Building a Django Dashboard and API for Discord Bot Automation

18-02-2025

Introduction

As part of my homelab projects, I wanted to explore how web applications can directly interact with services running inside containers. A great opportunity came when I developed a Django dashboard that connects with a Discord bot via a lightweight API.

This project demonstrates how I combined Django, FastAPI, and Docker to create a modular system where a web interface can send commands and synchronize data with a live Discord bot.

Architecture

The setup is split into two main containers:

Discord Dashboard Architecture High-level overview of how the Django dashboard communicates with the bot via FastAPI.

  1. Django Web Dashboard

    • Provides a user interface for managing bot actions.
    • Includes database integration for storing and syncing command configurations.
    • Built with reusable apps to keep the dashboard modular.

  2. FastAPI Microservice

    • Runs inside a separate container alongside the bot.
    • Exposes secure HTTP endpoints that allow the Django dashboard to trigger bot events (e.g., reload commands, sync configuration).
    • Uses secrets for authentication to ensure only authorized requests are accepted.

This architecture allows me to keep the bot’s logic isolated while still offering a simple and professional way to interact with it.

Key Features

  • Dynamic Command Syncing: The dashboard updates and removes commands in real time.
  • API-Driven Workflow: Django sends requests to FastAPI, which passes them to the bot.
  • Containerized Deployment: Both the dashboard and API run as Docker containers for portability and scalability.
  • Error Handling & Logging: Clear response codes (200, 401, 503) ensure that both the web interface and bot remain reliable.

Why This Matters

This project gave me valuable experience in:

  • Designing inter-service communication with REST APIs.
  • Managing secrets and authentication for secure API requests.
  • Running multi-container systems with Docker and reverse proxy routing.
  • Building practical dashboards that extend beyond basic CRUD apps.

Next Steps

I plan to expand this by:

  • Adding role-based access control to the dashboard.
  • Creating status endpoints to display live metrics such as latency, uptime, and guild count.
  • Exploring how this system could be adapted to other services beyond Discord.

Conclusion

This project shows how a homelab setup can evolve from running standalone bots into managing distributed services. By combining Django, FastAPI, and Docker, I created a system where a web dashboard can securely and reliably interact with an automation bot in real time.