Notifications API

[raxod502]

This is a follow-on to Discord support ticket 46209763.

It should be possible to check whether I have Discord notifications, through the notification API. In other words, I should be able to see whether there are new unread messages, and if so, what server(s) and channel(s) they are in.

It would be fine, although a little silly, to require me to create a bot and link it against my account in order to do this. The desired end state is to programmatically detect whether I have notifications.

The reason this should be made possible is that the current feature-set of Discord is actively hostile to users who don't wish to keep it running all the time: there is no way for them to find out that somebody has replied to a query they have posted, or when someone has mentioned them. Email notifications exist but are only partially implemented: they don't work except for direct messages. There's also no way to check for notifications through the API, so it's not possible to build your own bridge either without a lot of unnecessary resource usage polling every server you're in to check if there are new messages (this is what Discord support told me to do when I asked). The combination of these issues looks a bit like an intentional oversight in service of getting people to keep the app installed, which is why I think having some way of accessing notification data outside of Discord is a must-have feature, and not a nice bonus.

An alternative to a notifications API would be updating email notifications to actually work.

Transcript of support ticket 46209763

Hello, I would like to receive email notifications when I get a message on Discord. Your support page at https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408820335767-How-can-I-manage-my-email-notifications-settings says this is a feature, and I have the setting enabled that it mentions (Email Notifications > Communication Emails). But I still do not receive emails when there is activity in non-muted channels that I am a member of. I tested and I do receive emails for direct messages, but I need to receive emails about all messages that I receive, not just ones in direct messages. How do I make this happen?

Hey there,

Thanks for writing in! We just want to confirm that we've received your message (46209763). Our support team is working hard to get back to you for your request, and we appreciate your patience in the meantime.

Sorry for the email troubles!

If you aren't receiving the message, please try whitelisting the following email addresses:

• [email protected]
• [email protected]

If the issue still persists, could you try requesting the email again through your mobile device while connected to data instead of WiFi?

Note: Please remember to double-check your spam and trash folders as well.

If you are still experiencing issues, be sure to respond back to this email and one of our team members will look into this request further!

Cheers,
Clyde, Discord Support Bot

I have no reason to expect that any of the suggestions in this automated response would be relevant. I would like to hear back from a human, please.

Hello!

Thank you for reaching out regarding email notifications for messages on Discord. As of now, Discord's email notification system is designed to notify users about direct messages, but does not extend this service to all messages in channels, whether muted or not. This is why you receive emails for direct messages but not for other types of messages.

Here are a few things you can do to stay updated on channel activities:

1. Use Mobile Push Notifications: Enable push notifications on your mobile device to receive alerts for all messages in your desired channels.
2. Check Notification Settings: Ensure your notification settings in each channel or server are set to alert you in real-time.

While it's not currently possible to receive all channel messages via email, using these methods can help ensure you do not miss important updates and messages.

Thank you for understanding!

Discord Support

Sometimes I need to communicate with someone in a specific server (e.g. technical support, bug report), and I need to know when they have sent a reply, but I otherwise do not wish to run your software on my devices 24/7 just to receive notifications.

So, 1 doesn't work as I don't want to install a mobile application, and 2 doesn't seem relevant either since it has no effect on what happens when I am not running Discord.

Isn't there any way I can find out whether I have unread notifications? Do you have an API endpoint for that at least, so I can build my own integration?

Hello!

Thank you for your detailed explanation. Currently, Discord does not support email notifications for all messages in channels directly through the app settings; it's limited to direct messages. For notifications on specific channel messages when you're not active on Discord, you might consider using Discord's API to check for unread messages through a custom integration.

You can use the 'Get Channel Messages' endpoint in Discord's API to check messages in a specific channel. Here’s a basic outline of what the process might look like:

1. Use an authorized bot or a user token to access this endpoint.
2. Filter messages based on their 'read' status.
3. Set up a scheduling function to check for new messages at intervals.

Building such an integration does require some programming knowledge and handling of Discord API. If you’re unfamiliar with these, you might need to consult with or hire a developer. Further, always ensure to comply with Discord’s API terms of service when using their API.

If exploring the API is not feasible, you could also explore community-built bots or third-party services that might offer similar notification functionalities, but always review their security and privacy policies first.

Thank you for understanding and let us know if you have any more questions!

Discord Support

I'm a developer and building against your API is a fine option. However, I've reviewed your documentation and can't find any reference on how to get user notifications (i.e., check whether any new messages have been received in any channels that the user is a member of). What OAuth2 scope is that?

Hello!

Thank you for reaching out with your query about checking unread messages in channels you are a member of using Discord's API. Currently, Discord API does not directly support a method to check 'unread messages' across various channels at a user level. The API primarily allows you to fetch messages from specific channels, and you would need to implement logic to determine new messages since your last check.

For unread notifications specifically, there isn't an OAuth2 scope or direct API endpoint that provides exactly what you're looking for in a single call. You would have to track message IDs or timestamps and compare them on subsequent checks to identify new messages.

If you are looking for a more integrated approach, considering building or using existing bots that can log and notify you of new messages based on specific conditions might be an alternative solution.

I hope this helps clarify your options. Let us know if you need further assistance!

Discord Support

But I know this information exists, as it's exposed in the Discord app itself. There's server-side state maintained about whether a message is "read" or not. This is what determines whether a notification dot is displayed on a server, for example. This state is tracked and synchronized regardless of whether the user has the Discord app open.

So, clearly, there is an API endpoint - is the problem just that it is proprietary and only allowed to be used by the official application?

Hello!

Thanks for your query about accessing the unread message status akin to what's shown in the Discord app. While Discord does track read/unread status internally to display notification dots across channels and servers, this information isn't directly accessible via our public API due to privacy and technical constraints. This functionality is reserved for use within the official client to maintain data consistency and user privacy.

Since the API does not provide a direct endpoint for this capability outside of the official client context, your best option might be to use the 'Get Channel Messages' API in a more comprehensive polling setup where your application checks for new messages against a stored last-checked timestamp.

We understand this may not be the ideal solution you were hoping for. If there are any other ways we can assist you in utilizing the available API endpoints, please let us know!

Discord Support

Got it. Two things, then:

1. Can you please submit a request for this to be changed in the future? The fact that you have an incomplete email notification feature, combined with the fact that you prevent API access to notifications, presents an unreasonable burden to people who do not wish to keep your application running all the time, and suggests that you are intentionally compromising platform usability for the sake of a higher active-user metric.

2. Can you please update your public documentation with the information from this ticket? Your support page about email notifications does not even mention that they are limited to direct messages, much less what restrictions you place on users' access to their own notification data. I should not have had to contact you to find these things out.

Hello Radon,

Thank you for your continued feedback. We always aim to improve the user experience based on community input.

If you would like to see changes made to our app in the future, you can post and/or upvote the idea here. Feedback from our community contributes to which features or changes we decide to implement.

While this feature is not available in the app at this time, we like to think anything is possible in the future.

If you have any other questions related to the app itself, feel free to let us know through here.

Cheers,
Estrella

[xal3xhx]

i just started digging into this myself, it looks like the current best solution is to do it with the RPC api, the docs say it is current private but it works when everything is running locally. that being said it is quite limited if you want to create a public app. this is a feature that should be in the API and these workarounds should not be needed..