusion Guidelines set four rules:

1. Follow the Developer Policy and Developer Terms of Service. Apps that break them are ineligible, and Discord investigates apps reported to it or that it finds proactively.
2. Meet every requirement in the Developer Portal’s Discovery Status list.
3. No graphic or sexual content. Discoverable apps should be appropriate for audiences aged 13 and up.
4. Respect intellectual property and other rights. Use only content you own or have a license for.

The App Discovery Content Requirements Policy spells out what counts as adult content: sexually explicit material, violent content, illegal, dangerous and regulated goods (it names firearms, tactical gear, alcohol and drug use), and gambling-adjacent or addictive behavior. It also says your app’s name, description and commands must not contain IP-violating content. The same rules cover the other discovery surfaces, such as the App Launcher.

The Discord Developer Policy applies on top. For bots chasing reach, the rules that matter most are: no unsolicited DMs (rule 5), no advertising or marketing aimed at users (rule 6), no inflating server membership or automating messages to keep a server looking active (rule 13), no recreating an app removed for policy violations (rule 14), and no disclosing API data to advertising networks or other monetization services (rule 17). You must also give users a way to report problems and act on those reports.

Discord’s overview adds two labels you should expect: apps that use ads or offer in-app purchases are marked “Ad-supported” and “In-App Purchases” on their details page. Describe any paid or ad-supported features plainly so the label matches what users find.

What keeps an app out of the directory

The usual signs are a checklist item that will not turn green, or an app that still does not show up in search after 24 hours. Work through this list first, and contact Discord’s developer support if everything checks out.

Gambling deserves a second look for economy bots. The content policy names “gambling-adjacent or addictive behavior”, and Discord does not define the edges. Coin flips, slots and loot boxes with your bot’s currency are exactly the features a reviewer could read that way, even if the currency has no cash value. Consider making them an opt-in that is off by default, and keep them out of your listing media. Building a Discord economy bot covers designing an economy around earning instead.

A step-by-step plan from zero to listed

1. Before 75 servers: start the App Verification checklist so the 100-server limit never stalls you. If you are under 16, set up the team with an adult owner first.
2. Prepare the basics: enable Community on your support server, publish a privacy policy and terms on your own domain, and set the install link to Discord Provided Link with only the permissions your commands need.
3. Add tags in General Information: up to 5 words a server owner would actually search, such as “raids” or “tickets”.
4. Write the three descriptions and record a 20 to 30 second YouTube clip of the bot doing its main job. Add 3 or 4 screenshots after it.
5. Preview, then Enable Discovery. Wait up to 24 hours, then search the App Directory for your bot by name.

Discord’s editorial team picks apps for curated and promoted collections and says it will reach out if interested, so treat featuring as a bonus, not a plan.

App Directory vs top.gg and other bot lists

Third-party bot lists are websites where server owners search for bots. You submit, a reviewer tests the bot, and you are approved or declined. They also accept unverified bots, so they are the main channel before 100 servers.

Top.gg’s Discord Bot Guidelines say commands may only require the permissions they need, bots cannot require Administrator, there must be a clear point of entry such as a working help command, and the bot must not be an unmodified fork. If you are declined three times for the same reason, the next decline for it gets you banned from the site. Its How to Add Your Bot guide warns that a prefix that does not match your bot gets it declined (enter “/” for slash commands). The rules on discord.bots.gg include at least 75% uptime per week and no public versions of self-host bots run by a third party (all checked on November 5, 2026).

In practice most bots use both: lists early, the directory once verified. Keep the same honest description everywhere, and never pay or reward anyone for installs, votes or reviews. Those inflate numbers without bringing servers that keep the bot. For choosing bots as a server owner instead, see the best Discord bots by job, and for growing the support server itself, How to get more Discord members.

If you sell paid features, the Developer Policy requires you to support Discord’s Premium Apps where Discord offers them; How to monetize a Discord bot covers the options.

Frequently asked questions