BabelBot dashboard setup and settings guide

The dashboard at app.babelbot.xyz is where server admins configure BabelBot. Discord slash commands no longer add languages or bridges; they link here and expose member shortcuts.

Each section below is a how-to for one task. For conceptual background, read How BabelBot Works.

Access the dashboard

Goal: Open configuration for a server you manage.

1. Sign in at app.babelbot.xyz/login with Discord.
2. Your account must have Manage Server on the guild.
3. BabelBot must be Installed on that guild (use Invite on the server list if not).

You can also run /dashboard in Discord (requires Manage Server).

Turn translation on or off for the server

Goal: Stop or start all automatic translation without uninstalling the bot.

1. Open the server → Overview.
2. Toggle Translations.

When off, bridges and automatic messages do not run. Context menus and slash commands may still work depending on context.

Set target languages

Goal: Choose which languages automatic translation produces.

1. Go to Settings → Target languages (or #target-languages).
2. Add languages your community actually needs.
3. Stay within your plan’s language count — see Billing and Limits.

More languages mean more output per message. Start small; expand when usage is stable.

Set up custom words

Goal: Choose how BabelBot translates specific words: your server name, game terms (for example "gank" or "nerf"), brand and product names, community slang, or terms that should stay untranslated.

1. Go to Settings → Custom words (or #glossary). This needs Pro or higher.
2. Add a word: the word, the language, what to translate it as, and an optional note for your team.
3. Choose All Languages when the same custom word should apply to every target language.
4. BabelBot uses your translation whenever it translates into the selected language, or into any language for All Languages entries.

Examples: keep your server tag the same in every language; map a product codename to the official name; tell BabelBot how a game ability should read in Spanish; leave an acronym untranslated.

Custom words only work with AI translation. When a message uses one of your custom words, BabelBot always translates it with AI instead of the Custom BabelBot Translation Model. Pro servers get 25 custom words; Ultra, Legacy Ultra, and Founder Access get 100. Notes are just reminders for your team and the bot never follows them. See Billing and Limits for the per-plan counts.

Skip automatic translation from source languages

Goal: Keep BabelBot from translating messages originally written in a language your server already understands.

1. Go to Settings → Don't translate from (or #source-language-exclusions).
2. Add one or more source languages to skip.
3. Keep those languages in Target languages if you still want other languages translated into them.

For example, add English here when English chat should stay untouched but French, Spanish, or other languages should still translate into English. Skips are silent and do not count toward usage. If BabelBot cannot detect the source language confidently, it translates normally.

Translate messages from other bots

Goal: Let BabelBot translate messages and embeds posted by another bot, such as a bot that posts your server rules or announcements.

By default BabelBot ignores every other bot. To opt specific bots in:

1. Go to Settings → Translate other bots (or #bot-whitelist).
2. Choose a bot from the list. The picker shows the bots already in your server, with names and icons, so you never paste IDs.
3. Remove a bot any time with the X on its chip.

Whitelisted bots are translated like a normal member, including the text inside their embeds (titles, descriptions, fields, and footers). This works on every plan and counts the same as a normal translation. BabelBot always ignores its own messages and can never be added to the list. Remember to set Target languages too, or there is nothing to translate into.

Choose delivery style and thread retention

Goal: Control whether translations appear as replies or live in threads.

1. Settings → Reply preference (#reply-preference).
2. Choose Reply in channel or Reply in threads.
3. In thread mode, set Thread retention (days). 0 keeps threads until you delete them manually; the default auto-deletes old BabelBot translation threads after a set number of days.

Use threads for busy or multi-language servers. Use reply for quiet channels with one target language.

In Discord forum and media posts, BabelBot always replies inside the existing post. Discord already treats each post as a thread, so the thread preference does not create another translation thread there.

Turn flag reaction translation on or off

Goal: Allow or block country-flag emoji shortcuts on messages.

1. Settings → flag reaction section (Allow flag reactions).
2. Toggle on or off server-wide.

Flag translations use AI and count toward quota. Channel rules can also allow or block flag reactions. A rule with Translation status off only stops automatic translation when Flag reactions stays on.

Flag reactions inside Discord forum and media posts follow the same forum behavior as automatic translation: BabelBot replies inside the existing post instead of opening a child translation thread.

Enable media translation

Goal: Translate supported PDFs, images, videos, and audio files on supported plans.

1. Settings → Media translation.
2. Turn on Media translation (requires a paid plan).

Free tier supports unlimited text translation; media translation needs Pro, Ultra, or Founder Access.

Enable voice chat translation

Goal: Let members translate live voice calls from Discord.

This needs Ultra or Founder Access, at least one target language in server settings, and the right bot permissions in your voice channels.

1. Settings → Voice chat translation
2. Turn on Allow voice chat translation
3. Pick Voice message style (clean speaker messages or detailed embeds)

The dashboard controls whether voice chat translation is allowed and how translated messages look. Members start and stop live sessions with /voice start, /voice stop, and /voice status. Each session starts instantly and translates every speaker into the target languages configured for that voice channel.

Voice chat translation is separate from audio attachments (voice notes and audio clips in text channels). For the full admin setup, member steps, and limits, see Voice chat translation.

Configure channel rules

Goal: Exclude channels or plan different behavior per channel in the dashboard.

1. Settings → Channel rules (#channel-rules).
2. Add a rule, select channels, and override settings (translation off, different target languages, Don't translate from, reply mode, flag reactions, or media translation where your plan allows).
3. Drag rules to change priority — the first matching rule wins.

To exclude moderation or log channels from automatic translation, create a rule with Translation status off. You can still leave Flag reactions on in that rule for on-demand translation. To make one channel translate English while the rest of the server skips English, add a rule and set Don't translate from to an empty list.

Create a channel bridge

Goal: Link two (or more) language-specific channels.

1. Settings → Bridges (#bridges).
2. Create a pair (two channels) or hub (one main channel plus spokes).
3. Assign each channel its language.
4. Post test messages in both directions.

Each two-channel bridge counts as one bridge toward your plan limit. In a hub bridge, each spoke counts as one bridge. A hub can have up to 25 spokes. A channel cannot belong to overlapping bridges.

Manage billing and upgrades

Goal: See usage, change plan, or open the subscription portal.

1. Open Billing & upgrades in the sidebar.
2. Review usage, limits, and checkout options.

For an active paid subscription, only the account that completed checkout can open the customer portal, view invoices, or change the subscription. Other server managers can still manage server settings. If a canceled monthly subscription has ended, any current server manager can start a new checkout.

Run /upgrade in Discord for a quick plan summary and link to the same billing page.

Transfer Founder Access between servers

Goal: Move Founder Access to another server you own.

1. Open Founder Access transfer from the dashboard sidebar when your account is eligible.
2. Follow the flow to move access from one installed server to another.

Only applies to Founder Access and legacy one-time entitlements, not monthly subscriptions.

Ignored users

Goal: Skip automatic translation for specific members (for example bots you cannot exclude another way).

BabelBot skips messages from Discord user IDs on the server ignored-users list. The bot reads this list from server configuration; if you need someone added or removed and do not have a self-serve control, contact support with the guild ID and user ID.

Members cannot opt themselves out without admin action.

Server overview at a glance

Use Overview for:

• Master translation toggle and suggested next steps
• Plan, usage, and remaining AI capacity
• 30-day activity (automatic, bridge, flag-reaction)
• Shortcuts into settings and billing

Manage settings from an AI assistant

Open Integrations, then AI assistant (MCP) to connect Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, VS Code, or another app with remote HTTP MCP and OAuth support. Copy the server address there, then follow the AI assistant integrations guide for setup, permissions, and disconnecting an app.

Common dashboard issues

Related pages

• Quick Start — first-time setup
• AI assistant integrations: connect an assistant to view or change settings
• Playbooks — recommended combinations of these settings
• Command Reference — what still works in Discord chat