Discord_Notifications // Why_Webhooks_Fail_and_Bots_Prevail

If you are building a monitoring system or a simple “Like” trigger for your blog, the first thought is always: “I’ll just use a Webhook.” It sounds easy, it’s just one POST request, and you are done.

The webhook problem

Webhooks are treated as second-class citizens by Discord and iOS. Even if you include @here or @everyone in the payload, several things will likely happen:

• Silent Delivery: The notification arrives in the channel but doesn’t trigger a sound or vibration on your phone.
• Status Filtering: If your Discord status isn’t “Online,” the notification is often suppressed entirely.
• The iOS Wall: Apple’s notification system often identifies Webhook data as “bot-spam” and hides it from the lock screen.

! Recommendation

Skip the Webhook phase entirely. If you need a notification that actually wakes up your phone, build a Discord Bot and have it send you a Direct Message (DM).

Step 01: initializing the bot

1. Navigate to the Discord Developer Portal.
2. Create a New Application (e.g., top_bot).
3. Go to OAuth2 -> URL Generator, select the bot scope and the Send Messages permission.
4. Copy the generated URL, open it in your browser, and invite the bot to your server first.
5. Now go back to the Bot section, click Reset Token, and copy the string.

Deployment tip

Immediately head to your Netlify Site Settings > Environment Variables and save the token as DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN. Never hardcode it into your files.

The solution: dual-layer notification

My testing proved that sending a message to a channel is often not enough to wake up an iPhone. Based on my experience, the only “bulletproof” way is to trigger a DM first to act as a wake-up call, followed by a detailed log in the specific channel.

! Technical requirement: finding IDs

To send messages via API, you need specific IDs for your User and Channel. These are hidden by default:

• Go to Discord Settings > Advanced and enable Developer Mode.
• Now you can right-click any channel, user, or server and select Copy ID.

// 1. Open a DM channel with yourself
const MY_USER_ID = "YOUR_USER_ID"; // Right-click your profile picture -> Copy User ID
const LOG_CHANNEL_ID = "YOUR_CHANNEL_ID"; // Right-click the target channel name -> Copy Channel ID
const BOT_TOKEN = process.env.DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN;

const dmChannel = await fetch(
  "https://discord.com/api/v10/users/@me/channels",
  {
    method: "POST",
    headers: {
      Authorization: `Bot ${BOT_TOKEN}`,
      "Content-Type": "application/json",
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({ recipient_id: MY_USER_ID }),
  },
).then((res) => res.json());

// 2. Send the "Wake-up" DM (Short & clean for the lock screen)
await fetch(`https://discord.com/api/v10/channels/${dmChannel.id}/messages`, {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    Authorization: `Bot ${BOT_TOKEN}`,
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({ content: "🚨 **New Alert:** XYZ!" }),
});

// 3. Send the full log to your public/private channel
// Note: We are passing 'title' and 'description' variables here
const LOG_CHANNEL_ID = "YOUR_CHANNEL_ID";
await fetch(`https://discord.com/api/v10/channels/${LOG_CHANNEL_ID}/messages`, {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    Authorization: `Bot ${BOT_TOKEN}`,
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    content: `🚨 **New Alert:** **${title}** @everyone <@${MY_USER_ID}>\n\n> ${description}`,
    allowed_mentions: {
      users: [MY_USER_ID],
      parse: ["everyone"],
    },
  }),
});

! Debugging tip

If your notifications aren’t arriving, check your Netlify dashboard.

• Logs & Metrics > Functions tab, you can see real-time output from your trigger function. Any errors (like a 401 Unauthorized or 404 Not Found) will be logged there, making it easy to spot if your Token or Channel ID is incorrect.

Protocol conclusion

A Bot-to-DM setup acts as a personal pager. It bypasses the aggressive power-saving and notification-filtering features of iOS. If it’s important enough to be logged, it’s important enough to be sent as a DM.

Stop fighting Webhooks. Build the bot.