Install

Self-hosted Flex Tracker.

Flex Tracker is designed as a self-hosted project. You run it on your own machine or VPS. This page walks you through setup for Linux (pm2) and Windows.

What you need

  • Node.js (LTS)
  • A Discord bot token (Discord Developer Portal)
  • A Riot API key (if your bot uses Riot endpoints)
  • A machine to run it (Linux server/VPS recommended)

Beginner note

Self-hosting means: your bot is one program running on one machine. Every Discord server your bot is in will send events to that same running process.

Recommended

Use Linux + pm2 so the bot stays online and restarts automatically after crashes/reboots.

Where to host

You can run Flex Tracker on a homelab or VPS. For public or always-on usage, a VPS is the most stable option.

Linux setup (pm2)

1) Clone the repo

Run in a folder where you want the bot to live.

git clone https://github.com/knubgod/flextrackerbot.git
cd flextrackerbot

2) Install dependencies

npm install

3) Create your environment file

Create a .env file in the project root. Put your tokens/keys there. 

# Example .env (names may differ in your project)
DISCORD_TOKEN=your_discord_bot_token
RIOT_API_KEY=your_riot_api_key

4) Run it once to verify

node .

If it logs in successfully, stop it with CTRL + C.

5) Install pm2 (global) + start

npm install -g pm2
pm2 start . --name flex-tracker
pm2 logs flex-tracker

6) Enable auto-start on reboot

pm2 save
pm2 startup

The last command prints one more command — copy/paste that one too (it sets up your system service).

Windows setup (two options)

Option A: pm2 on Windows (similar workflow)

Works fine on Windows, and keeps your workflow consistent with Linux. 

# In PowerShell / Terminal
git clone https://github.com/knubgod/flextrackerbot.git
cd flextrackerbot
npm install

# create .env in the folder (same as Linux)
npm install -g pm2
pm2 start . --name flex-tracker
pm2 logs flex-tracker

Note: Windows auto-start with pm2 is less “native” than Linux. If you want reliable auto-start, use Option B.

Option B: Windows Task Scheduler (native auto-start)

This runs your bot at login or at startup automatically.

  1. Open Task Scheduler
  2. Click Create Task
  3. Triggers → “At startup” (or “At log on”)
  4. Actions → “Start a program”
  5. Program/script: node
  6. Start in: your project folder path
  7. Arguments: the entry file or . depending on your project

This is the most Windows-reliable way to keep the bot always running.

Windows note

If you close the terminal and you aren’t using pm2 or Task Scheduler, the bot will stop. “Always-on” needs a process manager or scheduled task.