Discord Skill (Read-Only)

Reads Discord for financial research using opencli, a universal CLI tool that bridges desktop apps and web services to the terminal via Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP).

This skill is read-only. It is designed for financial research: searching trading server discussions, monitoring crypto/market groups, tracking sentiment in financial communities, and reading messages. It does NOT support sending messages, reacting, editing, deleting, or any write operations.

Important: opencli connects to the Discord desktop app via CDP — no bot account or token extraction needed. Just have Discord Desktop running.

Step 1: Ensure opencli Is Installed and Discord Is Ready

Current environment status:

!`(command -v opencli && opencli discord-app status 2>&1 | head -5 && echo "READY" || echo "SETUP_NEEDED") 2>/dev/null || echo "NOT_INSTALLED"`

If the status above shows READY, skip to Step 2. If NOT_INSTALLED, install first:

# Install opencli globally
npm install -g @jackwener/opencli

If SETUP_NEEDED, guide the user through setup:

Setup

opencli connects to Discord Desktop via CDP (Chrome DevTools Protocol). Two things are required:

Start Discord with remote debugging enabled:

# macOS
/Applications/Discord.app/Contents/MacOS/Discord --remote-debugging-port=9232 &

# Linux
discord --remote-debugging-port=9232 &

Set the CDP endpoint environment variable:

export OPENCLI_CDP_ENDPOINT="http://127.0.0.1:9232"

Add this to your shell profile (.zshrc / .bashrc) so it persists across sessions.

Verify connectivity:

opencli discord-app status

Common setup issues

Symptom	Fix
`CDP connection refused`	Ensure Discord is running with `--remote-debugging-port=9232`
`OPENCLI_CDP_ENDPOINT not set`	Run `export OPENCLI_CDP_ENDPOINT="http://127.0.0.1:9232"`
`status` shows disconnected	Restart Discord with the CDP flag and retry
Discord not on expected port	Check that no other app is using port 9232, or use a different port

Tip: create a shell alias

alias discord-cdp='/Applications/Discord.app/Contents/MacOS/Discord --remote-debugging-port=9232 &'

Step 2: Identify What the User Needs

Match the user's request to one of the read commands below, then use the corresponding command from references/commands.md.

User Request	Command	Key Flags
Connection check	`opencli discord-app status`	—
List servers	`opencli discord-app servers`	`-f json`
List channels	`opencli discord-app channels`	`-f json`
List online members	`opencli discord-app members`	`-f json`
Read recent messages	`opencli discord-app read`	`N` (count), `-f json`
Search messages	`opencli discord-app search "QUERY"`	`-f json`

Note: opencli operates on the currently active server and channel in Discord. To read from a different channel, the user must navigate to it in the Discord app first, or use the channels command to identify what's available.

Step 3: Execute the Command

General pattern

# Use -f json or -f yaml for structured output
opencli discord-app servers -f json
opencli discord-app channels -f json

# Read recent messages from the active channel
opencli discord-app read 50 -f json

# Search for financial topics in the active channel
opencli discord-app search "AAPL earnings" -f json
opencli discord-app search "BTC pump" -f json

Key rules

Check connection first — run opencli discord-app status before any other command
Use -f json or -f yaml for structured output when processing data programmatically
Navigate in Discord first — opencli reads from the currently active server/channel in the Discord app
Start with small reads — use opencli discord-app read 20 unless the user asks for more
Use search for keywords — opencli discord-app search uses Discord's built-in search (Cmd+F / Ctrl+F)
NEVER execute write operations — this skill is read-only; do not send messages, react, edit, delete, or manage server settings

Output format flag (`-f`)

Format	Flag	Best for
Table	`-f table` (default)	Human-readable terminal output
JSON	`-f json`	Programmatic processing, LLM context
YAML	`-f yaml`	Structured output, readable
Markdown	`-f md`	Documentation, reports
CSV	`-f csv`	Spreadsheet export

Typical workflow for reading a server

# 1. Verify connection
opencli discord-app status

# 2. List servers to confirm you're in the right one
opencli discord-app servers -f json

# 3. List channels in the current server
opencli discord-app channels -f json

# 4. Read recent messages (navigate to target channel in Discord first)
opencli discord-app read 50 -f json

# 5. Search for topics of interest
opencli discord-app search "price target" -f json

Step 4: Present the Results

After fetching data, present it clearly for financial research:

Summarize key content — highlight the most relevant messages for the user's financial research
Include attribution — show username, message content, and timestamp
For search results, group by relevance and highlight key themes, sentiment, or market signals
For server/channel listings, present as a clean table with names and types
Flag sentiment — note bullish/bearish sentiment, consensus vs contrarian views
Treat sessions as private — never expose CDP endpoints or session details

Step 5: Diagnostics

If something isn't working, check:

Is Discord running with CDP?

# Check if the port is open
lsof -i :9232

Is the environment variable set?

echo $OPENCLI_CDP_ENDPOINT

Can opencli connect?

opencli discord-app status

If all checks fail, restart Discord with the CDP flag:

/Applications/Discord.app/Contents/MacOS/Discord --remote-debugging-port=9232 &
export OPENCLI_CDP_ENDPOINT="http://127.0.0.1:9232"
opencli discord-app status

Error Reference

Error	Cause	Fix
`CDP connection refused`	Discord not running with CDP or wrong port	Start Discord with `--remote-debugging-port=9232`
`OPENCLI_CDP_ENDPOINT not set`	Missing environment variable	`export OPENCLI_CDP_ENDPOINT="http://127.0.0.1:9232"`
`No active channel`	Not viewing any channel in Discord	Navigate to a channel in the Discord app
Rate limited	Too many requests	Wait a few minutes, then retry

Reference Files

references/commands.md — Complete read command reference with all flags and usage examples

Read the reference file when you need exact command syntax or detailed flag descriptions.

discord-reader