NICKNOW keeps every member's nickname in sync with their role — automatically. Set a template once, and the bot handles the rest: new joins, name changes, role updates, everything.
Most servers are fully configured in under five minutes.
Click "Add to Discord", authorize the bot, and then use slash commands or the dashboard to configure nickname automation for your server.
Use /role add to connect any server role to a nickname template.
For example, HR | $display will show as
HR | Alice for every member with that role.
You can manage as many roles as you need.
From this point on, NICKNOW watches your server. When a member joins, changes their display name, or gets a new role, the nickname is updated automatically and durably — backed by PostgreSQL-queued sync jobs that retry on failure. If you ever need to step in, the dashboard gives you full override control.
Not a list of buzzwords — a real explanation of what runs inside NICKNOW.
Each Discord role can have exactly one template. The variable
$display is replaced with the member's current display name.
When a member holds multiple managed roles, you choose whether the highest or lowest role wins.
Templates are stored in your database and survive bot restarts.
Every nickname update is a job in a PostgreSQL-backed queue. If Discord is slow or returns a rate-limit, the job is retried automatically. This keeps changes durable even when Discord is noisy or temporarily unavailable.
When nickname change detection is enabled, NICKNOW listens for
guildMemberUpdate events. If a managed member changes
their display name, NICKNOW immediately re-applies the correct template —
without any manual trigger. You can enable or disable this per server.
Sometimes a specific member needs a custom nickname that does not follow the role template. NICKNOW stores these manual overrides in your database. You can list them by role, reset a single member's override, or clear all overrides for an entire role — all through slash commands or the dashboard.
By default, only Discord administrators can manage NICKNOW. You can grant management rights to any set of server roles without touching Discord's built-in permissions. This is useful for giving a moderator role access without making them full administrators.
Log in with Discord OAuth, see all servers where NICKNOW is installed, inspect role templates, update settings, and manage overrides — all from a single browser tab without touching Discord.
Answers to what server owners ask before adding the bot.
NICKNOW registers itself in the server and is ready for slash-command or dashboard setup. No nicknames are changed until you configure at least one managed role template.
You write a plain text string with the variable $display
where you want the member's name to go. For example:
HR | $display becomes HR | Alice[$display] Dev becomes [Alice] DevMOD $display becomes MOD Alice
The bot shows you a live preview of the result when you run
/role add, so you can verify the format before it is applied.
You control this with the conflict strategy setting. Two options are available:
You can switch the strategy at any time from the settings panel or via
/settings.
A sync is triggered automatically when you change it.
NICKNOW needs the Manage Nicknames permission to change member nicknames, plus standard server read and send permissions so it can respond to commands and keep state in sync. Note that Discord prevents any bot from changing the nickname of a member whose role is higher than the bot's highest role — this is an intentional Discord safety rule, not a NICKNOW limitation.
Yes. The access roles setting lets you choose any set of server roles that should have permission to manage NICKNOW — add roles, configure templates, reset overrides, and so on. Members with those roles can run management commands without needing the Discord Administrator permission. This is separate from Discord's built-in permission system, and you can update it at any time.
This depends on whether nickname change detection is enabled. If it is, NICKNOW listens
for nickname changes and re-applies the template automatically — the manual change is
overwritten within seconds. If detection is disabled, the manual nickname stays until
the next sync trigger (for example, a role change or a manual sync from the dashboard).
If you deliberately want a member to keep a custom nickname, you can store a manual
override for them using /override — this tells NICKNOW
to leave that member alone.
The dashboard is a browser-based interface where you log in with your Discord account and get a complete view of every server where NICKNOW is installed. From there you can see role templates, change settings, and view or reset overrides — all without opening Discord. The bot is fully functional without it; the dashboard is an extra layer of convenience for server owners who prefer a visual interface or need to manage multiple servers at once.
NICKNOW is free to add to your server. There is no trial, no feature gate behind a paywall, and no limit on the number of managed roles or members. The full feature set — templates, sync, overrides, detection, and the dashboard — is available from the moment you invite the bot.
Add NICKNOW in two clicks. Configuration takes minutes. From that point, the bot runs itself.