!export

Export Discord messages from all channels to JSON format

Overview

The !export command exports all messages from your Discord server within a specified time range to a structured JSON file. This command captures complete message data including content, metadata, attachments, and reactions.

Command Syntax

!export [hours]

hours · integer · default: 24

Number of hours to look back for messages

• Minimum: 1 hour
• Maximum: 720 hours (30 days)
• Default: 24 hours (if not specified)

What Gets Exported

The export includes comprehensive data for each message:

Message Data

• Message content: Original text and cleaned content (with mentions resolved)
• Author information: Name, display name, user ID, bot status
• Timestamps: Both Eastern Time and UTC, including edit timestamps
• Attachments: Filename, URL, and file size for each attachment
• Reactions: Emoji and reaction count
• Mentions: User mentions, channel mentions, and role mentions
• Thread information: Thread name if message is in a thread
• Embeds: Count of embedded content

Metadata

• Guild/server name
• Export timestamp (ET and UTC)
• Time range in hours
• Channel information for each exported channel

Output Format

Exports are saved to the exports/ directory with the naming pattern:

discord_export_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS_ET.json

JSON Structure

Overall Structure

{
  "guild_name": "Your Server Name",
  "export_time_eastern": "2026-03-04T14:30:00-05:00",
  "export_time_utc": "2026-03-04T19:30:00+00:00",
  "timezone": "America/New_York (Eastern Time - auto DST)",
  "time_range_hours": 24,
  "channels": {
    "general": {
      "channel_id": "123456789",
      "messages": [...]
    }
  }
}

Message Structure

{
  "message_id": "987654321",
  "author": {
    "name": "john_dev",
    "display_name": "John",
    "id": "111222333",
    "bot": false
  },
  "content": "Fixed the login bug <@444555666> mentioned",
  "content_clean": "Fixed the login bug @Sarah mentioned",
  "timestamp": "2026-03-04T09:15:23-05:00",
  "timestamp_utc": "2026-03-04T14:15:23+00:00",
  "edited_timestamp": null,
  "attachments": [
    {
      "filename": "screenshot.png",
      "url": "https://cdn.discord.com/...",
      "size": 245678
    }
  ],
  "embeds": 0,
  "reactions": [
    {
      "emoji": "👍",
      "count": 3
    }
  ],
  "mentions": [
    {
      "id": "444555666",
      "name": "sarah_pm",
      "display_name": "Sarah"
    }
  ],
  "channel_mentions": [],
  "thread": null
}

Example Usage

Default (24 hours)

!export

Response:

Starting export of last 24 hours...
✅ Export complete!
• 147 messages
• 5 channels
• Saved to `exports/discord_export_20260304_143052_ET.json`

Custom Time Range

!export 48

Response:

Starting export of last 48 hours...
✅ Export complete!
• 312 messages
• 8 channels
• Saved to `exports/discord_export_20260304_143145_ET.json`

Weekly Export

!export 168

Response:

Starting export of last 168 hours...
✅ Export complete!
• 1,243 messages
• 12 channels
• Saved to `exports/discord_export_20260304_143230_ET.json`

Error Handling

Invalid Hour Range

If you specify hours outside the valid range (1-720), you’ll receive:

Hours must be between 1 and 720 (30 days)

Permission Errors

Channels the bot cannot access are skipped with a warning in logs:

No permission to read #private-channel

The export continues for accessible channels.

Empty Exports

If no messages are found in the time range, the export will complete successfully but with 0 messages.

Technical Details

Performance

• Concurrent export: All channels are exported in parallel using asyncio.gather()
• No message limit: Fetches all messages within the time range
• Timezone handling: Automatically handles DST transitions for Eastern Time

Mention Resolution

The bot resolves Discord’s internal mention format to readable names:

• <@123456> → @Username
• <#789012> → #channel-name
• <@&345678> → @RoleName

Both original and cleaned content are included in the export.

File Location

See bot.py:204-256 for the core export implementation.

Related Commands

• !digest - Generate AI-powered digest from exported data
• Scheduled Tasks - Automatic daily export and digest