Complete your first moderation action
Perform one permitted action with a reason, relevant evidence, explicit confirmation, and a recoverable record.
- Audience
- moderator · team lead
- Availability
- private beta access
- Maturity
- alpha
Last reviewed
On this page
Outcome
You will complete one moderation action that your role is allowed to use and verify the resulting server-scoped record.
Set up the lesson
- The intended server and member confirmed.
- The Discord permission or moderation-team permission required for the action.
- A clear reason and any relevant source evidence.
Practice the workflow
Check the member first
Run /history user:@Maya or right-click the member and choose Apps → History. Confirm you are looking at the intended server and member.
Check: You know the visible prior warnings, mutes, jails, bans, cases, and notes before choosing an action.
Choose the lightest action
For a first documented rule breach, use a warning. For immediate disruption that must stop temporarily, use a mute. Use jail or ban only when the situation and server policy call for them.
Check: The response matches the behavior and your server's escalation policy.
Write a reason someone else can audit
State the behavior, relevant context, and prior instruction. Avoid a reason such as 'bad behavior' that tells the next moderator nothing.
Check: Another moderator can understand the action without asking you to reconstruct it.
Submit once and read the reply
Confirm member, duration, reason, and server, then submit. Read the ephemeral success or error before retrying.
Check: You know whether Discord changed the member and whether ModFlow recorded the result.
Verify the record
Run /history for the member again or open the returned case or action in the dashboard.
Check: The target, moderator, reason, duration, and outcome match what actually happened.
/history user:@Maya/warn user:@Maya reason:Repeated link spam after two reminders in #general/mute user:@Maya duration:30m reason:Continued link spam after Case #104 warning/undo user:@Maya reason:Wrong member selectedVerify your result
The permitted action completes once and produces a moderation record, or returns an error with an audit reference and recovery instruction.
Use a pre-action decision checklist
| Check | Question | Stop when |
|---|---|---|
| Server | Is this the intended server? | The name/ID is uncertain. |
| Target | Is this the correct member or numeric user ID? | Two users have similar names or the member cannot be resolved. |
| Current state | Is the member already muted, jailed, banned, or under review? | A duplicate or conflicting action may already exist. |
| Authority | Do my Discord and ModFlow permissions cover this action? | The action needs a senior reviewer or executor. |
| Policy | Is this the lightest effective response under server policy? | Proportionality or evidence is unclear. |
| Reason | Can another moderator understand the behavior and context? | The reason is only “bad behavior,” an insult, or a private claim with no trace. |
| Side effects | Have I reviewed duration, purge, role, channel, or notification effects? | A default or destructive option is not intentional. |
Write reasons that survive handoff
| Part | Include | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Behavior | Observable action, not a character judgment. | Posted the same invite link six times after removal. |
| Location/time | Channel, event, or incident reference when useful. | In #general during the July 17 community event. |
| Prior instruction | Relevant warning or staff direction. | After two reminders and Case #104 warning. |
| Policy basis | Short server-rule reference when your process uses one. | Rule 3: spam and unwanted promotion. |
| Decision | Why this action/duration is appropriate. | Thirty-minute timeout to stop the active disruption. |
Verify the action on two surfaces
Read the ephemeral response
Check target, action, duration, reason, case/reference, and any side-effect warning.
Check: The immediate request result is understood.
Check current Discord state
Inspect timeout, roles, jail channel, ban list, or member presence as appropriate.
Check: The external Discord effect matches the response.
Open the stored record
Use /history, Moderation Log, the action detail, or linked Case.
Check: The actor, target, occurrence time, and result are durable.
Check secondary effects
Confirm voice mute, purge, scheduled expiry, DM/log delivery, role restoration, or transcript status when relevant.
Check: Partial success is not mistaken for complete success.
| State | Meaning | Next step |
|---|---|---|
| Completed | The requested action and required record completed. | Handoff or close. |
| Completed with warning | Primary action completed; a secondary effect did not. | Assign the secondary recovery. |
| Denied | Permission, target, feature, or state check prevented the action. | Correct the named boundary; do not retry blindly. |
| Failed | The attempt began but did not reach the intended external result. | Inspect the record and error before a supported retry. |
| Uncertain | The interaction timed out or surfaces disagree. | Check Discord state and stored execution before repeating. |
Correct a mistake without erasing history
Stop additional writes
Do not submit the same action again while the first result is uncertain.
Check: The incident does not compound.
Identify what actually happened
Read the stored record and current Discord state.
Check: The team knows whether a warning, timeout, jail, or ban exists.
Use the matching supported reversal
Use /unmute, /unjail, /unban, or /undo only when it targets the active action intended.
Check: The correction is explicit and attributable.
Record the correction reason
State the wrong target, wrong duration, policy reversal, or appeal decision without deleting the original record.
Check: Reviewers can reconstruct both action and correction.
Escalate secondary damage
Preserve any message purge, notification, or visibility issue that cannot be reversed automatically.
Check: The handoff names each irreversible effect and the owner responsible for follow-up.
Avoid these mistakes
- Acting on the wrong member or server.
- Treating a recommendation as confirmation.
- Omitting a useful reason.
- Retrying a failed action without checking whether it already executed.