Ever spent countless hours answering the same questions in your Discord server? If you're managing a growing community, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Those repetitive questions like, how to do X?, where do I find the link to Y?, and basic information that pile up faster than you can respond to them.

The Support Problem​

As our community grew, the support situation got out of hand quickly. You probably know how it goes - your phone constantly buzzing with notifications, waking up to dozens of unanswered questions, and feeling guilty for not being available 24/7 answering questions.

What once started as a small support server for our software became a significant time commitment - we had a lot less time to code and put effort into our software. Our volunteer moderators and experienced users were feeling the strain too as users started messaging them too. We tried pinned messages, extensive FAQs channels, and even a rudimentary command system, but nothing really solved the problem as those need constant updates and user's never find or read them.

Custom AI support bot development vs Ready Solution​

Like many technically-inclined server owners, my first instinct was to build something myself. The plan seemed simple enough: create a Discord bot to answer common questions automatically.

But if you've ever gone down this path, you know it's rarely as straightforward as it seems:

• I was familiar with Discord API so it did not take much time
• Building an actually useful AI integration seems easy but ended up quite complex - I wasn't even aware of all the different models (beyond LLMs) and all the issues I would run into
• Hosting and maintaining the system is usually simple if you never touch it - but if you want to keep it up to date, it's a different story
• Need for a dashboard to update knowledge base and monitor it etc.

Even with coding experience, creating a reliable AI support bot would take days of dedicated work and ongoing maintenance. And let's be honest - most personal projects like this end up half-finished or abandoned when life gets busy. Sure it can be a nice learning experience, but we are looking for a solution - not new homework.

Discovering Wallu's Custom Bot Plan​

A little bird told me there was a bot for exactly this - Wallu with their own custom bot branding. What caught my attention was how seamlessly it integrated with the server - it didn't look like a third-party service at all and I could customize how and where it would respond to questions.

The Custom Bot plan offered exactly what I needed:

• A fully-branded bot with our community's name and logo
• No visible "Wallu" branding that would make it feel like an outside cheap service (even though it is cheap)
• All the AI capabilities without any of the development work (#ai-support channels, ticket AI agent and answering questions even when not mentioned - just like a human)
• Ability to feed it our specific community information

Setting Up Our Support System​

The setup process is straightforward. Creating a Discord bot application, uploading our logo, and connecting it to Wallu took less than 20 minutes.

The most valuable part was building our knowledge base. We added:

• Our server rules document
• Imported the FAQ channels I had previously created (so now users don't even have to read them)
• Common troubleshooting steps
• Links to useful resources

The bot also learned from existing conversations in our public help channels, which meant it got smarter over time without manual intervention.

The Results​

The difference was immediately noticeable:

• Support questions get answered instantly instead of waiting for someone to be available
• Moderators can focus on community building rather than answering the same questions repeatedly
• New members have a better first experience with immediate help available
• Cross-timezone support means our international members get help even when we're asleep

The most surprising benefit? Having a branded bot that looks like part of our server creates an outstanding experience. Members feel like they're getting help from "our team" rather than some external service, and it doesn't seem like we didn't know how to build a bot ourselves.

Custom Bot vs DIY Approach​

If you're weighing options, consider these factors:

DIY Approach:

• Significant development time. The better capability you want, the more time it takes
• Ongoing maintenance burden. To be honest, Wallu's plans can be as low as your hosting costs!
• Fully customizable (at the cost of time and effort)

Wallu Custom Bot:

• Minimal setup time. I'd always recommend trying this before building your own. You will see how this kind of system works and then know what to do better.
• No maintenance required. By importing channels, the bots knowledge is updated automatically when the channel is updated.
• All-inclusive monthly cost (even less than server hosting + AI API costs)
• Constantly improving AI without any effort on your part

Tips For Getting Started​

If you're considering this approach:

1. Start with your most common questions - focus on the 20% of questions that take up 80% of your support time
2. Set up a dedicated AI support channel - it gives members a clear place to get immediate help
3. Use with any ticket system - AI agent tries to solve their issue before escalating to a human staff member
4. Let your moderators know how it works - they'll appreciate understanding the system
5. Customize the bot's personality to match your community's vibe

Final Thoughts​

Have you ever realized how much of your Discord management time goes to repetitive support tasks? For most server owners, it's far more than we'd like to admit.

The Wallu Custom Bot solution hits that sweet spot between effectiveness and simplicity. You get a professional support system that feels like your own without the development complexity.

Whether you're running a gaming community, educational server, or professional group, automating your Discord support lets you focus on what really matters - building a great community.

Anyone else using AI solutions for their Discord support? What's been your experience?

I was running a support server for my Minecraft plugin StrikePractice, a popular server plugin powering many communities. As the plugin gained traction, I found myself tired of repetitive questions and very similar support requests. Luckily, I had a lightbulb moment while working on my thesis, discovering the potential of language models. I started a journey to automate frequently asked questions (FAQs) on my Discord server. This article explores the birth of Wallu, an advanced support chatbot, and its impact on support within Discord communities.

The Need for Automation​

Running a software support server came with its challenges that other communities can related. Despite maintaining an extensive #faq channel, users continued to ask similar questions repeatedly. Also, we frequently encountered support cases that we handled with just copy-paste responses. These challenges highlighted the need for an efficient and automated support system.

Enter Wallu - The Early Days​

Inspired by my newfound knowledge of state-of-the-art language models and their potential applications, I set out to create an automated support solution for the StrikePractice plugin. The initial version of Wallu relied on scraping and filtering messages from the channels, enabling it to link users to previous conversations where support had been provided. The positive feedback gave motivation to explore further possibilities. Some owners and managers of other communities also expressed their interest and asked for a similar system for their own servers!

Evolving Wallu's Capabilities​

Wallu's potential extended beyond just Minecraft or gaming related servers. Wallu was designed to work on various types of Discord communities and businesses using Discord. The bot was soon made available to the public on Discord bot lists and got its own website and an admin panel for managing its behaviour was created. In 2023 the insane popularity of OpenAI's ChatGPT opened new doors for Wallu. The ChatGPT API allowed Wallu to provide more natural and personalized responses. With the capability to search and extract information from documents uploaded by staff members, Wallu had became a powerful tool for delivering relevant support even without adding FAQs.

Automating Support with Wallu​

The impact of Wallu on the original plugin support server was truly transformative and continues to improve. By automating responses to frequently asked questions, Wallu is on its mission to mitigate the burden of repetitive support requests, saving valuable time and resources for more important things. Users received instant assistance, even during off-hours or high-volume periods. The seamless integration of Wallu into the support server helped on delivering a better user experience and most importantly, spending more time on further development of the plugin.

Last Word: Whether you're managing a gaming community, a Discord server for your business, or any other type of community, I encourage you to explore the potential of Wallu to help improving your support system.

Try it yourself for free: wallubot.com/invite