Gmail Bridge

A Node.js support-ticket bridge that connects Gmail, Discord, Zammad, and MongoDB into a unified helpdesk system. Incoming support emails are automatically turned into Discord ticket channels, staff replies in Discord are relayed back to the sender via Gmail, and every interaction is synced to Zammad and persisted in MongoDB.

Built for game-server hosting support (Indifferent Broccoli), with built-in game detection, configurable automation, and a rich set of Discord slash commands.

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Table of Contents

• Features
• Architecture
• Prerequisites
• Installation
• Configuration
  • Discord
  • Google OAuth2 / Gmail
  • Zammad
  • MongoDB
  • Branding & Messages
  • Automation
  • Ticket Limits & Permissions
  • Priority Levels
  • Claiming Options
  • Button & Embed Customization
• Running the Bot
• Discord Commands
• Tag System
• Panel System
• Project Structure
• Database Schema
• API Integrations
• Healthcheck
• Troubleshooting
• License

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Features

Email-to-Discord Ticketing

• Polls Gmail every 30 seconds for unread emails in the primary inbox
• Creates a dedicated Discord channel per ticket (ticket-{sender}-{number})
• Detects the game from the email subject/body and tags the ticket accordingly
• Sends a rich embed with ticket metadata and action buttons (Claim, Close)

Discord-to-Email Replies

• Staff messages in a ticket channel are forwarded to the original sender via Gmail
• Replies are threaded in Gmail so the sender sees a continuous conversation
• Each reply is also recorded as an article in Zammad

Zammad Integration

• Automatically creates Zammad tickets with game info, priority, and group assignment
• Syncs user data (email, Discord ID) between MongoDB and Zammad
• Closes Zammad tickets when Discord tickets are resolved

Ticket Management

• Claim / Unclaim -- Staff can claim tickets; optional auto-unclaim after inactivity
• Priority Levels -- Low, Normal, High with color-coded embeds
• Escalation -- Move urgent tickets to a dedicated escalation category
• Transfer / Move -- Reassign tickets between staff or categories
• Close Confirmation -- Prevents accidental closes with a confirmation prompt
• Transcripts -- Full conversation transcripts posted to a dedicated channel on close
• Auto-Close -- Automatically close tickets after configurable hours of inactivity
• Inactivity Reminders -- Notify the channel when a ticket goes stale

Panel System

• Deploy a "Open Ticket" button panel to any channel with /panel
• Users click the button, fill out a modal form, and a ticket is created

Tag System (Saved Responses)

• Set ticket category with /tag (dropdown); create reusable response templates with /response create
• Dynamic template variables: {ticket.user}, {staff.name}, {server.name}, {date}, etc.
• Autocomplete-enabled /tag command for instant use

Account Info Lookup

• /accountinfo searches website users by email or Discord ID
• Results show linked servers, game details, and user metadata

Analytics & Logging

• In-memory tracking of command usage, button clicks, and errors
• /stats shows uptime, interaction counts, and error rate
• Configurable logging channel for ticket lifecycle events

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Architecture

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                          GMAIL BRIDGE                              │
├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                    │
│  ┌───────────┐      ┌────────────────┐      ┌──────────────────┐  │
│  │  Gmail     │─────>│  gmail-poll.js  │─────>│  Discord         │  │
│  │  (inbox)   │      │  (every 30s)   │      │  (ticket channel)│  │
│  └───────────┘      └───────┬────────┘      └───────▲──────────┘  │
│                              │                       │             │
│                              v                       │             │
│  ┌───────────┐      ┌────────────────┐      ┌──────────────────┐  │
│  │  Zammad    │<────>│  services/      │<────>│  handlers/       │  │
│  │  (tickets) │      │  gmail.js       │      │  messages.js     │  │
│  └───────────┘      │  zammad.js      │      │  buttons.js      │  │
│                      │  tickets.js     │      │  commands.js     │  │
│                      └───────┬────────┘      └──────────────────┘  │
│                              │                                     │
│                              v                                     │
│                      ┌────────────────┐      ┌──────────────────┐  │
│                      │  MongoDB        │      │  Express         │  │
│                      │  (Mongoose)     │      │  (healthcheck)   │  │
│                      └────────────────┘      └──────────────────┘  │
│                                                                    │
│  Events:                                                           │
│    ready            → Connect DB, register commands, start jobs    │
│    interactionCreate → Buttons, slash commands, modals, menus      │
│    messageCreate     → Discord replies → Gmail + Zammad            │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Ticket lifecycle:

1. Inbound email -- Gmail poll detects a new unread message, creates a Discord channel, a Zammad ticket, and a MongoDB record.
2. Staff reply -- A message in the Discord ticket channel is forwarded to the sender via Gmail and added as an article in Zammad.
3. Close -- A transcript is generated, a closure email is sent, the Zammad ticket is closed, and the Discord channel is deleted.

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Prerequisites

Requirement	Version
Node.js	>= 18.x
npm	>= 9.x
MongoDB	>= 5.x (Atlas or self-hosted)
Zammad	>= 6.x

You will also need:

• A Discord bot with the following intents enabled: Guilds, Guild Messages, Message Content, Guild Members
• A Google Cloud project with the Gmail API enabled and OAuth2 credentials (Client ID, Client Secret, Refresh Token)
• A Zammad instance accessible via URL with an API token

---

Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone <your-repo-url>
cd gmail-bridge

# Install dependencies
npm install

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Configuration

Create a .env file in the project root. All configuration is loaded via environment variables.

Important: After changing .env, you must restart the process (npm start / node zammad-discord.js) for new values to take effect. If you add or change slash commands (e.g. /escalate, /email-routing, /panel options), restart the bot so it can re-register commands with Discord; otherwise new or updated commands may not appear.

Discord

Variable	Required	Description
DISCORD_TOKEN	Yes	Bot token from the Discord Developer Portal
DISCORD_GUILD_ID	Yes	Server (guild) ID where the bot operates
DISCORD_APPLICATION_ID	Yes	Application ID for registering slash commands
TICKET_CATEGORY_ID	Yes	Channel category ID where email ticket channels are created
EMAIL_TICKET_OVERFLOW_CATEGORY_IDS	No	Comma-separated category IDs; used when main email category has 50 channels
DISCORD_TICKET_CATEGORY_ID	No	Category for Discord panel tickets (defaults to TICKET_CATEGORY_ID)
DISCORD_TICKET_OVERFLOW_CATEGORY_IDS	No	Comma-separated category IDs; used when main Discord ticket category has 50 channels
ROLE_ID_TO_PING	Yes	Role ID to ping when a new ticket arrives
TRANSCRIPT_CHANNEL_ID	No	Channel ID for posting ticket transcripts
LOGGING_CHANNEL_ID	No	Channel ID for lifecycle log messages
DEBUGGING_CHANNEL_ID	No	Channel ID for error logs (escalate, deescalate, email-routing, Gmail poll, etc.)
BACKUP_EXPORT_CHANNEL_ID	No	Channel ID where /backup and /export post ticket dump files
ACCOUNT_INFO_CHANNEL_ID	No	Channel ID for account info lookups
EMAIL_ESCALATED_CATEGORY_ID	No	Category ID for escalated email tickets
ESCALATION_MESSAGE	No	Message sent when a ticket is escalated

Google OAuth2 / Gmail

Variable	Required	Description
GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID	Yes	OAuth2 Client ID from Google Cloud Console
GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET	Yes	OAuth2 Client Secret
REFRESH_TOKEN	Yes	OAuth2 Refresh Token for the support inbox
MY_EMAIL	Yes	The support email address (e.g. support@example.com)

Zammad

Variable	Required	Description
ZAMMAD_URL	Yes	Base URL of your Zammad instance
ZAMMAD_TOKEN	Yes	Zammad API token
ZAMMAD_EMAIL_GROUP	No	Zammad group for email-sourced tickets (default: Email Users)
ZAMMAD_DISCORD_GROUP	No	Zammad group for Discord-sourced tickets (default: Discord Users)

Tip: If your Zammad instance is behind ngrok, set NGROK_URL and use ZAMMAD_URL=${NGROK_URL} -- dotenv-expand will resolve it.

MongoDB

Variable	Required	Description
MONGODB_URI	Yes	MongoDB connection string (e.g. mongodb+srv://user:pass@cluster/dbname)

Branding & Messages

Variable	Default	Description
SUPPORT_NAME	--	Display name for the support system
LOGO_URL	--	URL to the logo shown in embeds
EMAIL_SIGNATURE	--	HTML signature appended to outgoing emails (use \n for line breaks)
TICKET_CLOSE_SUBJECT_PREFIX	[Resolved]	Prefix added to the subject of closure emails
TICKET_CLOSE_MESSAGE	(see config.js)	Body of the ticket closure email
TICKET_CLOSE_SIGNATURE	(see config.js)	Signature on the closure email
TICKET_WELCOME_MESSAGE	(see config.js)	Message posted when a ticket channel is created
TICKET_CLAIMED_MESSAGE	(see config.js)	Message posted when a ticket is claimed (supports {staff_name})
TICKET_UNCLAIMED_MESSAGE	(see config.js)	Message posted when a ticket is unclaimed

Automation

Variable	Default	Description
AUTO_CLOSE_ENABLED	false	Enable automatic ticket closure after inactivity
AUTO_CLOSE_AFTER_HOURS	72	Hours of inactivity before auto-close triggers
AUTO_CLOSE_MESSAGE	(see config.js)	Message sent when a ticket is auto-closed
REMINDER_ENABLED	false	Enable inactivity reminder messages
REMINDER_AFTER_HOURS	24	Hours of inactivity before a reminder is sent
REMINDER_MESSAGE	(see config.js)	Reminder message (supports {hours} variable)

Ticket Limits & Permissions

Variable	Default	Description
GLOBAL_TICKET_LIMIT	5	Maximum concurrent open tickets globally
TICKET_LIMIT_PER_CATEGORY	3	Maximum tickets per category
RATE_LIMIT_TICKETS_PER_USER	0	Max tickets a user can create per window (0 = disabled)
RATE_LIMIT_WINDOW_MINUTES	60	Window in minutes for per-user ticket creation limit
BLACKLISTED_ROLES	--	Comma-separated role IDs that cannot open tickets
ADDITIONAL_STAFF_ROLES	--	Comma-separated role IDs with staff-level permissions

Priority Levels

Variable	Default	Description
PRIORITY_ENABLED	false	Enable the priority system
DEFAULT_PRIORITY	normal	Default priority for new tickets
PRIORITY_HIGH_EMOJI	🔴	Emoji for high-priority tickets
PRIORITY_MEDIUM_EMOJI	🟡	Emoji for normal/medium-priority tickets (default level is normal)
PRIORITY_LOW_EMOJI	🟢	Emoji for low-priority tickets

Claiming Options

Variable	Default	Description
AUTO_UNCLAIM_ENABLED	false	Automatically unclaim tickets after inactivity
AUTO_UNCLAIM_AFTER_HOURS	24	Hours before auto-unclaim triggers
ALLOW_CLAIM_OVERWRITE	false	Allow claiming an already-claimed ticket
CLAIM_TIMEOUT_ENABLED	false	Enable claim timeout
CLAIM_TIMEOUT_HOURS	48	Hours before a claim times out

Channel rename rate limit

Ticket channels are renamed automatically when you claim, unclaim, escalate, or deescalate. Discord’s API allows 2 channel renames per 10 minutes per channel. The bot enforces this: if the limit is reached, the rename is skipped and the channel gets:

Channel renamed too quickly. Try again <t:unlock_timestamp:R>.

The timestamp is a Discord relative-time marker (e.g. “in 8 minutes”). After the window resets, the next claim/unclaim/escalate/deescalate can rename again.

Button & Embed Customization

Variable	Default	Description
BUTTON_LABEL_CLOSE	Close Ticket	Label for the close button
BUTTON_LABEL_CLAIM	Claim	Label for the claim button
BUTTON_LABEL_UNCLAIM	Unclaim	Label for the unclaim button
BUTTON_EMOJI_CLOSE	🔒	Emoji on the close button
BUTTON_EMOJI_CLAIM	📌	Emoji on the claim button
BUTTON_EMOJI_UNCLAIM	🔓	Emoji on the unclaim button
EMBED_COLOR_OPEN	0x00FF00	Embed color for open tickets
EMBED_COLOR_CLOSED	0xFF0000	Embed color for closed tickets
EMBED_COLOR_CLAIMED	0xFFFF00	Embed color for claimed tickets
EMBED_COLOR_ESCALATED	0xFF6600	Embed color for escalated tickets
EMBED_COLOR_INFO	0x1e2124	Embed color for info messages (and embeds next to ticket buttons)

Game List

Set GAME_LIST to a comma-separated list of game names. The bot uses this list for auto-detection from email subjects/bodies:

GAME_LIST=Project Zomboid, Satisfactory, Palworld, Minecraft, Valheim, ...

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Running the Bot

# Start the bot
npm start

# Or directly
node zammad-discord.js

On startup the bot will:

1. Validate required environment variables
2. Connect to MongoDB (with automatic reconnection)
3. Register all slash commands to the configured guild
4. Begin polling Gmail every 30 seconds
5. Start background jobs (auto-close, reminders, auto-unclaim)
6. Launch an Express healthcheck server

Note: Changing .env requires restarting the bot. Slash commands are registered on startup; if commands don’t update, run npm run register (or restart) to re-register.

Optional: Create Zammad Groups

If your Zammad instance doesn't already have the required groups:

npm run create-zammad-objects

This creates the "Email Users" and "Discord Users" groups and lists available priorities and states.

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Discord Commands

Ticket Management

Command	Description
/claim	Claim the current ticket
/unclaim	Release your claim on the current ticket
/close	Close the current ticket (with confirmation)
/force-close	Close the current ticket without confirmation
/priority <level>	Set ticket priority (low, normal, medium, high). Posts: upgraded to [Emoji][Level][Emoji], downgraded to..., or returned to Normal. Email sent when set to high.
/topic <text>	Set the ticket channel topic
/escalate [reason] [tier]	Escalate the ticket to tier 2 or 3 (optional tier; buttons also available)
/deescalate	De-escalate the ticket one step

User & Channel Management

Command	Description
/add <user>	Add a user to the current ticket channel
/remove <user>	Remove a user from the current ticket channel
/transfer <staff>	Transfer the ticket to another staff member
/move <category>	Move the ticket to a different category

Tags & Saved Responses

Command	Description
/tag	Set ticket category (dropdown: ⬇️ Server Down, ⏳ Stuck Restarting, 📵 Can't Connect, 🐌 Server Lag, 💳 Billing, 💸 Refund Request, 🔧 Mod Help, 💾 Backup Restore, 🌍 World / Save, ⚙️ Server Config). Posts: Your ticket has been categorized as [Emoji][Tag][Emoji].
/response send <name>	Send a saved response (autocomplete-enabled)
/response create <name> <content>	Create a new saved response
/response edit <name> <content>	Edit an existing saved response
/response delete <name>	Delete a saved response
/response list	List all saved responses

Utilities

Command	Description
/panel [channel] [type] [title] [description]	Deploy a ticket-creation panel (type: thread, category, or both)
/email-routing	Switch where new email tickets are created (threads or category channels)
/accountinfo <email or discord>	Look up a user's account information
/search <query>	Search tickets
/stats	Show bot statistics and analytics
/backup	Export full ticket list to a .txt file in the backup/export channel
/export [status] [limit]	Export tickets (optional filter and limit) to a .txt file in the backup/export channel
/help	Display the command reference

Context Menus

Menu	Description
Create Ticket From Message	Right-click a message to create a ticket from it

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Tag & Response System

Ticket category (/tag)

Use /tag in a ticket channel and pick a category from the dropdown (e.g. ⬇️ Server Down, 💳 Billing, 🔧 Mod Help). The bot posts: Your ticket has been categorized as [Emoji][Tag][Emoji]. Channel name is not changed.

Saved response tags (/response)

Saved responses are reusable templates stored in MongoDB. Use /response send, /response create, etc. They support dynamic variables that are replaced at send time:

Variable	Resolves To
{ticket.user}	Ticket sender's name
{ticket.email}	Ticket sender's email
{ticket.number}	Ticket number
{ticket.subject}	Ticket subject line
{staff.name}	Current staff member's display name
{staff.mention}	Current staff member's mention
{server.name}	Discord server name
{date}	Current date
{time}	Current time

Example:

/response create name:greeting content:Hi {ticket.user}! Thanks for reaching out about "{ticket.subject}". I'm {staff.name} and I'll be helping you today.

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Panel System

The panel system allows users to create tickets directly from Discord without sending an email.

1. Deploy a panel: /panel #support title:Need Help? description:Click below to open a ticket!
2. Users click the Open Ticket button
3. A modal form appears asking for subject, description, and priority
4. On submission, a ticket channel is created with all the same features as email tickets

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Project Structure

gmail-bridge/
├── zammad-discord.js          # Entry point - initializes bot, events, and jobs
├── config.js                  # Environment variable loading and CONFIG export
├── db-connection.js           # MongoDB connection with reconnect logic
├── models.js                  # Mongoose schemas (Ticket, User, Tag, etc.)
├── utils.js                   # Text processing, game detection, template vars
├── gmail-poll.js              # Gmail polling loop and ticket creation
├── game-options.json          # Game configuration data
│
├── commands/
│   └── register.js            # Slash command and context menu registration
│
├── handlers/
│   ├── accountinfo.js         # /accountinfo command and button handler
│   ├── analytics.js           # In-memory analytics and error tracking
│   ├── buttons.js             # Button interactions (claim, close, priority, etc.)
│   ├── commands.js            # All slash command handlers
│   └── messages.js            # Discord → Gmail reply forwarding
│
├── services/
│   ├── gmail.js               # Gmail OAuth2, send replies, closure emails
│   ├── tickets.js             # Ticket CRUD, auto-close, reminders, auto-unclaim
│   └── zammad.js              # Zammad API client (tickets, users, articles)
│
├── scripts/
│   └── create-zammad-objects.js  # Utility to create Zammad groups
│
├── docs/                      # Additional documentation
├── .env                       # Environment variables (not committed)
├── package.json
└── package-lock.json

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Database Schema

The bot uses MongoDB via Mongoose. Key collections:

Collection	Purpose
Ticket	Core ticket data: Gmail thread ID, Discord channel ID, Zammad ticket ID, sender info, status, priority, claimed-by, timestamps
TicketCounter	Auto-incrementing ticket numbers per sender
Transcript	Transcript message references for closed tickets
Tag	Saved response templates (name, content, creator)
CloseRequest	Tracks pending close confirmations
User	Website user accounts (email, Discord ID, linked servers)
Host	Game server/host metadata and metrics
DashboardMetrics	Aggregated dashboard statistics
ErrorLog	Persisted error records

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API Integrations

Gmail API

• Authentication: OAuth2 with Client ID, Client Secret, and Refresh Token
• Polling: users.messages.list for unread messages in the primary inbox
• Reading: users.messages.get to fetch full message content
• Sending: users.messages.send for threaded replies and closure emails

Discord API (discord.js v14)

• Intents: Guilds, GuildMessages, MessageContent, GuildMembers
• Interactions: Slash commands, buttons, modals, context menus, autocomplete
• Channels: Create/delete ticket channels, manage permissions per user

Zammad API

• Authentication: Token-based via Authorization: Token token=...
• Tickets: Create (POST /api/v1/tickets), update/close (PATCH /api/v1/tickets/:id)
• Articles: Add notes and replies (POST /api/v1/ticket_articles)
• Users: Search (GET /api/v1/users/search), create (POST /api/v1/users), update (PATCH /api/v1/users/:id)

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Healthcheck

An Express server runs on the port defined by DISCORD_ONLY_PORT (default: 5000).

GET /  →  "Active"

Use this endpoint for uptime monitoring or container health probes.

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Troubleshooting

Slash commands not appearing in Discord

• Commands are registered per-guild on startup. Wait up to one hour for Discord to propagate.
• Verify DISCORD_APPLICATION_ID and DISCORD_GUILD_ID are correct.
• Restart the bot.

Gmail polling not working

• Ensure GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID, GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET, and REFRESH_TOKEN are set correctly.
• The refresh token may have expired -- regenerate it via the Google OAuth2 Playground.
• Check that the Gmail API is enabled in your Google Cloud Console project.

MongoDB connection failures

• Verify MONGODB_URI is correct and the database is accessible.
• If using MongoDB Atlas, ensure your IP is whitelisted.
• The bot has automatic reconnection -- check logs for retry attempts.

Zammad API errors

• Confirm ZAMMAD_URL is reachable (if using ngrok, ensure the tunnel is active).
• Verify the ZAMMAD_TOKEN has sufficient permissions.
• Run npm run create-zammad-objects to ensure required groups exist.

Tickets not creating

• Check that TICKET_CATEGORY_ID points to a valid Discord category.
• Ensure the bot has Manage Channels and View Channel permissions in that category.
• Review the logging channel for error messages.

Modal not appearing when clicking "Open Ticket"

• Verify the bot has proper guild permissions.
• Try in a different channel.
• Restart the bot.

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License

ISC