GIF Limiter¶

The GIF Limiter is an automated moderation tool designed to maintain channel quality by preventing GIF spam. It monitors message content in real-time and automatically removes GIFs that exceed your server's configured limits, ensuring conversations remain readable and focused.

This feature works silently in the background, only intervening when specific thresholds are met. It provides brief, self-cleaning notifications to users when their messages are removed, explaining the reason for the action without cluttering the channel.

How It Works¶

Mechanics¶

Tux inspects all incoming messages for GIF content by checking for the word "gif" in the message body and the presence of Discord embeds.

Tracking: Tux maintains a rolling timestamp of GIF messages for every user and channel.
Cleanup: A background task runs every 20 seconds to prune expired timestamps, keeping memory usage low.
Detection: The system identifies GIFs provided through links that Discord automatically embeds.

Automation¶

This feature provides hands-off moderation:

Instant Deletion: If a user or channel exceeds the GIF limit, Tux immediately deletes the offending message.
Self-Cleaning Alerts: When a message is deleted, Tux sends a temporary notification that automatically deletes itself after 3 seconds.
Pattern Matching: Tux monitors both message content and embed metadata to accurately identify GIFs.

Triggers¶

The feature activates when:

A message is sent that contains a GIF link or the word "gif".
The number of GIFs sent within the recent_gif_age window exceeds the user or channel limit.

User Experience¶

What Users See¶

Under normal circumstances, users post GIFs without any interruption. However, when limits are exceeded:

Message Removal: Their message containing the GIF is instantly removed.
Moderation Alert: A brief message appears: "You are posting GIFs too fast! Please wait a moment."
Auto-Cleanup: The alert message disappears after 3 seconds, leaving the channel clean.

Interaction¶

Users do not need to interact with the bot to use this feature. They simply need to stay within the established limits for the channel.

Configuration¶

The GIF Limiter is configured through the server's config.json file.

Configuration Options¶

Option	Type	Default	Description
`RECENT_GIF_AGE`	`integer`	`60`	The time window (in seconds) during which GIFs are tracked.
`GIF_LIMITS_USER`	`object`	`{}`	A mapping of user IDs to the maximum GIFs that user may post in the window.
`GIF_LIMITS_CHANNEL`	`object`	`{}`	A mapping of channel IDs to the maximum GIFs allowed in that channel (total).
`GIF_LIMIT_EXCLUDE`	`array`	`[]`	A list of channel IDs where the GIF Limiter does not run.

Example Configuration¶

JSON

{
  "GIF_LIMITER": {
    "RECENT_GIF_AGE": 60,
    "GIF_LIMIT_EXCLUDE": [123456789012345678],
    "GIF_LIMITS_USER": {
      "987654321098765432": 2
    },
    "GIF_LIMITS_CHANNEL": {
      "987654321098765432": 5
    }
  }
}

Configuration Guide

For detailed configuration instructions, see the Admin Guide.

Permissions¶

Bot Permissions¶

Tux requires the following permissions for this feature:

Read Messages - Needed to monitor channel activity for GIFs.
Manage Messages - Needed to delete messages that exceed the limits.
Send Messages - Needed to post the temporary moderation notifications.

User Permissions¶

None required. All users are subject to the limits unless the channel is excluded.

Permission System

Configure command permissions via /config commands or see the Permission Configuration guide.

Troubleshooting¶

Issue: GIFs not being detected¶

Symptoms:

Users are posting GIFs but they are not being counted against the limit.

Causes:

The message does not contain the word "gif".
Discord has not yet generated an embed for the GIF link.
The channel is in the GIF_LIMIT_EXCLUDE list.

Solutions:

Check if the channel is in the exclude list in your configuration.
Verify that Tux has permission to view the channel and its embeds.

Issue: Messages not being deleted¶