What causes "Discord channel requires the `channel-discord` feature" in zeroclaw-labs/zeroclaw?

Rebuild including the feature: `cargo build --features channel-discord`

zeroclaw-labs/zeroclaw · error · anyhow::Error

Discord channel requires the `channel-discord` feature

Error message

Discord channel requires the `channel-discord` feature

What it means

Thrown by build_channel_by_id when channel_type is `discord` and the crate lacks the `channel-discord` cargo feature. The discord match arm only exists under that feature; without it, the fallback arm bails because the Discord runtime code was compiled out. Identical in shape to the other channel feature gates (telegram, slack, mattermost, signal, matrix, whatsapp-web).

Source

Thrown at crates/zeroclaw-channels/src/orchestrator/mod.rs:8977

                    dc.mention_only,
                )
                .with_channel_ids(dc.channel_ids.clone())
                .with_workspace_dir(workspace_dir)
                .with_streaming(
                    dc.stream_mode,
                    dc.draft_update_interval_ms,
                    dc.multi_message_delay_ms,
                )
                .with_transcription(config.transcription.clone())
                .with_stall_timeout(dc.stall_timeout_secs)
                .with_approval_timeout_secs(dc.approval_timeout_secs)
                .with_intents_mask(dc.intents_mask)
                .with_reaction_notifications(dc.reaction_notifications),
            ))
        }
        #[cfg(not(feature = "channel-discord"))]
        "discord" => {
            anyhow::bail!("Discord channel requires the `channel-discord` feature");
        }
        #[cfg(feature = "channel-slack")]
        "slack" => {
            let sl = config
                .channels
                .slack
                .get("default")
                .context("Slack channel is not configured")?;
            let alias = "default".to_string();
            let peer_resolver: Arc<dyn Fn() -> Vec<String> + Send + Sync> = {
                let cfg_arc = config_arc.clone();
                let alias = alias.clone();
                Arc::new(move || cfg_arc.read().channel_external_peers("slack", &alias))
            };
            let thread_context_max_messages_resolver =
                slack_thread_context_max_messages_resolver(config_arc, &alias);
            let workspace_dir = one_shot_channel_workspace_dir(&config, "slack", &alias);
            let bot_token = sl.resolved_bot_token().with_context(|| {

View on GitHub (pinned to 88bb9c8533)

Solutions

Rebuild including the feature: `cargo build --features channel-discord`
Use a distribution image that ships the discord feature
Or drop `[channels.discord]` from config so the channel is never constructed

Example fix

# before
cargo build --no-default-features --features channel-telegram
# error: Discord channel requires the `channel-discord` feature

# after
cargo build --no-default-features --features "channel-telegram,channel-discord"

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

#[cfg(not(feature = "channel-discord"))]
if !config.channels.discord.is_empty() {
    log::warn!("[channels.discord.*] configured but `channel-discord` feature is off");
}

Type guard

fn channel_feature_enabled(channel_type: &str) -> bool {
    match channel_type {
        "discord" => cfg!(feature = "channel-discord"),
        "telegram" => cfg!(feature = "channel-telegram"),
        "slack" => cfg!(feature = "channel-slack"),
        "mattermost" => cfg!(feature = "channel-mattermost"),
        "signal" => cfg!(feature = "channel-signal"),
        "matrix" => cfg!(feature = "channel-matrix"),
        "whatsapp" | "whatsapp-web" => cfg!(feature = "whatsapp-web"),
        _ => false,
    }
}

Try / catch

Err(err) if err.to_string().contains("requires the `channel-discord` feature") => {
    // surface: rebuild with --features channel-discord or remove the discord config
}

Prevention

Enable every channel feature you configure, or strip config sections for disabled channels
Pin feature sets in CI builds and diff them against config on deploy
Prefer full-featured builds for developer machines to decouple config from build flags

When it happens

Trigger: A `[channels.discord.*]` alias is configured, or a one-shot send targets `discord.<alias>`, while the binary was compiled without `channel-discord`. Occurs at daemon channel construction and at build_channel_by_id for ad-hoc sends.

Common situations: Minimal docker/distro build with only some channels enabled; `--no-default-features` local build; config written on a full build then deployed to a slim build.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of zeroclaw-labs/zeroclaw@88bb9c8533 (2026-08-23). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f88235b524c0017e. Report an issue: GitHub.