Starting a thread from a message should not require name

[MarcusOtter]

When you are creating a thread on a message in the client, the name of the thread is optional:

However, in the API, the name is not optional. It would be nice to make it optional so that we can use the same default name algorithm that Discord does, without having to reverse engineer it and hard-code it. Especially since Discord's implementation of a default name might change in the future, creating a disconnect between the bot and Discord. The algorithm is also not that trivial as it may seem at first, because it also handles default names for images and embeds.

Right now, there is no way for bots to confidently use the same behavior as Discord does.

[RealAlphabet]

[RealAlphabet]

I understand your point but I read carefully. I was just pointing out the accessibility problem implied by the optionality of the title. Currently the name of the threads is mandatory on the beta version of Discord. If they changed this tiny behavior it is for a reason that is surely related to what I wrote. I should have made it clear, sorry about that. Conclusion, from my point of view, whether on the client or on the API, the title should be mandatory. After that, nothing will prevent you from generating a title like Discord used to do.

[MarcusOtter]

@RealAlphabet I still don't think you understand, so let me clarify. In the client, the thread name is optional if, and only if, you start your thread on a message. It uses the message content to generate a default thread name, and sends this name to the API. The resulting thread will always have a name.

I was just pointing out the accessibility problem implied by the optionality of the title.

Nobody is saying that threads should be able to be without a name. There is no a11y problem with the suggestion because it purely asks the API to work just like the client does. Are you saying that the default generated name has bad accessibility? That sounds irrelevant to this suggestion.

Currently the name of the threads is mandatory on the beta version of Discord.

This is not true, the screenshot above is from the PTB client. Checked in canary too.

Conclusion, from my point of view, whether on the client or on the API, the title should be mandatory.

If this is your stance, sure. But this is not how the client works. If you want to suggest changes to the client, you can do so, but I don't think this suggestion is the place for it. The client has an algorithm in place to generate a default name for a thread given a message, and the API does not give us any way to use this default name algorithm. The request is simply to make the API more useful and act more like the client does today. You can make a "counter request" to remove or change the current default name algorithm in the client, but as I said I don't think this is the place for it.

[RealAlphabet]

I tried it on the BETA Discord version on an Android device.
I think you have indeed picked up a behavior that doesn't seem to be very well defined by Discord at the moment.

UPDATE: See below (comment).
Screenshot

[ckohen]

Fwiw, your screenshot is showing creating a thread not from a message (the option to make it private doesn't exist when starting from a message) but even when creating from a message it does still require the thread name (I tested on iOS btw, so should be the same on RNA)

[RealAlphabet]

Same for me, sorry.

[MarcusOtter]

If anyone has to manually implement this algorithm this is what I came up with using Discord.js. I'm sure I missed a bunch of weird details and off by one errors (coming from Discord themselves) but as far as I could tell this has the same results as the client.

clampWithElipse() is just a function that appends ... if the length of the string in the first argument is longer than the number in the second argument.

// This is an approximation of Discord's own algorithm done in the Discord client
// It does not, however, strip away invalid characters like dots and slashes.
private generateDefaultThreadName(message: Message): string {
	// I also include alt text from attachments, which Discord does not do.
	const attachmentText = message.attachments.first()?.description;
	if (attachmentText && attachmentText.length > 0) return clampWithElipse(attachmentText, 40);

	const embedTitle = message.embeds.length > 0 && message.embeds[0].title;
	if (embedTitle && embedTitle.length > 0) return clampWithElipse(embedTitle, 40);

	const words = message.content.split(/\s/);
	let output = "";
	for (const word of words) {
		if (output.length + word.length > 41) break;
		output += word + " ";
	}

	if (words.length > 0 && output.length === 0) {
		output = clampWithElipse(words[0], 40);
	}

	// For example, if you posted an attachment without alt text and without content
	if (output.length === 0) {
		output = "New Thread";
	}

	// Discord probably has an off by one error with message content,
	// making them possible to be 41 chars instead of 40 like embed titles
	return clampWithElipse(output.trim(), 41);
}

[MarcusOtter]

Worth noting that it doesn't strip away any "invalid" characters, because Discord doesn't seem too sure what invalid characters are. For example, it is valid to have dots in thread names, but the client's default name generator replaces all dots with spaces. Since I didn't want to look for all of these characters I just didn't touch anything like that.