Using Discord as an unlimited cloud storage service

#discord #cloudstorage #python #cli

Discloud is a locally run Discord bot that turns your personal Discord server into an unlimited cloud storage service. It runs on your PC as a Python script (I've been considering making an .exe file for easier distribution) and uploads all files from your selected folder.

Installation

Requires Python 3.x
Clone this repo using git clone https://github.com/4rnv/Discloud.git
Run pip install -r requirements.txt

This project uses the discord.py package to manage messaging and gateway connections from your local client to the Discord server.

Usage

Enable developer mode on your Discord account. On Discord, head into User Settings > Appearance > Advanced and enable Developer Mode.

Create a basic Discord bot by following the instructions on the Discord Developer Portal.

https://discord.com/developers/applications
https://discord.com/developers/docs/quick-start/getting-started.
Allow it to upload files and send messages.

Generate bot token by clicking on reset token in Applications > YOUR_BOT_NAME > Bot.

Add that bot to your server (refer to Guild installation in above links).

Copy your channel ID (right click on channel name) and bot token (from bot page), then add them to the .env file in the same directory as app.py. Name them as CHANNEL_ID and BOT_TOKEN respectively.

BOT_TOKEN=x0x0x0x0 # Alphanumeric
CHANNEL_ID=00000000 # This will be an integer

In the app.py file, specify the path to the directory you want to monitor for new files. The default is set to ./upload.

Run the bot using python app.py

Notes

Discord has a 25MB file limit for non-Nitro users, hence files which are greater than 25MB will be ignored.

There is some uncertainty regarding the file size limit. In September 2024 Discord had announced they were going to reduce the size limit to 10MB. However during my test run I was able to upload files up to 25MB.

You can also compress your larger files into a zip file and upload them (zip files are valid up to 100MB).

Make sure your bot has permissions to upload files to the server. The db.json file stores info about the files which have already been uploaded.

It is quite incredible how versatile Discord servers are. If you've been running out of storage space on your computer, you can configure your personal server to function as theoretically unlimited cloud storage.

GitHub repo: https://github.com/4rnv/Discloud