Feature Description

Allow Discord access control based on Discord roles (e.g., Moderator role) instead of hardcoded user IDs. Currently DISCORD_ALLOWED_USERS only accepts a comma-separated list of user IDs, which requires manual updates when moderator ranks change.

Motivation

Server moderation teams change frequently. Currently when a new moderator is added, someone must manually update DISCORD_ALLOWED_USERS with their Discord user ID. This is error-prone and requires ongoing maintenance.

A role-based approach would let moderators self-serve: grant the role on the server, and access is automatic.

Proposed Solution

Add a new environment variable DISCORD_ALLOWED_ROLES that accepts Discord role IDs:

DISCORD_ALLOWED_ROLES=1493705176387948674
DISCORD_ALLOWED_USERS=413720629

Behavior:

1. If DISCORD_ALLOWED_ROLES is set, resolve the configured roles to members via the Discord API
2. Check if the message author has any of the allowed roles
3. Both DISCORD_ALLOWED_USERS and DISCORD_ALLOWED_ROLES can coexist (union)
4. Resolved role memberships are cached and refreshed periodically (e.g., on gateway restart or on interval)

Implementation notes:

• Use Discord Guild API to resolve roles to member lists
• Placeholder for non-numeric entries in DISCORD_ALLOWED_USERS already exists: _resolve_allowed_usernames()
• A similar _resolve_allowed_roles() method could follow the same pattern

Alternatives Considered

• Sync script — Run an external cron job that syncs role members to DISCORD_ALLOWED_USERS. Works but adds operational complexity and a delay between granting role and granting access.
• Bot mention + role check — Keep current mention-based auth but check roles regardless of user ID. Doesn't solve the maintainability problem.