Glossary
Status
Stable· Last verified 2026-07-11 · APIv10· Source API reference
Definitions of the terms used across the atlas. Terms in bold inside a definition have their own entry.
Activity
Section titled “Activity”A web app embedded inside the Discord client (games, watch-together, tools), built with the Embedded App SDK and communicating over RPC/voice.
Allowed mentions
Section titled “Allowed mentions”An object on a message payload (allowed_mentions) controlling which mentions
actually ping. Set it to avoid accidental @everyone/role pings.
Application (“app”)
Section titled “Application (“app”)”The top-level entity registered in the Developer Portal. Owns the Application ID, Public Key, OAuth2 credentials, commands, install config, and optionally a bot.
Application command
Section titled “Application command”A registered command users invoke: slash command (CHAT_INPUT), user
command, or message command.
authorizing_integration_owners
Section titled “authorizing_integration_owners”A field on an interaction mapping each installation context to its owner:
key "0" → guild ID (guild-install), key "1" → user ID (user-install).
Bot (bot user)
Section titled “Bot (bot user)”An automated user attached to an app, authenticated with a bot token, that connects to the gateway and acts via REST.
Client secret
Section titled “Client secret”The secret used in OAuth2 token exchange. Server-side only; never exposed to clients.
Components V2
Section titled “Components V2”An opt-in message system (flag IS_COMPONENTS_V2, 1 << 15) that builds messages
from components (Text Display, Container, Section, Media Gallery, Separator)
instead of content + embeds. Irreversible per message once set.
Discord’s Audio & Video End-to-end Encryption protocol for calls; mandatory since 2026-03-01.
A structured, boxed content block in a message (title, description, fields, image, etc.). ≤10 per message, ≤6000 characters total.
Gateway
Section titled “Gateway”Discord’s persistent WebSocket connection delivering real-time events, filtered by intents.
Discord’s internal name for a server.
Intent
Section titled “Intent”A bitflag declared at connect time selecting which gateway events you receive.
Three are privileged: GUILD_MEMBERS, GUILD_PRESENCES, MESSAGE_CONTENT.
Interaction
Section titled “Interaction”Any user invocation of your app (command, button, select, modal). Must be acknowledged within 3 seconds; the interaction token stays valid ~15 minutes for follow-ups.
Interactions Endpoint URL
Section titled “Interactions Endpoint URL”Your HTTPS URL that Discord POSTs interactions to. Requires Ed25519
signature verification against the app’s Public Key.
Installation context
Section titled “Installation context”Where an app is installed: guild-install (GUILD_INSTALL, 0) or
user-install (USER_INSTALL, 1).
OAuth2
Section titled “OAuth2”The authorization framework for authorizing users and installing apps, using scopes.
Permissions
Section titled “Permissions”A bitfield governing what a member/bot may do in a guild/channel, combined with role permissions and channel overwrites.
Privileged intent
Section titled “Privileged intent”An intent exposing sensitive data, gated by Discord (portal toggle and/or review). See Intents.
Public Key
Section titled “Public Key”An app’s Ed25519 public key (not secret) used to verify inbound interaction requests.
Rate limit
Section titled “Rate limit”Caps on request frequency, per-route and global (REST) or per-connection (gateway). Read the response headers; never hard-code the numbers.
REST API
Section titled “REST API”Discord’s HTTP resource API at https://discord.com/api/v10.
A permission requested during OAuth2 (e.g. identify, bot,
applications.commands).
Sharding
Section titled “Sharding”Splitting a bot’s guilds across multiple gateway connections; required past ~2,500 guilds.
Slash command
Section titled “Slash command”A CHAT_INPUT application command invoked by typing /name.
Snowflake
Section titled “Snowflake”A 64-bit, time-sortable unique ID used for every object (guild, channel, user, message).
Token (bot token)
Section titled “Token (bot token)”The secret authenticating a bot (Authorization: Bot <token>). Full control;
rotate if leaked.
Webhook (incoming)
Section titled “Webhook (incoming)”A per-channel URL you POST JSON to, to send messages. Post-only; the URL is a
secret. See Webhooks.