Is there a way for me to schedule a daily message to be sent at a designated time each day

Question

Is there a way for me to schedule a daily message to be sent at a designated time each day

I'm looking to automate bot messages for specific times. For example:

const Discord = require("discord.js");
const client = new Discord.Client();
client.on("ready", () => {
  console.log("Bot is Online!");
});
var now = new Date();
var hour = now.getUTCHours();
var minute = now.getUTCMinutes();
client.on("message", (message) => {
  if (hour === 10 && minute === 30) {
    client.channels.get("ChannelID").send("Hello World!");
  }
});

However, it seems to only work when triggered by another command like:

if (message.content.startsWith("!ping")) {
  message.channel.send("pong!");
}

my message: !ping (at 10:10 o'clock)
-> pong!
-> Hello World!

I suppose I need something that continuously checks the time variables.

javascript discord.js

Answer 1

Answer №1

To automate tasks based on a specific schedule, I recommend using the cron package. This package allows you to set functions to be executed when the date matches a given pattern.
When constructing the pattern, you can use wildcards like * for any value and specify ranges such as 1-3, 7 which includes values 1, 2, 3, 7.

The following are the possible ranges:

Seconds: 0-59
Minutes: 0-59
Hours: 0-23
Day of Month: 1-31
Months: 0-11 (Jan-Dec)
Day of Week: 0-6 (Sun-Sat)

Here's an example implementation:

var cron = require("cron");

function test() {
  console.log("Action executed.");
}

let job1 = new cron.CronJob('01 05 01,13 * * *', test); // executes daily at 01:05:01 and 13:05:01
let job2 = new cron.CronJob('00 00 08-16 * * 1-5', test); // runs Monday to Friday, every hour from 8 am to 16

// Start a job with job.start()
job1.start();
// To pause a job, use job.stop()
job1.stop();

In your scenario, consider the following approach:

const cron = require('cron');

client.on('message', ...); // No changes needed in the message event listener

let scheduledMessage = new cron.CronJob('00 30 10 * * *', () => {
  // Executes daily at 10:30:00, perform desired actions
  let channel = yourGuild.channels.get('id');
  channel.send('Your message');
});

// Start the job using:
scheduledMessage.start()
// Implement commands to pause and resume the job if needed

Answer 2

To automate tasks based on a specific schedule, I recommend using the cron package. This package allows you to set functions to be executed when the date matches a given pattern.
When constructing the pattern, you can use wildcards like * for any value and specify ranges such as 1-3, 7 which includes values 1, 2, 3, 7.

The following are the possible ranges:

Seconds: 0-59
Minutes: 0-59
Hours: 0-23
Day of Month: 1-31
Months: 0-11 (Jan-Dec)
Day of Week: 0-6 (Sun-Sat)

Here's an example implementation:

var cron = require("cron");

function test() {
  console.log("Action executed.");
}

let job1 = new cron.CronJob('01 05 01,13 * * *', test); // executes daily at 01:05:01 and 13:05:01
let job2 = new cron.CronJob('00 00 08-16 * * 1-5', test); // runs Monday to Friday, every hour from 8 am to 16

// Start a job with job.start()
job1.start();
// To pause a job, use job.stop()
job1.stop();

In your scenario, consider the following approach:

const cron = require('cron');

client.on('message', ...); // No changes needed in the message event listener

let scheduledMessage = new cron.CronJob('00 30 10 * * *', () => {
  // Executes daily at 10:30:00, perform desired actions
  let channel = yourGuild.channels.get('id');
  channel.send('Your message');
});

// Start the job using:
scheduledMessage.start()
// Implement commands to pause and resume the job if needed

Answer 3

Answer №2

According to Federico's wisdom, tackling this issue requires following the right approach. However, due to recent updates in discord.js (v12), the syntax has evolved as shown below:

    // Including Discord.js and Cron modules
    const Discord = require('discord.js');
    const cron = require('cron');
            
    // Setting up a new Discord client
    const client = new Discord.Client();
        
    // Executing the code only once when the client is ready
    // To prevent errors if the client isn't fully loaded
    client.once("ready", () => {
      console.log(`Online as ${client.user.tag}`);
        
      let scheduledMessage = new cron.CronJob('00 30 10 * * *', () => {
      // This will run daily at 10:30:00; you can customize it to your needs
      // Targeting the specific guild (server) and channel for sending messages
         const guild = client.guilds.cache.get('id');
         const channel = guild.channels.cache.get('id');
         channel.send('Your message here');
        });
            
        // Begin the scheduled task with:
        scheduledMessage.start()
    };

// Optionally, additional commands can be implemented to pause or resume the job

Kudos to Federico for his invaluable assistance!

Answer 4

According to Federico's wisdom, tackling this issue requires following the right approach. However, due to recent updates in discord.js (v12), the syntax has evolved as shown below:

    // Including Discord.js and Cron modules
    const Discord = require('discord.js');
    const cron = require('cron');
            
    // Setting up a new Discord client
    const client = new Discord.Client();
        
    // Executing the code only once when the client is ready
    // To prevent errors if the client isn't fully loaded
    client.once("ready", () => {
      console.log(`Online as ${client.user.tag}`);
        
      let scheduledMessage = new cron.CronJob('00 30 10 * * *', () => {
      // This will run daily at 10:30:00; you can customize it to your needs
      // Targeting the specific guild (server) and channel for sending messages
         const guild = client.guilds.cache.get('id');
         const channel = guild.channels.cache.get('id');
         channel.send('Your message here');
        });
            
        // Begin the scheduled task with:
        scheduledMessage.start()
    };

// Optionally, additional commands can be implemented to pause or resume the job

Kudos to Federico for his invaluable assistance!

Is there a way for me to schedule a daily message to be sent at a designated time each day

Answer №1

Answer №2

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