Stoat setup guide

Stoat support is live. Arcalotl supports subscriptions, one-time purchases, donations, role access, payment recovery, cancellation saves, and annual offers on the official hosted Stoat service.

Stoat uses typed ! commands and private bot messages. Owners manage plans and entitlements in the same dashboard as Discord, Fluxer, and Telegram.

Before you start

You need a Stoat server you own or can manage, a role for paid members, and an Arcalotl account. To accept payments, connect your own Stripe account in the dashboard. Creating or connecting a community does not require taking a payment.

Arcalotl needs permission to view the command channel, send messages, embed links, and Assign Roles. Place the bot's role above each membership role it will manage. Private-channel payment-recovery fallback also needs permission to manage channels.

Invite and connect the bot

1. Open the platform picker and sign in.
2. Create a community or choose one you already manage.
3. Select Stoat and use the bot invitation shown by the dashboard.
4. Add the bot to your server and configure its permissions and role position.
5. Generate a setup code, then send it in a server channel the bot can read:

!arcalotl setup YOUR-CODE

The dashboard confirms when the server is linked. Codes are private, single-use, and short-lived; generate a new one if yours expires.

You can also begin from Stoat with !arcalotl setup. The bot sends the setup instructions and dashboard claim link privately. Open those links yourself and complete any Stripe connection from the dashboard when you need payment setup.

Add Stoat to an existing community

Open the existing community's Settings, find Connected Platforms, and choose Connect platform. Select Stoat, generate a code, and redeem it with !arcalotl setup YOUR-CODE in the Stoat server.

Use the existing community when its plans and billing should also apply to Stoat. Do not create a second community just to add another platform. A server already linked elsewhere must be disconnected from that community first.

Connecting the server does not link every member's account. Members use !link to generate or redeem a private identity code. See Connected platforms.

Create a paid role plan

The dashboard gives the clearest view of prices and benefits:

1. Open Entitlements and create a benefit such as Supporter Access.
2. Add a Stoat role benefit and select the connected server and paid role.
3. Open Plans, create a plan, and attach that entitlement.
4. Add monthly, annual, or one-time pricing. A one-time purchase can have a duration, such as a one-day pass.
5. Check !subscribe in Stoat. Only plan tiers with a Stoat benefit appear in its numbered selection list.

Admins can also create a plan with explicit role IDs:

!arcalotl plan create role=ROLE_ID name="Supporter" monthly=5.00 annual=50.00 currency=usd

The bot must be able to manage the role. Use !arcalotl plan list to review configured plans, or the dashboard to edit their entitlements.

Check the member experience

Send !subscribe in the connected server. The bot moves checkout into a private conversation. Select the plan and billing option using the numbers shown:

!subscribe
!subscribe 1
!subscribe 1 2

The last command is needed only when plan 1 has several billing options. The numbers refer to the current list, not permanent plan IDs.

Checkout opens in the browser and names the community being paid. Stripe confirms the payment before Arcalotl grants the configured role. Check the member's access-delivery status in Customers or the member portal.

A sandbox community can use test payments. Do not enter test card details into a live checkout.

Billing, donations, and cancellation

• !manage shows subscriptions and the available member actions.
• Open Manage on the web in the reply to manage cards, invoices, and all memberships in the browser portal.
• !cancel 1 starts the guided cancellation flow. A scheduled cancellation keeps access until the paid period ends; the portal can resume it.
• !donate starts a donation when one is configured. Members choose an amount within the configured limits. Donations grant access only when an entitlement has been attached.

Invoices, payment methods, and plan changes are available through the member portal. Refund access follows the community's refund setting and the member's remaining entitlements.

Publish a pricing message

In Settings, under Connected Platforms, open the channel settings for the Stoat server. Select a Subscribe channel and save. Arcalotl posts or updates its persistent pricing message there, using the same Stoat plan choices as !subscribe.

The Announcement channel is separate. Leave it unset if you do not want public new-subscriber announcements. Each connected server keeps its own channel settings.

Permissions and private replies

Setup and administration require server ownership, Manage Server permission, or an explicitly configured Arcalotl admin. An existing explicit admin list limits billing administration to those configured accounts.

Sensitive commands use DMs. If the bot cannot send one, it posts a short notice in the server instead of exposing the checkout link or private billing details. Allow private messages from the bot and retry from the connected server.

If the bot does not respond, check that it can view that channel and send messages. If payment confirms but no role arrives, check Assign Roles, role order, the plan's entitlement mapping, and the access-delivery status. After a bot-role change, allow it to refresh its connection before retrying.

See the Stoat command reference, subscription lifecycle, and troubleshooting for the full behavior.