Intents
Overview
Gateway intents select which event families Discord sends to a bot. The intents.Intent type is a uint64 bitfield with constants for guilds, members, bans, emojis and stickers, integrations, webhooks, invites, voice states, presences, guild and direct messages, reactions, typing, message content, scheduled events, AutoMod, and polls.
Architecture
The zero value requests no intent bits. Combine constants with |, test with Has, and mutate a pointer with Add or Remove. The methods do not contact Discord and do not know whether a privileged intent is enabled in the Developer Portal. The Gateway identify payload receives the final bitfield.
Quick Start
package main
import (
"fmt"
"github.com/discord-go/discord.go/intents"
)
func main() {
wanted := intents.Guilds | intents.GuildMessages | intents.DirectMessages
wanted.Add(intents.MessageContent)
fmt.Println(wanted.Has(intents.Guilds), wanted.Has(intents.GuildPresences))
wanted.Remove(intents.MessageContent)
fmt.Println(wanted.Has(intents.MessageContent))
}Creating An Intent Set
Use | for a literal set and Add when a feature conditionally enables a family. The constants are Guilds, GuildMembers, GuildBans, GuildEmojisAndStickers, GuildIntegrations, GuildWebhooks, GuildInvites, GuildVoiceStates, GuildPresences, GuildMessages, GuildMessageReactions, GuildMessageTyping, DirectMessages, DirectMessageReactions, DirectMessageTyping, MessageContent, GuildScheduledEvents, AutoModerationConfiguration, AutoModerationExecution, GuildMessagePolls, and DirectMessagePolls.
Using Intents
Pass the bitfield to client.WithIntents or gateway.NewShardManager(token, shardCount, gatewayIntents). The Gateway manager sends it during identify. A missing intent can look like a cache bug because the corresponding dispatch never arrives.
Common Patterns
Use the smallest set that supports the application. Enable GuildMembers, GuildPresences, and MessageContent only when required and approved. Keep the configured value near the code that registers dependent handlers so a review can compare event use and intent use.
Best Practices
Enable privileged intents in both the Developer Portal and the identify payload. Log the numeric bitfield at startup, but never log the token. Treat intent changes as deployment configuration changes because they alter cache completeness and event volume.
Privileged intent review (June 10, 2026)
Discord now gates privileged intents (GuildMembers, GuildPresences, MessageContent) on a user count rather than a server count. Below 10,000 users the intents are toggled on in the Developer Portal as before; at 10,000 users or more the application must apply for Privileged Intent access, where the old rule was 100 servers. Granted access must be reapplied for once per year to keep it, an application may keep joining servers while a review is pending, and App Verification and Privileged Intent review are now separate submissions. None of this is visible to Intent.Has: a rejected or lapsed review shows up as close code 4014 or as event families that simply never arrive, so monitor identify failures and re-verify annually rather than discovering an expired grant in production.
Common Mistakes
Has is a bit test for any supplied bit, not a portal permission check. Adding an intent in code cannot bypass Discord approval. Do not request all intents just to make a cache appear complete; REST fallback is safer for data that is not delivered. Do not plan privileged-intent access around the retired "100 servers" rule or assume a prior approval is permanent; both changed in June 2026.
API Walkthrough
The public API is Intent, all 21 intent constants, Intent.Add, Intent.Remove, and Intent.Has. There are no constructors or errors.
Examples
The Quick Start program is complete and runnable. Client wiring is shown in ../client/, and Gateway identify behavior is covered by ../gateway/.