> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://go-adam.gitbook.io/adam/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://go-adam.gitbook.io/adam/master.md).

# Getting started

In this guide, you'll learn how to use [adam](https://github.com/mavolin/adam), a discord bot framework written in Go. The aim here is to get you familiar with adam, but not to provide a full reference. Use the [documentation](https://pkg.go.dev/github.com/mavolin/adam) for that. If you are unfamiliar with Go, start by taking the [Go Tour](https://tour.golang.org/welcome/1). With that said, let's get your first bot up and running.

## Project Layout

Depending on your use case, a bot's codebase can grow very large. Therefore, it is important to properly organize your bot. We recommend you group your code into three main folders:

**`cmd`:** This contains your `main` package. Here you initialize everything, add your plugins, and start the bot.

**`plugins`:** This is where your plugins go. Use one package per command/module.

**`pkg`:** This is where all your library code goes. Basically, everything that fits in neither `cmd` nor `plugin`.

Note, however, that this layout is not the holy grail of layouts. If you only want to run a small bot with a handful of commands, you might be better of with a custom layout. Still, this is a good start if you are unsure about how to structure your bot.

### Example

```
📁 myBot
 ┣ 📁 cmd
 ┃  ┗ 📁 mybot - your main package running the bot
 ┣ 📁 plugins
 ┃  ┣ 📁 mod - the mod (moderation) module
 ┃  ┃  ┣ 📁 ban - the ban command
 ┃  ┃  ┗ 📁 kick - the kick command
 ┃  ┗ 📁 ping - the ping command
 ┗ 📁 pkg
    ┗ 📁 repository
       ┣ 📁 mongo - mongo db driver
       ┗ 📁 postgres - postgres db driver
```

## Creating a bot

After you have run `go mod init` and added adam as a dependency using `go get github.com/mavolin/adam`, you can create a bot in your `main` package using `bot.New`. You now need to think about what parts of the bot you want to make configurable, as a lot of configuration is done through the `bot.Options` you pass to `bot.New`.

{% code title="cmd/mybot/main.go" %}

```go
package main

import (
    "log"
    "os"
    "time"

    "github.com/mavolin/adam/pkg/bot"
)

func main() {
    bot, err := bot.New(bot.Options{
        Token:            os.Getenv("DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN"),
        SettingsProvider: bot.NewStaticSettingsProvider(parsePrefixes()...),
        EditAge:          45 * time.Seconds,
     })
     if err != nil {
         log.Fatal(err)
     }
}

func parsePrefixes() []string {
	prefixes := os.Getenv("BOT_PREFIXES")
	if len(prefixes) == 0 {
		return nil
	}

	return strings.Split(prefixes, ",")
}
```

{% endcode %}

## Adding Plugins

After creating your bot, you can add plugins to it.

{% code title="cmd/mybot/main.go" %}

```go
package main

import (    
    "github.com/mavolin/myBot/plugin/ping"
    "github.com/mavolin/myBot/plugin/mod"
    
    "github.com/mavolin/adam/pkg/bot"
    "github.com/mavolin/adam/pkg/impl/command/help"
    
    "log"
)

func main() {
    bot, err := bot.New(...)
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatal(err)
    }
    
    addPlugins(bot)
}

func addPlugins(b *bot.Bot) {
    // to add a help command you can either create your own, or use adam's
    // built-in one
    b.AddCommand(help.New(help.Options{}))
}
```

{% endcode %}

Head over to the next page, to see how to build your first command.