Do I need a VPS?
No. Standard mode runs on ordinary shared hosting: messages from the forum reach Discord in about a second, and messages from Discord reach the page in about five seconds. A VPS is only needed for the optional Instant companion, which brings that second figure down to about half a second.
Do I need Pusher or Soketi?
No. With no relay, open pages poll. A relay gives pages a live signal and reduces requests. Tandem works with Pusher, Soketi or any compatible server, and can reuse your Messenger settings. If the relay stops, pages fall back to polling and return on their own.
Does the bot need Administrator?
No. Getting started lists the permissions the bot really needs and what each one is for.
Can members see a private Discord channel through the forum?
Reserved and NSFW channels stay closed until you open them, and you decide who sees each one. The live signal carries no content: each page reloads only what its reader may see. A channel made private on Discord can stay on the forum for up to ten minutes, until Tandem next reads the server.
Can I use only part of it?
Yes. The lounge, roles, log in, announcements, slash commands, real time and the welcome card switch on and off separately. You can allow Discord log in without opening registration to it.
Which versions does it run on?
XenForo 2.3 and PHP 8.1 or later. It was built and tested on XenForo 2.3.13 with PHP 8.3, and installed cleanly on 2.3.11. Older 2.3 versions and PHP 8.1 were checked by reading the code, not by running it.
