Anonymous Confessions: How They Work and What Is Stored

With the confessions system, members post anonymous, sequentially numbered messages in a channel, for example "🤫 Anonymous Confession #12". In Discord, nobody sees who wrote the message, not even a moderator. If a confession is abusive, you can still ban the author, without learning who it is.

For a short walkthrough, see the guide Setting up confessions.

Requirements

• Access to the module: You sign in to the dashboard with Discord and need the Manage Server permission (or access granted for this module).
• A confessions channel: Kage needs Send Messages and Embed Links there.
• To ban the author: Kage needs Ban Members, and its role must be above the author's.

The command

Any member can run /confession (German /beichte) with a text. The flow:

1. Kage checks whether the system is active and a channel is chosen. Otherwise it reports that it is not set up.
2. Kage assigns the next running number (each number only once) and posts an embed with the title "Anonymous Confession #N" and the text. No name and no avatar appear there.
3. The member receives a private confirmation with the number.

Only the member sees the reply to them. The command call itself does not appear publicly in Discord.

What Kage stores

The anonymity applies toward all members and moderators in Discord. Technically, though, Kage stores data so that abuse stays manageable:

• The confession log in the dashboard holds number, text, channel, message ID and time of every confession.
• In addition, the author ID is stored there internally. It is not shown in any dashboard call, only used server-side when you ban the author.
• Kage's operating log also contains an entry with the author ID. It serves as a safeguard in case of a legal violation.

Keep this in mind if you speak of "fully anonymous" in your server rules or privacy policy: it is anonymous toward members, but the author ID is stored internally.

The confession log and the ban

In the dashboard, the confession log shows all confessions so far, newest first, with Load more. It only shows confessions since the log was introduced. You never see the author.

If a confession is abusive, you click Ban author on it, optionally give a reason (it appears in Discord's audit log) and confirm with Ban permanently. Kage then bans the author permanently from the server without telling you who it is. Afterwards the confession shows "Author banned", and a second ban through the same confession is not possible.

Important: Discord's own server audit log still shows the name of the banned member. Kage has no influence on that. Anyone who may read the audit log in Discord can therefore recognize the author afterwards. Kage's own record in the dashboard stores only the confession number for this ban, never the author ID.

You delete the message itself by hand, like any other message in the channel.

Settings at a glance

Kage keeps the running number automatically. Confessions also appear in the module's Logs tab (without the author).

Checking the result

1. Test confession: Run /confession with a test text. In the channel, "Anonymous Confession #N" appears without a name, and you receive a private confirmation.
2. Confession log: The confession is in the dashboard with its number.
3. Numbering: The next confession carries the next number.

Troubleshooting

Kage reports that the confessions system is not set up

"/confession active" is off, or no channel is chosen and saved.

Kage reports that the confessions channel no longer exists

The channel was deleted. Choose a new one in the dashboard.

Kage lacks a permission

It needs Send Messages and Embed Links in the channel.

The ban fails

Kage lacks Ban Members, or its role is not above the author's. If the author has left the server in the meantime, the member may no longer be bannable.

Old confessions are missing from the log

The log has existed since its introduction. Earlier confessions are not in it.

Further reading

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