Why the brief matters
A message like “I need a Discord bot, how much?” forces the freelancer to guess. One person imagines five commands, another a full shop with payments — and both get different numbers and feel misled. A good brief describes the business problem, not just a list of commands. The developer sees scope, risks, and integrations — and can quote fairly in one reply instead of five rounds of questions.
1. Goal in one sentence
Write what problem the bot should solve. Examples: “automated sales tickets with key delivery”, “Minecraft player verification and role assignment”, “moderation plus staff channel logs”, “VPS alerts to a monitoring channel”. Avoid “bot with cool commands” — that is not a goal. If you are unsure whether you need a bot at all, compare bot vs webhooks (Polish guide).
2. Server and scale
- Roughly how many members / daily active users?
- One server, or many (SaaS / per-guild licensing model)?
- Do you already have roles, ticket categories, log channels, shop rules?
- Bot interface language — English, Polish, both?
3. Must-have vs nice-to-have features
Two lists. Must-have goes into version 1.0 and drives the quote. Nice-to-have is phase 2 — you do not pay for everything upfront. Example must-have: “ticket open button, product selection, Stripe payment, DM with license key”. Nice-to-have: “web panel, sales stats, Telegram integration”.
4. Integrations and data
- Payments — Stripe, PayPal, crypto, manual bank transfer with confirmation?
- Database, web panel, external API (game, CRM, spreadsheet)?
- Should the bot use slash commands and components ( Application Commands)?
- Incoming webhooks from other systems — what should handle them?
5. Hosting, security, and maintenance
Where should the bot run: your VPS, freelancer hosting, PaaS platform? Who handles library updates and reacts to Discord API changes? The bot token belongs under your application in the Developer Portal — do not share your admin password. More on hosting and security in the Polish guides at hosting and security.
6. Timeline, budget, and delivery
A realistic deadline — “in 2 weeks” vs “no rush, quality matters”. Budget: a range or “quote after brief” — both are fine. Agree what delivery means: demo on a test server, repo handover, short fix period after acceptance. Pricing orientation: how much a Discord bot costs.
Ready-made message template
Copy and fill in:
“Hi — I need a Discord bot for [goal in 1 sentence]. Server ~[X] members, language [EN/PL]. Must-have: [bullet list]. Nice-to-have: [list]. Integrations: [payments, API, database]. Hosting: [mine / yours / TBD]. Timeline: [date]. Can you quote version 1.0 and optionally phase 2?”
I receive briefs like this regularly as Buti — I reply with specifics, not five follow-up emails. Project examples on GitHub and the main portfolio. Want a quote from me — reach out via contact (Discord: buti.).