what do you need help with?

pick a bot. answer a couple of questions. get unstuck.

emma

she talks when she feels like it

• emma is not talking in my server — emma only answers a fixed list of trigger phrases, most of which need the word emma in them. type 'emma test' in a channel she can see: she always replies 'yes im alive idiot'. if she doesn't, she is blocked by a channel permission, a discord timeout, a stuck story mode or a channel lock. the help page can add the pessimist bot to your server, check all four and fix them.
• how do i lock emma to one channel? — with pessimist plus: log in at pessimist.io, open settings, then characters, pick your server and click a channel under isochannel. emma and bella then ignore every other channel. for free: in every channel you want her out of, click edit channel, add emma (or a role only she has) under permissions and deny her view channel.
• emma only replies in one channel — someone typed .isochannel in that channel, which locks emma to it (a pessimist plus feature). type .isochannel again in the locked channel to unlock her (she reacts with an open padlock), or use the help page to clear the lock.
• emma went quiet after a story — stories put emma into story mode so she doesn't interrupt bella's lines. it switches off when the story ends; if bella restarted mid-story it can stay on and emma stays silent in that server. server owners can reset it in the privacy centre under characters, or anyone with admin can clear it from the help page.
• emma is in timeout — if a moderator times emma out, discord blocks every message she sends and she does not complain. lift the timeout in server settings → members, or let the help page do it.
• what permissions does emma need? — emma needs view channel and send messages in every channel you want her in, add reactions for her padlock and skull reactions, and read message history. manage messages is only for e.say and 'emma delete'. her invite asks for more than she strictly needs; you can trim it in server settings → integrations.
• emma keeps posting invite links or ads for bella — servers that are not activated get the occasional nudge: emma's invite when someone posts a discord.gg link, a one-in-a-thousand 'add my sister' when someone says emma, and a warning on heavy topics. a pessimist plus subscriber typing .activate in the server (with bella in it) marks the server as activated and the nudges stop.
• emma replied to something that wasn't about her — emma matches trigger phrases by substring, so 'hi emma' also matches inside 'hi emmanuel'. a handful of triggers do not need her name at all: good morning, goodnight, bruh, wtf, im tired, i miss you. that is her personality, not a bug.
• e.say does nothing — e.say deletes your message and repeats it as emma. it needs the manage messages permission in that channel and only works for pessimist plus subscribers. blocked words are dropped silently.
• what does emma know about me? — type 'emma privacy policy' in any channel she can see and she will tell you. when you say emma she records your user id, the server and the time, and keeps anonymous tallies of short messages she did not answer. you can see and delete it in the pessimist privacy centre.
• where is the list of triggers? — emma's trigger list lives in her discord server. annual pessimist plus subscribers also get the full list on the trigger list page at pessimist.io/triggers.

bella

the nice one. paywalled, obviously

• bella isn't talking in my server — bella is exclusive to pessimist plus (free in december). servers owned by a subscriber are switched on automatically; for a server you don't own, type .activate in it (one per subscriber). if she is switched on and still silent, the help page can add the pessimist bot and check permissions, timeouts, story mode and channel locks.
• i'm having issues with stories — stories are scripted scenes between bella and emma. bella posts her own lines and sends emma's lines to emma over a private link, so 'only bella speaks' usually means emma is missing, blocked in that channel or timed out, and 'only emma speaks' means bella can't post there. stories start from a trigger phrase, a random roll (once a week per server) or when bella joins a plus server with emma present. the help page checks both bots and can run a test story.
• bella has gone no-contact with me — bella remembers a little about each person she talks to: notes, a plan for the next conversation and the last few messages. from the help page you can wipe it with one click ('start fresh'); it deletes the same records as the bella section of the privacy centre.
• bella only talks in one channel — bella has her own channel lock, separate from emma's. it is rare and there is no chat command for it; the help page can clear it.
• how do i switch bella on in a server i don't own? — as a pessimist plus subscriber, type .activate in that server. each subscriber can switch on one server they do not own; typing it in another server moves the activation. servers you own are switched on through your subscription and need nothing.
• can bella greet new members? — yes. the subscriber who activated the server types .main-channel in the channel of choice; bella welcomes newcomers there 45 seconds after they join. .unlink-channel turns it off.
• bella said something i've never seen her say before — when no scripted reply fits, bella's conversation engine answers instead (on by default in every server). it remembers a little context per person, which is what 'start fresh' on the help page clears.
• is bella free in december? — yes. every server is switched on through december (sydney time). on 1 january bella returns to plus-only.
• how do i make bella leave? — kick her from the server. your activation record stays with your subscription, so she works again if you re-invite her.
• bella ignores my other bots — by design. bella only listens to humans and to emma; messages from other bots and webhooks are ignored and never start stories.

pessimist qotd

one question a day, give or take

• qotd isn't posting in my server — the most common causes are: setup was never completed (finish it with .setup or /setup), the bot lost send messages in the question channel, the ping role is not mentionable, the 16-hour cooldown between manual posts, or autoschedule switched itself off because pessimist plus lapsed. the help page can read your server's setup, permissions and schedule straight from the bot.
• how do i set up the bot? — add pessimist qotd to your server. the owner is dm'd a setup link (valid 24 hours), or anyone with administrator can type .setup or /setup in the server to get a fresh one. on the setup page pick the channel, an optional ping role (or create a 'QOTD' role) and, with pessimist plus, autoschedule.
• is it /setup or .setup? /qotd or .qotd? — both work and do the same thing. .setup and /setup work in a server or in the bot's dms; .qotd and /qotd post a question in a server (posting from dms is not supported). the slash versions are only visible to administrators.
• i typed .qotd and nothing happened — the bot silently ignores .qotd from anyone who is not the server owner or an administrator; use /qotd to be told why privately. if you are an admin, read the reply: 'not set up yet' means setup was never completed, and 'once every 16 hours' means the cooldown is active.
• it says it doesn't have permission to send or to mention the role — give the bot send messages in the question channel. for the role error, either allow anyone to mention the QOTD role in its settings or give the bot the mention @everyone, @here and all roles permission. if the channel was deleted you'll see 'could not find the configured QOTD channel'; run /setup to pick a new one.
• how do i change the channel or ping role? — type /setup or .setup in the server or in the bot's dms for a new configuration link; your current settings stay active until you submit the new form. server owners can also dm the bot 'login', open settings, then 'my servers' on qotd.pessimist.io.
• how do i make it post automatically? — autoschedule is a pessimist plus feature: the server or its owner must be subscribed. turn it on with the toggle on the setup page from /setup, or in the server settings on qotd.pessimist.io. the first question posts straight away if none went out in the last 16 hours, then one every 16 to 32 hours.
• can i pick a fixed time of day? — no. autoschedule waits a random 16 to 32 hours after each post, so the time drifts on purpose. for a fixed time, post manually with /qotd.
• autoschedule turned itself off — the scheduler switches itself off and dms the owner when pessimist plus lapsed for both the server and the owner (including when december's free access ends), when the channel no longer exists, when the bot lost send messages, when the ping role can't be mentioned, or when discord returned a permissions error. fix the cause, then re-enable it from the /setup link or the server settings page. typing .qotd does not re-enable it.
• nobody's answers are being counted — answers only count when members use discord's reply feature on the question message itself; ordinary messages in the channel are ignored. answers from private accounts or blocked users are never recorded, empty messages are skipped, and answers that fail moderation are dropped with a warning dm.
• why did a question post under someone's name? — when the bot has manage webhooks in the channel it posts through a webhook using the question author's display name and avatar, with 'asked by' underneath. remove manage webhooks from the bot in that channel if you'd rather it always posts as itself.
• why was my question rejected? — an ai moderator applies the community guidelines: no explicit sexual content, no slurs (swearing is fine), no partisan politics or advocating harm, no discrimination, no shock posts, no advertising, no links except images, and it must actually be a question. very short messages and things that look like commands or greetings are rejected before the ai. the rejection dm shows the reason; to appeal, join the qotd server.
• my question says pending review — the moderation service failed, so the question was saved as pending instead of approved or rejected. it will not be posted until an admin reviews it.
• how do question streaks work? — your asking streak grows when you get a question approved on consecutive days. with a timezone set (via the link the bot sends), days are your local calendar days. without one the bot uses a window: another question within 16 hours doesn't count, 16 to 32 hours later continues the streak, more than 32 hours resets it. streaks untouched for over 24 hours are also reset by a background job.
• how do server streaks and the leaderboard work? — server streaks are a pessimist plus feature enabled in server settings. a member's streak continues when they reply to each consecutive question the server posts and resets when they miss one. pick a leaderboard channel and the bot keeps a top-10 embed there; the full list is on qotd.pessimist.io/streaks/{server id}. at the moment only questions posted with .qotd or /qotd are numbered, so autoscheduled posts do not move streaks.
• how do i stop the dms? — dm the bot 'login', open the portal link, then settings. there are toggles for answers to your questions, replies to your answers, streak reminders and achievements, plus a per-server page for servers where you hold the QOTD role. the warning after a rejected answer is the only dm you can't turn off.
• can i use it in more than one server? — yes. every server has its own setup, channel, role, autoschedule and streak settings. dm the bot .setup or /setup and it lists every server you own or administer so you can pick which one to configure.
• it says my account is blocked or under review — the bot blocks you for 24 hours after 30 questions in a day, freezes your account for human review at 100 in a week, and the ai moderator can ban you after a pattern of at least three rejected questions in 24 hours. while blocked you can't submit and your answers aren't tracked. dm the bot 'login' to see the reason and expiry.
• someone answered my question. how do i reply? — reply (discord reply) to the notification dm and the bot forwards your message to the answerer; they can reply the same way. react with a heart to like an answer, which dms the answerer if they have notifications on. if the other person has notifications off the bot tells you.
• how do i queue a specific question for my server? — queueing is a pessimist plus feature for server owners. log in on qotd.pessimist.io and use the queue action on a question in the feed; queued questions post first, oldest first, for both /qotd and autoschedule. a queued question is skipped if its author later hides it, pauses it, goes private or gets blocked.
• it posted a question 'asked by @bella' — when fewer than five approved questions exist in the pool, the bot generates one with ai and signs it as bella. these are not tracked for answers or streaks.
• it says all approved questions have already been posted — the bot never reposts a question in the same server, so your server has used every question in the approved pool. new ones arrive as people dm them to the bot; you can dm one yourself. autoschedule retries every minute until something new exists.
• i kicked and re-added the bot and my settings vanished — when the bot leaves a server it deletes that server's configuration and queued questions, so re-adding it starts a fresh setup and the owner is dm'd a new link.
• i can't see /qotd or /setup — both commands are restricted to members with administrator, so discord hides them from everyone else. the .qotd and .setup text commands always work.
• how do i submit a question? — dm the bot the question. it is moderated automatically and, if approved, joins the pool every server draws from.
• how do i see or delete my qotd data? — dm the bot 'login', open settings, then 'my data' to view or export everything. deleting your account anonymises your questions and answers as deleted_user; restricted accounts can hide their profile but not delete until the restriction ends, and permanent bans keep only your discord id and the ban record. the pessimist privacy centre does the same across all our bots.

pessimist (including plus)

billing, logins, the boring bits

• i have a subscription and i cannot login to discord — if you subscribed with paypal, log in to paypal to manage your pessimist plus subscription. if you subscribed via stripe, use the stripe billing portal with the same email address you subscribed with.
• how do i cancel or change my subscription? — log in and open billing. stripe subscribers can cancel or switch plans from there; paypal subscribers cancel through paypal. access continues until the end of the paid period, and there are no refunds for the remainder.
• i paid but the bots still treat me as free — the bots read your premium status from a record written when payment is confirmed. it can take a minute; if it's been longer, log out and back in with the discord account you actually use, check billing shows you as active, and if it does, join the pessimist server so a human can activate you.
• how many servers does plus cover? — every server you own, plus one server you don't own (switch it on by typing .activate there with bella present). plus roles and custom colours apply in the three pessimist community servers.
• discord login isn't working for me — dm the pessimist bot the word 'login' and it replies with a one-time magic link (valid five minutes) that signs you in without the discord login screen.
• i cancelled paypal but i'm still premium — that's expected: a cancelled paypal subscription keeps plus until the end of the current period, then a sweep deactivates it within a few minutes. paypal subscriptions can't be reactivated, so to come back you subscribe again.
• how do i redeem a gift? — open the gift link (pessimist.io/gift/your-code); it signs you in with discord if needed and activates the gift. you can also dm the gift link or the code to the pessimist bot. each code works once.
• how does free plus from voting work? — voting on top.gg for emma or pessimist qotd adds six hours of free plus (four for a server vote) to an existing voting reward. when it expires there is a 24-hour grace period with reminders, then the plus role and premium switch off.
• i didn't get the plus role or my custom colour — roles are only managed in the three pessimist community servers (emma's dome, pessimist qotd, pessimist) and only if you are a member there. custom colour roles also need an active subscription. join the servers from the servers tab and the role follows within a minute.
• my account is banned — a banned pessimist account can't use the dashboard, and the bots won't help you either. you can still see, export and delete your data at pessimist.io/settings/privacy; the ban record itself stays. bans from the pessimist discord servers are appealed from the servers tab.
• how do i delete my data? — log in and open pessimist.io/settings/privacy. you can see everything each bot holds, export it, or delete it all. deletion is blocked while a stripe or paypal subscription is active; cancel first, then come back.
• the site says a bot could not be reached — the site talks to each bot over a private link. when a bot is restarting, offline or not answering within ten seconds, that part of the page shows as unavailable and the rest still loads. nothing is lost; try again in a minute.
• why is everything free in december? — december is on the house: every server counts as plus for the month (sydney time), including bella, stories and qotd autoschedule. on 1 january things go back to normal, and autoschedule switches itself off in servers without plus.
• how do i talk to a human? — join the pessimist discord server, or email pessimist@emmasdome.co for billing. someone will sigh and then help you.

still stuck? join the pessimist server and a human will sigh and then help you.