Six steps to your first apply:

1. Invite the bot to a server you manage. Go to Servers (top nav). Servers where you have Manage Server but the bot isn't present yet show an + Invite bot button. Servers the bot is already in show under Ready.
2. Move Packet's role to the top of your roles list. In Discord, open Server Settings → Roles and drag the role named Packet (automatically created when you invited the bot) above every other role. Discord won't let a bot modify roles above its own, so this is the most common first-run blocker — doing it up front skips a likely error later.
3. Open a Ready server. That takes you into the blueprint editor for that server.
4. Get a starting blueprint. Four equally valid paths: Generate with AI (top nav → AI Blueprint hands you a copy-pasteable prompt for any AI chat — build-from-scratch or edit-an-existing-blueprint), pull the server's current structure in as a blueprint, start from a Template, or write one from scratch. From there, edit it in the Configure tab (a visual editor for roles, channels, categories, and permissions) or in the document editor, whose Reference sidebar explains every field with examples.
5. Diff before you apply. The Diff tab lists exactly what would change — every role, channel, permission — and opens on a plain-language summary of what gets created, renamed, moved, edited, or removed. Nothing has touched your server yet.
6. Apply. Packet snapshots your server first (automatic), then makes the changes and streams progress live. If it looks wrong afterwards, restore the snapshot. First time on a server, pulling the current structure and applying it unchanged is a good warm-up — the diff should show roughly zero changes, which confirms the bot can read and write everything it should.

If your first apply errors

Two common first-run blockers, both fixable in under a minute:

• Bot's role isn't high enough in the roles list. Server Settings → Roles. Drag the Packet role above every role your blueprint touches (top of the list is the safe default). Discord refuses to let a bot modify roles above its own — this is the #1 first-time failure if step 2 above was skipped.
• Bot is missing Administrator (or one of the granular permissions it needs for what your blueprint touches). The invite link grants Administrator by default; if you've trimmed it, re-invite the bot or restore the permission. Packet's pre-apply check names the exact permission it needs.

Packet checks your server for the most common problems before any change touches it, so a failed apply usually means "fix one of these and re-apply" rather than "your server is half-broken." And the auto-snapshot taken at the start is always available to restore from.

Getting around

The path: Sign in → About (you're here) → Servers → pick a server → the blueprint editor, which has the Configure visual editor, the Reference sidebar, the Diff tab, and Apply.

• Servers — every server you can manage; invite the bot from here.
• AI Blueprint — copy-pasteable prompt for generating a blueprint with any AI chat.
• About / Roadmap / Changelog — what Packet is, what's planned, what changed.
• Commands — every Packet slash command, what it does, and who can run it.
• Feedback — report bugs or request features; you'll see replies here and via Discord DM.
• Settings (top-right menu) — appearance, plus Privacy & data: download or permanently delete the personal data Packet holds about you.

The core flow, in one line: Template → (use) → Blueprint → (apply) → Live server → (auto-snapshot taken first) → Snapshot.

Plus a few side paths once you have something worth keeping:

• A blueprint can be imported into another server you manage (clean copy that doesn't share identity with the source).
• A blueprint can be saved as a template so the same shape works on new servers later.
• A snapshot can be restored as a blueprint if you want to revive a past state for editing without immediately pushing it live.
• A snapshot can also be saved as a template if a particular past state is worth keeping as a starting point.

The short version: blueprints are the thing you author and apply. Snapshots are automatic backups. Templates are good starting points that don't get edited in place.

• Author blueprints in the dashboard editor — autocomplete, inline validation, and a Reference sidebar with examples and common pitfalls for every field.
• Edit visually in the Configure tab. Rename, add, remove, and drag-to-reorder roles, channels, and categories; set per-role permissions and per-channel permission overrides point-and-click; collapse categories to keep a big server manageable — all without hand-editing the underlying document. A "Pending changes" panel shows in plain English what your edits will do before you save.
• Generate a starter with AI. The AI Blueprint page gives you a copy-pasteable prompt — to build a server from scratch or to edit a blueprint you already have. Describe what you want in plain English in any AI chat and paste the result back. The prompt knows Discord's length caps and feature requirements so the result applies cleanly. Packet itself never sends anything to an AI — you choose the chat and do the pasting.
• Pull a live server into a blueprint. Take the structure of a server you already run, edit it in the dashboard, and apply the changes back. Pulls come back grouped under categories, with permission inheritance recognized and Discord defaults omitted so the blueprint is readable.
• Restructure without losing message history. Rename channels, reorganize categories, swap layouts — the Migrate panel pairs blueprint entries to live channels by id, so Packet renames and reparents instead of delete-and-recreate. Message history stays intact.
• Diff before committing. The Diff/Plan tab opens on a plain-language summary — what gets created, renamed, moved, edited, reordered, or removed — backed by the exact roles, channels, and permissions that will change. Nothing happens until you click Apply, and non-empty channel deletes require a typed confirmation.
• Auto-snapshot before every apply. Even if something goes wrong, you can restore the snapshot from right before the change.
• Watch every apply stream live. Operation-by-operation progress as it runs — you can watch a 50-channel reorganization happen in real time.
• Save and reuse templates. Promote a working setup into a starter scaffold — for other servers, or for a look you cycle back to, like a seasonal or holiday layout. Edit a copy (by hand or with the AI helper) for the new season, save it as its own template, and apply it when the time comes. Rename or delete from the dashboard.
• Slash command parity. The same operations are available in any channel where the bot has access, with the same destructive-op confirmation gates. The Commands reference lists every slash command, what it does, and who can run it.
• Give members self-serve roles. Post a message where members click buttons (or a dropdown) to add and remove their own roles, give new members a starter role on join, offer a palette of name colors (or let them pick a custom one), and auto-assign a role while someone's playing a game or listening to Spotify.
• Welcome, schedule, and engage. Greet members when they join (with goodbye and ban notices too), pin a welcome panel, send a welcome DM, schedule recurring announcements, and run community polls on a forum — all with rich embed cards and variables like the member's name and your member count. The Guide covers every option.
• Announce go-lives and new content. Watch your favorite creators (or your own channels) and post a rich alert the moment they go live or drop new content — Twitch, YouTube, Kick, Reddit, Steam, Bluesky, and more — with an optional "🔴 Live" role while they stream.
• Moderate with memory. Warn, mute, kick, and ban from /mod with a real case history and a configurable escalation ladder — and Discord's own actions and AutoMod hits feed the same record, so repeat offenders escalate even when no staff are online. Manage Discord's native AutoMod filters from your blueprint too.
• Run a support desk. A one-click panel opens a private, staff-only help room — Packet writes the permissions so a ticket can't leak. Claim, close, and triage tickets from Discord or the dashboard, across every server you manage.
• Keep a log of what happens. Mirror joins, leaves, role changes, bans, and edits to a log channel and a dashboard activity feed, so you always have a record of who did what.
• Maintain the essentials. Keep roles ordered by purpose with role bands, restore members' roles when they rejoin, grant roles that expire on their own, set the invite welcome screen and server widget, and back up your whole server on a schedule.
• Get Packet's own updates. Opt in to receive Packet's announcements — new features and fixes — in a channel you choose.
• Control your own data. From Settings → Privacy & data, download a copy of the personal data Packet holds about you, or permanently delete it. A Privacy Policy and Terms of Service are published in the site footer.

In a server you manage, what you can do depends on the role permissions you have on that server:

• Manage Channels — view blueprints, snapshots, recent apply jobs, and run dry-run diffs.
• Manage Server — edit blueprints, save them as templates, restore snapshots into editable working copies.
• Administrator (or you're the server owner) — apply changes to live, delete blueprints/snapshots/templates, see audit logs.

If you don't see something you expect to see, or a button is rejecting you, that's the cause — your server role doesn't have the permission Packet needs.

• AI Blueprint — generate a starter blueprint from a plain-English description.
• Commands — the full slash-command reference: what each does and who can run it.
• Roadmap — what's planned and what's recently shipped.
• Changelog — version-by-version notes.
• Feedback — bug reports and feature requests go here.
• Inside the editor — every blueprint page has a Reference sidebar that explains each field with worked examples and gotchas.