Read here how "self.bot" works in a discord.py cog. For a tag called `?tag self.bot` on the dpy server.

self_bot.md

What is self.bot and how does it work?

TLDR: it's a custom attribute which you define.

self = class instance
bot = attribute that's usually assigned to the bot instance given in an extension's setup function.

Basically:

class MyCog(Cog):
    # this function is called when we do MyCog()
    # our function takes 2 parameters but self is passed by Python so it has 1 in this case
    # it takes one argument called "bot"
    # just because it's called "bot" it doesn't mean that it's the actual bot instance
    def __init__(self, bot):
        # assign the passed value to the "bot" parameter to a matching variable called "bot"
        bot = bot
        # bot = bot?? That doesn't look right?
        # well it indeed doesn't make sense because "bot" is already defined.. -
        # - but we want to access it OUTSIDE this function.. that's what we can use "self" for
        # since "self" is passed to all functions INSIDE this class, so let's assign it
        self.bot = bot
        # NOW we can access it OUTSIDE this function and INSIDE the class as "self.bot"

    # let's define a function as an example that prints the attribute
    # this function doesn't take any arguments
    def print_bot(self):
        print(self.bot)


# let's define a setup function which is required for an extension
async def setup(bot):
    # notice how this function has 1 parameter called "bot"
    # that's because the library calls this function with one argument which is our bot instance
    # library: await setup(bot)
    # now we can do anything we want inside the function like call "bot".add_cog with the class instance
    # let's assign the class instance to a variable called "cog" and pass the "bot" as required in the "__init__"
    cog = MyCog(bot)
    # notice how we passed the bot to the class like (bot)
    # let's call our custom print_bot function and see what it prints
    cog.print_bot()
    # should've printed something like:
    # <object at 0x........>
    # but what if we pass something else to MyCog like "hello":
    cog = MyCog("hello")
    # and call the method again:
    cog.print_bot()
    # definitely printed:
    # hello
    
    ... # call add_cog like normal
    

Hope you know what self.bot is and how it works now.

Does it have to be called bot?

No, of course not.

at first I thought you meant discord self bots (the tos breaking ones) and was suprised because I didnt expect that from you lol