Same channel check

Right now any member of the server can run /skip, even from another voice channel or from no channel at all. In this guide you add a check that only lets members in the bot’s voice channel control the music.

The check

Create commands/same-channel.ts:

commands/same-channel.ts

import type { ChatInputCommandInteraction } from "discord.js";
import type { DisTube } from "distube";
import type { CommandMetadata } from "./index.ts";

export async function inBotChannel(
  interaction: ChatInputCommandInteraction<"cached">,
  distube: DisTube<CommandMetadata>,
): Promise<boolean> {
  const botChannelId = distube.voices.get(interaction.guildId)?.channelId;
  if (!botChannelId) {
    await interaction.reply("I am not connected to a voice channel.");
    return false;
  }
  if (interaction.member.voice.channelId !== botChannelId) {
    await interaction.reply("Join my voice channel first.");
    return false;
  }
  return true;
}

inBotChannel replies and returns false when the member may not use the command. The calling command then returns without doing anything. This file is a helper, not a command, so it does not go in the commands list.

voice.channelId is the channel Discord last confirmed for the bot. It is already correct right after a /join moves the bot.

Use it in a command

Call the check first in every command that changes playback or voice settings. That covers the commands from Skip, jump, shuffle and edit the queue, Pause, resume and seek, Volume and filters, and /leave, /deafen and /mute from Voice settings. Leave it out of /join, whose whole point is to bring the bot to a member in another channel. Here is commands/skip.ts with the check:

commands/skip.ts

import { type ChatInputCommandInteraction, InteractionContextType, SlashCommandBuilder } from "discord.js";
import type { DisTube } from "distube";
import type { CommandMetadata } from "./index.ts";
import { inBotChannel } from "./same-channel.ts";

export const data = new SlashCommandBuilder()
  .setName("skip")
  .setDescription("Skip the current track")
  .setContexts(InteractionContextType.Guild)
  .toJSON();

export async function execute(
  interaction: ChatInputCommandInteraction<"cached">,
  distube: DisTube<CommandMetadata>,
): Promise<void> {
  if (!(await inBotChannel(interaction, distube))) return;
  const queue = distube.getQueue(interaction.guildId);
  if (!queue) {
    await interaction.reply("There is no active queue.");
    return;
  }
  await interaction.deferReply();
  const next = await queue.skip();
  await interaction.editReply(next ? `Skipped. Up next: ${next.song.name}.` : "Skipped. Nothing is waiting.");
}

The check runs before deferReply, because it may need to send the first reply itself.

Protect /play too

/play needs the check as well, but only while the bot is connected.

Caution

When the bot is already playing in one channel, a play from another channel of the same server moves the bot and its queue to the caller’s channel. That happens even in the middle of a song, and the members in the first channel lose their music.

When the bot is not connected, /play is how a member starts it, so the check must not block it. In commands/play.ts, add import { inBotChannel } from "./same-channel.ts"; to the imports. Then add this line to execute, right after the if (!channel) block:

if (distube.voices.has(interaction.guildId) && !(await inBotChannel(interaction, distube))) return;

voices.has is true while the bot is connected, so the check only runs then.

/search from Search and autocomplete ends in play too, so it can move the bot the same way. By the time the member picks a result, the command has already replied, so inBotChannel cannot answer for it. In commands/search.ts, add this right before distube.play:

const botChannelId = distube.voices.get(interaction.guildId)?.channelId;
if (botChannelId && botChannelId !== channel.id) {
  await interaction.editReply({ content: "Join my voice channel first.", components: [] });
  return;
}

It runs after the pick, not before the menu, because the member can switch channels while the menu is open.

Next

Leave voice disconnects the bot when the queue ends or the channel empties.