Intents

Intents tell Discord which event categories to send your bot. Fewer intents means less traffic and memory.

Intents tell Discord which event categories to send your bot. Fewer intents means less traffic and memory.

Setting them#

import { Client, GatewayIntentBits } from 'athena';
 
new Client(`Bot ${token}`, {
  intents: [GatewayIntentBits.Guilds, GatewayIntentBits.GuildMessages, GatewayIntentBits.MessageContent]
});

Accepted forms: an array of GatewayIntentBits values, an array of name strings (['Guilds', 'GuildMessages']), or a raw bitmask number. The default 3243773 is every non-privileged intent.

Inspect at runtime via client.intents.has(GatewayIntentBits.GuildMessages).

Privileged intents#

Three must be enabled on your application's portal page first, and large bots need Discord approval:

• GuildPresences - presence/status updates. Very high volume. Leave off unless you truly need it.
• GuildMembers - member add/update/remove and full member lists in GUILD_CREATE.
• MessageContent - the content, embeds, attachments, and components of messages your bot did not author or get mentioned in.

Requesting one that is not enabled closes the gateway with code 4014, surfaced as an error event.

What each intent unlocks (common ones)#

A sensible starting set#

intents: [
  GatewayIntentBits.Guilds,
  GatewayIntentBits.GuildMessages,
  GatewayIntentBits.GuildMessageReactions,
  GatewayIntentBits.DirectMessages
]

Add MessageContent only if you read message text outside slash commands. Add GuildMembers only if you need member events; otherwise fetch members on demand.

Performance notes#

• GuildPresences is the single most expensive intent. Skipping it also means Athena never allocates presence state on members (see Caching and memory).
• Use disableEvents to skip parsing events you do not use even within an enabled intent.
• Avoid getAllUsers: true unless you genuinely need every member cached.