getting-started.md

Getting Started

The fastest way to run AntiLink Guard OSS is apps/example-bot, a working bot assembled entirely from the published @antilink-guard/* packages.

1. Prerequisites

• Node.js 20 or newer
• pnpm (corepack enable installs the pinned version)
• A Discord account and a test server you can invite a bot to

2. Clone and install

git clone https://github.com/timeout187/AntiLink-Guard-OSS.git
cd antilink-guard
pnpm install
pnpm run build

pnpm run build builds every package in the correct dependency order (core and storage first, then discord-bot/cli, then the apps) - required once before anything can run, since packages resolve each other through their built dist/ output.

3. Create a Discord application

See discord-setup.md for full detail. In short: create an application in the Discord Developer Portal, grab its bot token and Application ID, enable the Message Content Intent, and invite it to your test server.

4. Configure and run

cp apps/example-bot/.env.example apps/example-bot/.env
# edit apps/example-bot/.env: DISCORD_TOKEN, DISCORD_CLIENT_ID

pnpm --filter @antilink-guard/example-bot run register-commands
pnpm --filter @antilink-guard/example-bot run start

Full walkthrough, including Docker Compose: apps/example-bot/README.md.

5. Turn on protection

In your test server:

/antilink enable
/antilink mode block

Post a link from a non-admin test account in a channel - it should be deleted. See configuration.md for allowlists, blocklists, and invite rules, and rules-engine.md for exactly how a message is scored.

6. Optional: the local dashboard

cp apps/dashboard-lite/.env.example apps/dashboard-lite/.env
pnpm --filter @antilink-guard/dashboard-lite run build
pnpm --filter @antilink-guard/dashboard-lite run start

Opens on http://localhost:4000. It's local and unauthenticated by design - see its README before exposing it anywhere other than your own machine.

Trying the CLI without any Discord setup at all

pnpm --filter @antilink-guard/cli build
node packages/cli/dist/index.js scan "check out https://bit.ly/free-nitro"
node packages/cli/dist/index.js test-url https://xn--e1aybc.xn--p1ai
node packages/cli/dist/index.js doctor

The detection and policy engine (packages/core) has no Discord dependency, so you can experiment with it entirely offline.

Where to go next

• configuration.md - the guild config model and how slash commands change it
• rules-engine.md - the detection pipeline in depth
• self-hosting.md - Docker, database choices, environment variables
• api-reference.md - the package APIs, if you're building on top of this framework