Action Rows

Overview

An action row is the legacy Discord container for interactive components. In discord.go, components.NewActionRowBuilder accepts buttons and select menus for messages, and text inputs for modals. The row itself is sent as a components.Component inside InteractionCallbackData.Components or messages.MessageSend.Components.

Tutorial: Compose A Row

1. Build each child component.
2. Add the children to one ActionRowBuilder.
3. Put the built row in the response's Components slice.
4. Register routes whose IDs exactly match custom-ID children.
5. Update or disable the row after an interaction when the workflow is done.

Legacy action rows have Discord composition limits. Keep interactive controls in rows, and do not use an action row as a substitute for a Components V2 container. See Display Components for V2 layouts.

Complete Runnable Example

Copy this to examples/action-rows/main.go, set DISCORD_TOKEN, and run it. Invoke /row and press either button.

package main

import (
	"log"
	"os"

	"github.com/discord-go/discord.go/bot"
	"github.com/discord-go/discord.go/components"
	"github.com/discord-go/discord.go/intents"
	"github.com/discord-go/discord.go/interactions"
)

func main() {
	token := os.Getenv("DISCORD_TOKEN")
	if token == "" {
		log.Fatal("DISCORD_TOKEN is required")
	}

	router := bot.NewRouter()
	router.Command("row", "Show two buttons in one action row", func(ctx *bot.InteractionContext) {
		approve := components.NewButtonBuilder().
			SetCustomID("row:approve").
			SetLabel("Approve").
			SetStyle(components.ButtonStyleSuccess).
			Build()
		cancel := components.NewButtonBuilder().
			SetCustomID("row:cancel").
			SetLabel("Cancel").
			SetStyle(components.ButtonStyleDanger).
			Build()
		row := components.NewActionRowBuilder().AddComponents(approve, cancel).Build()
		if err := ctx.ReplyComplex(&interactions.InteractionCallbackData{
			Content:    "Choose one action.",
			Components: []components.Component{row},
		}); err != nil {
			log.Printf("send action row: %v", err)
		}
	})

	router.Button("row:approve", func(ctx *bot.InteractionContext) {
		if err := ctx.UpdateContent("Approved."); err != nil {
			log.Printf("approve response: %v", err)
		}
	})
	router.Button("row:cancel", func(ctx *bot.InteractionContext) {
		if err := ctx.UpdateContent("Cancelled."); err != nil {
			log.Printf("cancel response: %v", err)
		}
	})

	b := bot.New(token, bot.WithIntents(intents.Guilds), bot.WithRouter(router))
	if err := b.Run(); err != nil {
		log.Fatal(err)
	}
}

Explanation

ActionRow implements components.Component, so the built value can be placed directly into the callback. A row can contain multiple buttons, but each custom-ID button must have a unique ID within the message. A link button uses SetURL and ButtonStyleLink and does not produce a routed interaction.

For a modal, put each TextInput in its own action row before passing the rows to NewModalBuilder. The same row type is used, but the parent payload is a modal callback rather than a message callback.

Basic Usage

row := components.NewActionRowBuilder().AddComponents(
	components.NewButtonBuilder().
		SetCustomID("refresh").
		SetLabel("Refresh").
		SetStyle(components.ButtonStyleSecondary).
		Build(),
).Build()

Use []components.Component{row} in a response. Do not pass the builder pointer itself; call Build so the payload contains the concrete component.

Common Mistakes

Wrong:

row := components.NewActionRowBuilder().AddComponents(
	components.NewButtonBuilder().SetLabel("Save").Build(),
).Build()

The button has no CustomID and is not a link, so it cannot generate a useful application interaction. Correct it with either SetCustomID or SetURL:

button := components.NewButtonBuilder().
	SetCustomID("save").
	SetLabel("Save").
	SetStyle(components.ButtonStylePrimary).
	Build()
row := components.NewActionRowBuilder().AddComponents(button).Build()

Another common error is to put a V2 display component into an old row without checking Discord's component composition rules. Use a V2 Container for display-only layout and reserve action rows for supported interactive controls.

Patterns And Best Practices

• Keep IDs namespaced, such as settings:save and settings:cancel.
• Use ButtonPrefix only when the suffix is parsed and authorized.
• Build a fresh row when disabling controls after completion.
• Use DeferUpdate before slow work triggered by a component.
• Do not rely on a disabled visual state for authorization; recheck ownership.

Expected Result

/row sends two buttons in one action row. Each route edits the original message, proving that the row is only a layout container and the child custom IDs determine dispatch.

Related Pages

• Buttons
• Select Menus
• Modals
• Interactions