Honeypot Setup

Requirements

AthenaBot 2.2.0 or newer
The core plugin enabled
The moderation plugin enabled when using Athena moderation mutes
A dedicated honeypot channel
An optional staff log channel
No extra Node packages

Installation

Place the honeypot folder in plugins/.
Start AthenaBot once to generate configuration/honeypot.json5.
Use Athena setup to assign honeypot_channel to the restricted channel.
Assign honeypot_log to a staff channel if you want incident logs.
Review the punishment action, mute method, exclusions, DM, and message-delete settings.
Restart AthenaBot after changing the local config.
Run /honeypot post, followed by /honeypot status.
Test the complete flow with a disposable member account.

Default Punishment


{
  config: {
    enabled: true,
    punishment: {
      action: "mute",
      mute_method: "athena",
      timeout_duration_minutes: 10080,
      delete_trigger_message: true,
      dm_user: true,
      ignored_user_ids: [],
      ignored_role_ids: []
    }
  }
}

The default duration is 10,080 minutes, or seven days.

Choose A Mute Method

Value	Behavior	Requirement
`athena`	Uses Athena’s moderation mute so the punishment is tracked by the moderation system. This is the default.	The `moderation` plugin must be installed and loaded.
`discord`	Applies a direct Discord timeout to the member.	AthenaBot needs Moderate Members, and its role must be above the member.

Athena mode does not automatically fall back to a Discord timeout when the moderation plugin is unavailable. The incident is logged as failed so staff can review it.

Discord Permissions

Grant only the permissions needed for the options you enable:

View Channel, Send Messages, and Embed Links for warning and log messages
Manage Messages to delete trigger messages or pin the warning
Moderate Members for direct Discord timeouts
Kick Members when punishment.action is kick
Ban Members when punishment.action is ban

AthenaBot’s highest role must also be above any member it needs to moderate.

Channel Setup

The honeypot channel must remain visible to the members you want the tripwire to cover. They must also be able to send a message for the plugin to receive a trigger. Keep the warning clear and avoid using the channel for normal chat.

The honeypot_log channel is optional. If it is not configured, punishments still run but no incident embed is posted.

Safe Test

Add a disposable member account with no ignored roles.
Confirm /honeypot status shows the intended channel and punishment.
Send a harmless test message in the honeypot channel.
Confirm the message is deleted if enabled.
Confirm the DM, punishment, and staff log match the configuration.
Remove the test punishment before launch.