Build With Me: Discord State Bot

Step 1: The State Machine

We need a dictionary to remember what step each user is currently on.

user_state = {}

# States
STATE_WAITING_NAME = 1
STATE_WAITING_EMAIL = 2
STATE_DONE = 3

def handle_message(user_id, message):
    # If new user, start onboarding
    if user_id not in user_state:
        if message == "!onboard":
            user_state[user_id] = {'step': STATE_WAITING_NAME}
            return "Welcome! What is your full name?"
        return "Type !onboard to begin."
        
    # Get their current step
    step = user_state[user_id]['step']

Step 2: Routing the Logic

Now we route the user's message based on what the bot is expecting next.

    if step == STATE_WAITING_NAME:
        # Save their name to their state profile
        user_state[user_id]['name'] = message
        # Move to next step
        user_state[user_id]['step'] = STATE_WAITING_EMAIL
        return f"Nice to meet you, {message}. What is your email address?"
        
    elif step == STATE_WAITING_EMAIL:
        if "@" not in message:
            return "That doesn't look like a valid email. Try again."
            
        user_state[user_id]['email'] = message
        user_state[user_id]['step'] = STATE_DONE
        
        name = user_state[user_id]['name']
        return f"Registration complete! Saved {name} with email {message}."
        
    elif step == STATE_DONE:
        return "You are already registered!"

Your Turn: Copy this logic into the Chatbot Sandbox on the right. Deploy the bot, and type !onboard in the chat window to test your state machine!