One of my proudest achievements of 2024 has been the successful implementation of a project that combines my technical skills with a deep understanding of user behavior in a community. This project reflects months of learning and design experimentation:
- Immersing myself in a community to understand its workflows and needs.
- Applying system design principles from work to a meaningful side project.
The Inspiration
I am part of a thriving Discord community with 622 members and 154 active threads. Events are frequently organized, but many go unnoticed due to the lack of a centralized, discoverable schedule. This inspired the idea of a Discord bot that syncs event messages to Google Calendar—a one-stop platform for viewing all community activities.
System Design: From Concept to Execution
While the final design closely mirrors the initial concept, it was initially daunting and took some time before I revisited the idea. To understand the alternatives, let’s first examine how activities are typically organized:
- A user proposes a date, time, and activity in a message, listing attendees.
- Interested members copy the list and append their names.
Exploring Alternatives
Here are some of the approaches considered, along with their pros and cons:
| Idea | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Write All Events to Google Sheets | Easy to process data (e.g., sorting) | Requires behavior change: users must update the sheet instead of messages. |
| Run a Weekly Script to Summarise | Simple, no integrations required | Manual effort needed to run the script weekly. |
| Create a Bot to Sync with Google Calendar | Seamlessly integrates with current workflows | More complex, requiring software integrations. |
The Final Design
The bot uses AWS EventBridge to trigger an hourly Lambda function. The function:
- Reads Discord messages via a bot.
- Parses messages for event information.
- Updates Google Calendar via its API.
Overcoming Barriers
Initially, I hesitated due to concerns about AWS costs spiraling out of control. However, AWS’s cost monitoring tools provided reassurance. Taking the leap into experimentation proved worthwhile and became a learning opportunity in managing cloud resources responsibly.
Key Features
User Features
- Event Links: Each calendar event links back to the original Discord message for easy sign-ups.
- Device Compatibility: A single calendar link supports Android, iOS, and PC users.
- Seamless Integration: Users can subscribe with one click and hide the calendar if desired.
Technical Features
- Secure Token Storage: Google Calendar API tokens are securely stored in AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store, avoiding read-only file system limitations in Lambda.
- Optimized Search: Message searches are limited to the last two hours, balancing accuracy and efficiency while accounting for potential runtime errors.
- Dedicated Calendar Account: A standalone Google account ensures easy project handover without entangling personal credentials.
Challenges and Fixes
- Regex Limitation: Initial regex matched "7.30pm" but failed for "1930." This was addressed with an updated pattern.
- Hardcoded Year: Events for 2025 failed due to a 2024-specific filter. Adjustments now dynamically account for multiple years.
Next Steps
The bot is currently used by approximately 5% of the community. AWS CloudWatch logs show no runtime errors, indicating the system's reliability. While optimizations and feature improvements are possible, I plan to let the bot run autonomously for now. After juggling this project alongside work, it’s time to recharge before diving into the next challenge.
Top comments (0)