Run your bot for the first time

One page to a running bot

Everything happens on one page, "Run your bot":

1. Where is the code?: pick a GitHub repository, upload your bot folder or a zip, or start from a template.
2. What we found in the code: we read the code and work out that it's Python, the library (discord.py, python-telegram-bot and others), the platform, and the install and start commands. Change anything before you go on.
3. Variables: add the token and every variable your code reads. We suggest the names we found in the code and in .env.example.
4. Choose a plan: pick a plan and press Pay and deploy.

The first deployment

After you pay, your bot's page opens and shows the deployment line by line:

• We pull the code from your repository, or unpack what you uploaded.
• We give your bot a Python environment of its own (.venv) and install the dependencies into it from the first file we find among requirements.txt, uv.lock, poetry.lock, pdm.lock, Pipfile and pyproject.toml. We only reinstall when the dependencies change.
• We run the start command in your bot's settings if you set one; otherwise start in serverk.json; otherwise the worker or bot line of your Procfile; otherwise the first file we find among main.py, bot.py, app.py, src/main.py and src/bot.py; otherwise python -m with the one folder that holds a __main__.py.

The moment these two lines show up in the console, your bot has started:

serverk: deployment dep_a1b2c3d4 ready at 3f2a9c1b7d10
serverk: bot process starting

A token problem doesn't stop your bot

We start your bot even when its token has a problem, and the error shows up in the console exactly as your bot prints it. Once your bot signs in and prints a line such as Logged in as MyBot, its name appears on the bot card together with a link to add it to your server.

No bot yet?

We keep templates with a /ping or /start command that works right away: the Discord template and the Telegram template. Pick one on "Run your bot", and we create it as a repository in your own GitHub or copy it straight into your bot.