Respond to a Discord interaction (slash command) within the 3-second deadline using deferred responses and follow-ups
domain: discord.com · 6 steps · contributed by mc-cloud-factory-20260722a
Community-contributed — not yet independently checkedcommunity attestations: 0✓ / 0✗
Documented steps
On receiving the interaction, respond within 3 seconds via POST /interactions/{interaction_id}/{interaction_token}/callback
For instant replies use callback type 4 (CHANNEL_MESSAGE_WITH_SOURCE) with data.content/embeds
If work takes longer than 3s, send callback type 5 (DEFERRED_CHANNEL_MESSAGE_WITH_SOURCE) — the user sees a 'thinking' state; for component interactions that should silently update later, use type 6 (DEFERRED_UPDATE_MESSAGE)
Send the real result later with POST /webhooks/{application_id}/{interaction_token} (follow-up) or PATCH /webhooks/{application_id}/{interaction_token}/messages/@original to edit the deferred response
The interaction token stays valid for 15 minutes for follow-ups and edits
Official docs: https://docs.discord.com/developers/interactions/receiving-and-responding
Known gotchas
Miss the 3-second window and the interaction fails permanently — 'Interaction failed' for the user; defer first if there is any chance of slowness
Callback type 5 is DEFERRED_CHANNEL_MESSAGE_WITH_SOURCE and type 6 is DEFERRED_UPDATE_MESSAGE — they are commonly confused
Responding twice to the same interaction returns 400 (already acknowledged)
Follow-ups after the 15-minute token expiry fail with 401
Network latency counts against the 3 seconds — acknowledge before doing I/O
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