Host Discord bots on your own Linux server

Push to GitHub

Connect a private or public repository through a GitHub App in your own account. Zelie builds with your Dockerfile, or uses Railpack to detect Node.js, Python, Go and more without one, and runs your test script before deploying.

Plain files or SFTP

For a small bot with no build pipeline, pick Node.js, Python, Bun, Deno or Java and upload the folder in the browser or over SFTP on port 2222. The files are the app.

A container image

Run a pre-built public image and let Zelie check the registry once a day, offering the new image whenever its tag moves.

Web apps with a domain start the new container beside the old one for zero-downtime traffic switching. Doing that with a Discord bot connects two copies to Discord’s gateway at once and makes every command answer twice.

Because a Discord bot runs without a domain, Zelie stops the old container first and then starts the new one. If the new version fails to start, Zelie brings the previous container back automatically. The images of the last five versions stay on the server, so rolling back a bad release takes a click.

Sealed bot tokens

Add DISCORD_TOKEN and API keys individually or paste a .env file. Secrets are sealed as they are saved so the panel cannot read them back, and BuildKit secrets never stay in image layers.

PostgreSQL, MariaDB and Redis

Create a database in one click and link it to the bot to inject DATABASE_URL or REDIS_URL. Databases listen on no public port and are backed up every night.

Smart crash restarts

If the bot exits unexpectedly, Zelie restarts it with increasing backoff. After five crashes in ten minutes it leaves the bot stopped and shows the last log lines instead of hammering Discord’s gateway.

Nightly security fixes

At 04:30 server time, Zelie rebuilds for Node security releases and tests fixes for vulnerable packages on a separate branch before merging.

No open port needed

Each bot runs in an isolated container and user namespace with memory and CPU limits, opening only its outbound connection to Discord.

Encrypted backups to S3

Bot state, linked databases and panel settings are encrypted on the server and copied to any S3-compatible bucket.

A Discord bot often belongs to a Minecraft or Rust server and a community site. Zelie’s own processes stay under 66 MB of idle memory (~120 MB with containerd), leaving a small VPS free for the bot, its database and the game server itself — all under one login. See how Zelie compares to Coolify, Pterodactyl and Pelican on the comparison page.