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Patrol Watch

Detects when a squad has formed in an LFG voice channel and posts an alert to a designated channel — pulling clan members in from elsewhere when a real game is starting.

Trigger logic

A "patrol" is detected when:

  • ≥ MinSquadSize (default 3) clan members are in the same VC
  • The VC is not in ExcludedCategoryIds (e.g. EVENTS) or ExcludedChannelIds
  • A majority of those members have a Discord activity matching one of MatchedGames (by activity name substring)

When this state holds for DebounceSeconds (default 12) — i.e. the squad isn't churning rapidly — Patrol Watch posts an embed to LfgChannelId.

When the squad falls below MinSquadSize and stays there for StoodDownLingerSeconds (default 60), the alert is marked stood down (the original embed is updated rather than replaced).

stateDiagram-v2
    [*] --> Idle
    Idle --> Forming : VC reaches MinSquadSize<br/>with matching activity
    Forming --> Active : DebounceSeconds elapsed,<br/>still ≥ MinSquadSize<br/>→ post embed
    Active --> StandingDown : drops below MinSquadSize
    StandingDown --> Active : recovers within<br/>StoodDownLingerSeconds
    StandingDown --> StoodDown : linger elapsed<br/>→ update embed
    StoodDown --> [*]
    Active --> [*] : VC channel deleted

Components

File Role
PatrolWatchService.cs Background service. Maintains state per VC, evaluates transitions on voice/presence events.
PatrolWatchOptions.cs Strongly-typed config bound from the PatrolWatch section.
PatrolWatchCommandHandler.cs /patrol slash commands.
PatrolWatchOptOut.cs Per-user opt-out persisted to DB.
PatrolWatchServiceCollectionExtensions.cs DI wiring.

Game matching

Each entry in MatchedGames declares:

json { "DisplayName": "Battlefield 6", "ActivitySubstrings": ["Battlefield 6", "Battlefield™ 6"], "AccentColor": "#C9A647", "ThumbnailUrl": "https://..." }

A user's Discord rich-presence activity name is checked against each substring (case-insensitive, contains-match). The first matching MatchedGames entry wins and supplies the embed's accent color and thumbnail.

Why substrings

Game launchers post slightly different activity names — the trademarked symbol (™) appears or doesn't depending on whether the user is on Steam, EA App, console, etc. Matching multiple substrings per game catches all the variants.

Embed

The alert posts an embed with:

  • Game thumbnail and accent color
  • VC name (clickable jump link)
  • Squad members (display names)
  • Game being played
  • Squad size

When the squad stands down, the same embed is edited in place to reflect the final state. Discord notifies anyone with the message route bookmarked.

Opt-out

Members can run /patrol off to be excluded from squad detection — they won't be counted toward MinSquadSize and won't be named in the embed. /patrol on re-enables. /patrol info shows current state.

Opt-outs are per-user and persisted in PatrolWatchOptOut.

Exclusions

ExcludedCategoryIds and ExcludedChannelIds keep specific channels off the alert path. The default config excludes the EVENTS category (events have their own announcements) and a handful of role/admin channels.

Tuning notes

DebounceSeconds = 12 is short enough to feel responsive but long enough to absorb the typical "everyone joins within 10 seconds of a notification" churn.

StoodDownLingerSeconds = 60 prevents brief drops (one person reconnecting) from posting "stood down" prematurely.

If alerts feel spammy in practice, raising MinSquadSize to 4 is the gentlest fix. Raising DebounceSeconds is also reasonable but makes alerts feel laggy.

Common operational questions

Squad formed but no alert.
  1. Were enough members with matching activity in the VC? Bot watches activity, not just presence.
  2. Is the channel or its category in the excluded lists?
  3. Did anyone in the squad opt out via /patrol off?
  4. Was the squad stable for ≥ DebounceSeconds?
Alert says wrong game.

Two possibilities. The first matching entry in MatchedGames wins, so a more specific game listed below a broader one will lose. Reorder MatchedGames so specific entries come first. Or, the user's activity substring isn't yet listed — add it.

Alert never says 'stood down'.

The standdown only fires once the squad drops below MinSquadSize and stays there for StoodDownLingerSeconds. If the channel is deleted (temporary VC) before that, the alert is left as-is. This is intentional — temporary VCs that vanish probably mean the squad moved elsewhere.