The Embedded App SDK Rename: Updating Your Instance Participants Command

The Embedded App SDK Rename: Updating Your Instance Participants Command

A command you may already use just got a new official name.

Discord’s developer changelog says the Embedded App SDK command getInstanceConnectedParticipants is now getActivityInstanceConnectedParticipants. The old name will be removed in a future major version.

This article covers the Embedded App SDK rename: what changed, what keeps working today, and how to update an Activity before the old name disappears.

🔥 Main Story: getInstanceConnectedParticipants Becomes getActivityInstanceConnectedParticipants

The change appears in Discord’s developer changelog in an entry dated October 6, 2026. It is tagged for Activities and the Embedded App SDK.

The entry is short. It states the new name and says the previous name will be removed in a future major version.

The key fact: nothing breaks today, but the old name now has an expiry date, even though Discord has not named it.

🎮 What Happened

The story behind the entry is a documentation catch up. A GitHub pull request opened on October 6 says the command was renamed about a year earlier, but the rename was never documented.

The same pull request says the old name is still present in current versions for backwards compatibility. Some cached copies of Discord’s docs still showed the old name in code samples, so check the live pages.

🧭 Navigation: Main Story → What Happened → Why It Matters → Key Details → Deeper Breakdown → Comparison → Developer Note → What Happens Next

🛠️ Update flow: 🔎 Search your code → ✏️ Rename the call → 📦 Update the SDK → 🧪 Test joins and leaves → 🚀 Ship the fix

🧠 Why It Matters

Many Activities need to know who is in the room. Games, shared canvases and playlists all depend on a list of connected people.

If your code calls the old name after it is removed, that call would fail. Updating now costs a few minutes, while updating later could break a live Activity.

⚠️ Important: Discord has not announced a removal date or a version number. Treat the old name as deprecated and plan the change, rather than waiting for a deadline.

⚡ Key Details

🔍 Deeper Breakdown

What the Command Does

Discord’s multiplayer guide defines instance participants as any Discord user actively connected to the same application instance. You can fetch that list, or subscribe to changes.

The SDK reference describes the command as returning all participants connected to the instance. The matching event fires when the number of participants changes.

The guide also notes that instanceId is available as soon as the SDK is constructed, with no need to wait for the ready payload.

The Code Change

The update is a one line swap wherever you call the command. Here is the shape of it, based on Discord’s own examples.

// Before
const participants = await discordSdk.commands.getInstanceConnectedParticipants();

// After
const participants = await discordSdk.commands.getActivityInstanceConnectedParticipants();

The event subscription does not change. Your handler can keep using ACTIVITY_INSTANCE_PARTICIPANTS_UPDATE, and Discord’s examples already use a type named GetActivityInstanceConnectedParticipantsResponse.

We have not tested this against a specific SDK release. Discord has not said which version introduced the new name, so update to a current version of the Embedded App SDK before you rename the call.

A Simple Migration Checklist

Search for both names across your project, including tests, mocks and any wrapper functions. A helper that hides the SDK call is easy to miss.

Then run through the joins and leaves your Activity depends on. Open the Activity with a friend, have them leave and rejoin, and confirm your participant list updates.

💡 Note: Pin your SDK version while you migrate. That way a dependency update cannot change two things at once.

Why This Naming?

Discord has not explained the reason. One observation is that the new name matches the Activity prefix already used by the response type and the event name.

That makes the command easier to recognize as part of the same family. This is our reading, not a statement from Discord.

What We Know

• Confirmed: the command was renamed, and the old name will be removed in a future major version.
• Reported: a pull request says the rename happened about a year ago without documentation, and that the old name still works.
• Not confirmed: the removal date, the version number, and whether the old name logs a warning at runtime.

What Could Happen Next

This section is speculation. Discord could ship a major SDK version that removes the old name, ideally with release notes that call it out.

It could also add console warnings for the old name, which would help developers who have not read the changelog. None of that has been announced.

📊 Quick Comparison

💡 Developer Note

For Activity developers and the communities that support them, a small rename is a good reminder to check dependencies. Here are a few ideas.

• Add a search for the old name to your code review checklist.
• Share the change in your developer Discord so teammates see it.
• Test your Activity with two accounts before every release.
• Revisit the changelog regularly for related SDK news.

🚨 What Happens Next

• Watch for an announcement naming the next major SDK version.
• Watch the multiplayer guide for updated code samples.
• Watch your own logs for failed participant calls.
• Watch the changelog for other Embedded App SDK changes.

Rename announced → Developers update → Old name retired → Major version ships

Final Takeaway

This is a small change, but small changes cause real outages. A renamed command that still works today can fail the day a major version drops it.

The story also shows how documentation can lag behind code. The rename reportedly happened about a year ago, and the changelog only caught up now.

The cheapest fix is the one you make before anyone is waiting on your Activity.

🔗 Sources

1. Discord Developer Change Log: Discord’s official October 6, 2026 entry announcing the rename.
2. Embedded App SDK Reference: Discord’s reference for SDK commands and events.
3. Multiplayer Experience guide: Discord’s guide to instances and instance participants.
4. discord-api-docs pull request 8651: The docs change noting the rename was undocumented and the old name still works.