Bot Aliases

What is an alias?

An alias is a short chat command that rewrites to a longer one before the bot dispatches it. You type !w 2 in chat; the bot sees that !w is an alias whose target is !inc wins {1}; the {1} gets replaced with 2; the bot now routes the rewritten command !inc wins 2 through its normal dispatch as if you'd typed it directly. The original chatter context (badges, reply threading) carries through both hops.

Aliases are per-user. They live on your account; another streamer creating !w on their channel doesn't affect yours. Aliases can target Overlabels built-ins (!inc, !set, !reset...) or your own Bot Commands.

What aliases can't do: target another alias (one hop only), point to themselves, or collide with a name already taken by a built-in or one of your commands. The dashboard and the chat admin command (!ol alias add) both validate against the same rules, so chat-side mistakes get caught with the same error message.

Creating aliases - dashboard or chat

Two surfaces, identical validation. Pick whichever fits the moment.

From the dashboard

Settings > Integrations > Manage aliases. The editor has quick-insert chips for the placeholders and a "Target a command" expander listing all built-ins and your commands. It also renders a live example showing how a sample call site resolves. Best path when you're building a complicated target with multiple placeholders and want to see the rewrite preview before saving.

From chat

Mod-or-broadcaster can run !ol alias add <name> <target> in chat. Replies thread normally through the bot's outbox.

@mod: !ol alias add w !inc wins {1}
@overlabels: added alias !w -> !inc wins {1}

Full !ol alias reference (add / edit / delete / options) lives on /help/bot/commands.

Placeholder syntax

The target template can contain placeholders that get replaced with the chatter's args at fire time. Three forms:

{1}, {2}, {3}, ... - positional placeholders, 1-indexed. {1} is the first whitespace-separated arg the chatter typed after the alias name, {2} the second, and so on. Missing args substitute to empty string (no error, no warning).

{*} - captures every arg past the highest-numbered positional placeholder, space-joined. With no positional placeholders, {*} is "every arg." With {1} {*}, {*} is "everything from arg 2 onward."

Anything else inside braces ({x}, {foo}, {}) is rejected at save time with a clear error pointing at the offending placeholder. The valid set is small on purpose - aliases are not a templating language.

Permission and the one-hop rule

Aliases ship with moderator as the default permission, but the dropdown lets you set any tier from everyone to broadcaster. The chosen permission gates who can fire the alias.

After the rewrite, the target command's own permission still applies. This is defence-in-depth: even if you accidentally open an alias to everyone, the target command's gate still runs against the original chatter's badges.

# An alias to !reset (broadcaster-only), opened to everyone
!ol alias add hardreset reset {1}
!ol alias options hardreset permission everyone

# A viewer fires it
@viewer: !hardreset wins

# Alias gate passes. Rewrite to !reset wins.
# !reset is broadcaster-only -> second-hop gate denies.
# Silent drop. Nothing happens.

One hop only

The rewritten command runs through normal dispatch once - it cannot land on another alias. The backend rejects alias->alias chains at save time with a clear error ("!w is itself an alias. Point this alias at the underlying command instead."), and the bot defensively drops any chain that would result from stale map data. This keeps the model simple to reason about and immune to loops.

Options - cooldown, permission, enabled, hidden

Each alias has four toggles that match the Bot Command vocabulary one-for-one. Editable from the dashboard or via !ol alias options <name> <option> <value> in chat.

Worked examples

A counter shortcut

Bind !w to incrementing your wins counter.

# Create
!ol alias add w !inc wins {1}

# Use - positive
@mod: !w
@mod: !w 2

# Use - negative. !inc wins -2 subtracts because !inc
# accepts a signed amount. Aliases pass the arg through verbatim.
@mod: !w -2

Capturing the whole rest of the message

{*} is for cases where you don't know how many args the chatter will type. Good for wrapping commands that accept a free-form string.

# Create
!ol alias add shout !set announcement {*}

# Use
@mod: !shout big raid incoming, thanks SomeStreamer!
# Rewrites to !set announcement big raid incoming, thanks SomeStreamer!

Two-positional with a fixed middle

Positionals can appear anywhere in the target template, with literal text in between.

# Create
!ol alias add gift !give {1} from {2}

# Use
@mod: !gift @alice @bob
# Rewrites to !give @alice from @bob

Aliasing a Bot Command

Aliases can target your own Bot Commands, not just built-ins. Useful when you want a short trigger for a long templated reply.

# Suppose !discord is one of your Bot Commands.
# Make !d an alias for it.
!ol alias add d !discord

# Use
@viewer: !d
# Rewrites to !discord, which the bot resolves as a custom command
# and speaks the template result.

Things to know

• One hop only. Aliases can't target other aliases. Self-loops are also rejected. Validation catches both at save time with explicit errors.
• Target permission still applies. After the rewrite, the target command's own permission gate runs against the original chatter. An alias can't escalate privilege.
• Cooldown is per-alias. The alias's cooldown_seconds gates how often the alias itself fires. If the target also has a cooldown (e.g. a Bot Command), that runs independently on the second hop.
• Missing args are silent. {1} with no arg substitutes empty string. The rewritten command keeps running - it just sees a shorter arg list. No error to chat.
• Negative numbers work. Args pass through verbatim. !w -2 with target !inc wins {1} expands to !inc wins -2, which subtracts because !inc accepts signed amounts.
• Hide from listings if it's internal. The hidden option keeps an alias out of the future !commands listing without disabling it. Useful for mod-only helpers you don't want chat asking about.

Quick reference

Chat commands
  !ol alias add <name> <target>
  !ol alias edit <name> <target>
  !ol alias delete <name>
  !ol alias options <name> <option> <value>
  !ol list alias

Placeholders
  {1}, {2}, {3}, ...   positional, 1-indexed
  {*}                  every arg past the highest positional

Options
  cooldown    0-86400 (seconds)
  permission  everyone | sub | vip | mod | broadcaster
  enabled     true | false
  hidden      true | false

Dashboard: /settings/bot/aliases

Related

• Bot Commands - custom !command chat replies templated against your controls, Twitch data, and the chatter who fired them.
• Bot Commands reference - every built-in chat command the @overlabels bot ships with, plus the full !ol chat-admin vocabulary.
• Lists - if you find yourself aliasing list operations, the underlying !list meta-command is documented end-to-end here.