Move from AWS Scheduled Lambda to Always-On Kubernetes Bot

[damienjburks]

✨ Overview

This issue tracks the migration of the-herald from an AWS-based, scheduled Lambda setup to an always-on bot hosted on-prem in Kubernetes.

The goal is to support dynamic, ad-hoc event reminders in Discord — something that cannot be done reliably or cost-effectively using AWS Lambdas due to the need for persistent background scheduling.

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🎯 Goals

• Migrate all event reminder functionality to a containerized service that runs persistently in the homelab.
• Replace AWS Lambda + EventBridge schedules with in-memory and/or persistent background jobs.
• Enable the-herald to dynamically accept new events (via config or future Discord commands) and post reminders automatically to Discord channels.

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🚚 Migration Scope

Component	AWS (Current)	K8s (Target)
Scheduler	EventBridge	APScheduler / discord.ext.tasks
Event Trigger	Lambda	Always-on container with async loop
Hosting	AWS Lambda	K8s in homelab
Event Storage (optional)	N/A (static schedule)	SQLite (initial), upgradeable to RDS-lite
Message Delivery	Discord Webhook or Bot Token	Same, but now handled from persistent bot

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🧱 Technical Tasks

• Create Dockerfile for the-herald bot
• Add APScheduler to manage background jobs for reminders
• Persist scheduled events using SQLite
• Mount persistent volume in K8s to retain database across restarts
• Implement /add_event logic (manual or via CLI/config)
• Configure Discord bot token + target channel ID via secret or env
• Deploy the-herald in K8s using helm or kustomize
• Add liveness/readiness probes for bot health in K8s
• Decommission related AWS resources (Lambda, EventBridge rules)

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💬 Future Enhancements (Post-Migration)

• Add slash command support to define new events in Discord
• Add /events listing command
• Add support for editing/canceling events
• Weekly digest of upcoming events
• Tag specific roles in reminders (e.g., @Event Squad)

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📝 Notes

This migration will allow the-herald to support a richer, more interactive experience for the DSB community. Running the bot as an always-on container in the homelab (within Kubernetes) also unlocks the ability to later centralize other services and bots under one infrastructure.