Guide 01

Getting started

From “Add to Twitch” to your first stream with the bot in chat. About six minutes, most of it reading.

6 min read

01Connect your channel

at a glance One Twitch sign-in. No API keys, no config files, nothing to install.

Head to dashboard.itsbagelbot.com and sign in with your Twitch account. Twitch shows you exactly what the bot is allowed to do before you approve anything, and that's the whole setup. The moment you're in, ItsBagelBot joins your chat and sits quietly until it's spoken to.

What your chat sees, about two seconds after you sign in.

Good to know The bot never speaks unprompted. Until you create commands or enable modules, joining is the only thing it does: your chat stays exactly as it was.

02Find your way around

at a glance Five stops in the floating dock. You will spend most of your time in two of them.

The dashboard is one page at a time, and its whole navigation is the floating dock at the bottom of the screen, the same on desktop and phone. Overview is your landing page, Commands is where custom chat commands live, and Modules holds every bigger feature. Billing and Settings do what they say on the tin.

  • The dock is the whole navigation, on every screen size: Overview, Commands, Modules, Billing, Settings.
  • Bot status: whether ItsBagelBot is sitting in your chat right now, and the one button to fix it if not.
  • Quick actions: the two things you will do most, one tap away.
  • Your most-used commands live here too, one click from editing.
The Overview page. Navigation lives in the floating dock at the bottom.

Everything on the dashboard saves the moment you confirm it: there's no "deploy" step, and changes usually reach your chat within seconds.

03Create your first command

at a glance A name and a response. Everything else is optional.

Open Commands and press New command. A command needs exactly two things: a name (what viewers type after the !) and a response (what the bot says back). Let's make the classic:

  • New command opens the editor, docked beside the list on desktop (a bottom sheet on phones).
  • The name, without the “!” (the dashboard adds it in chat). Lowercase, no spaces.
  • The response. Plain text is fine; the next guide shows the variables that make it smart.
  • Create saves it instantly, and the command goes live in chat right after.
The Commands page: your list on the left, the editor docked on the right.
Thirty seconds later, in chat.

The editor also offers access levels (everyone → broadcaster), a cooldown, and a "only while live" switch, all optional, all explained in the commands guide.

04Switch on your first module

at a glance Modules are bigger features with an on/off switch. Two are already on for you.

Head to Modules. Each tile is one feature with its own switch, and clicking a tile opens its settings. Two are already working for you out of the box: Chat Alerts (follows, subs, cheers, raids) and AutoMod (the layered moderation you read about on the homepage; it runs quietly without a tile on this grid).

  • Already on: alerts thank followers and subs with a message you can rewrite.
  • Opt-in: timers post a message on a schedule while you're live. Great for the Discord plug.
The Modules page: a category rail on the left, tiles with a Configure button and a switch.

Nothing here is dangerous to poke: every module can be switched off as quickly as it came on, and its settings are kept for the next time. The full tour of what each one does lives in the modules handbook.

05Go live with confidence

at a glance A two-minute pre-stream checklist, then the bot takes the night shift.

Before your next stream, a quick rehearsal:

  1. Type your new command in chat yourself: the bot answers you like any viewer.
  2. Skim the Chat Alerts messages and make them sound like you.
  3. Raided often? Switch on Auto Shoutout so incoming raiders get greeted even when you're mid-game.

That's the whole setup. The bot moderates, greets, and answers on its own from here, and everything you just did can be changed mid-stream from your phone.

Next up Make your commands smart: Commands & variables shows how one line like Welcome, {user}! greets every viewer by name.