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Aug 11, 2025
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Social SDK: Add Rich Presence without authentication documentation #7744

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55 changes: 53 additions & 2 deletions docs/discord-social-sdk/development-guides/setting-rich-presence.mdx
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
---
sidebar_label: Setting Rich Presence
---
import PublicClient from '../partials/callouts/public-client.mdx';
import SupportCallout from '../partials/callouts/support.mdx';

[Home](/docs/intro) > [Discord Social SDK](/docs/discord-social-sdk/overview) > [Development Guides](/docs/discord-social-sdk/development-guides) > {sidebar_label}
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -198,6 +197,55 @@ activity.SetSupportedPlatforms(discordpp::ActivityGamePlatforms::Desktop);

See the `ActivityGamePlatforms` enum for all supported platforms.

## Rich Presence Without Authentication

:::warn
Rich Presence via RPC (Remote Procedure Call) will only work with a running Discord desktop client. It does not support mobile, console or web clients.
:::

Unlike most other features of the Discord Social SDK, **Rich Presence can be set without authentication**. Instead of
using [`Client::Connect`] to authenticate with Discord, you can use Rich Presence functionality by directly communicating
with a running Discord desktop client through RPC (Remote Procedure Call).

### Setting Up Direct Rich Presence

To use Rich Presence without authentication, simply:

1. Set your application ID using [`Client::SetApplicationId`]
2. Configure your activity details
3. Call [`Client::UpdateRichPresence`]

```cpp
auto client = std::make_shared<discordpp::Client>();

// Set the application ID (no Connect() call needed)
client->SetApplicationId(APPLICATION_ID);

// Configure rich presence details
discordpp::Activity activity;
activity.SetType(discordpp::ActivityTypes::Playing);
activity.SetState("In Competitive Match");
activity.SetDetails("Rank: Diamond II");

// Update rich presence
client->UpdateRichPresence(
activity, [](const discordpp::ClientResult &result) {
if (result.Successful()) {
std::cout << "🎮 Rich Presence updated successfully!\n";
} else {
std::cerr << "❌ Rich Presence update failed";
}
});
```

### Requirements
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wdyt about moving requirements above "Setting Up Direct Rich Presence"?

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oh that was a good call. I'll make a separate PR.


* Discord desktop client must be running on the user's machine
* Your application must be registered with Discord and have a valid Application ID

This direct approach makes Rich Presence integration much simpler for developers who only need basic presence
functionality while Discord desktop clients are running.

---

## Next Steps
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -228,4 +276,7 @@ Now that you've set up Rich Presence, you might want to explore:

{/* Autogenerated Reference Links */}
[`Activity`]: https://discord.com/developers/docs/social-sdk/classdiscordpp_1_1Activity.html#ae793d9adbe16fef402b859ba02bee682
[`ActivityTypes`]: https://discord.com/developers/docs/social-sdk/namespacediscordpp.html#a6c76a8cbbc9270f025fd6854d5558660
[`ActivityTypes`]: https://discord.com/developers/docs/social-sdk/namespacediscordpp.html#a6c76a8cbbc9270f025fd6854d5558660
[`Client::Connect`]: https://discord.com/developers/docs/social-sdk/classdiscordpp_1_1Client.html#a873a844c7c4c72e9e693419bb3e290aa
[`Client::SetApplicationId`]: https://discord.com/developers/docs/social-sdk/classdiscordpp_1_1Client.html#ad452335c06b28be0406dab824acccc49
[`Client::UpdateRichPresence`]: https://discord.com/developers/docs/social-sdk/classdiscordpp_1_1Client.html#af0a85e30f2b3d8a0b502fd23744ee58e