The Target User API Expansion: Bulk-Adding Members to Invites

What Changed?

How Bulk Adding Works

Developers can pass multiple Discord user IDs in a user_ids array.

Conceptually:

{
  "user_ids": [
    "123456789012345678",
    "234567890123456789",
    "345678901234567890"
  ]
}

Each value is a Discord snowflake, which is Discord's unique ID format for users and other platform objects.

The important part is that developers can update only the users they need to change.

Each value is a Discord snowflake, which is Discord's unique ID format for users and other platform objects.

The official API documentation confirms the 1,000-user limit and permissions. GitHub

Who Can Use These Endpoints?

The caller must either be the invite creator or have the MANAGE_GUILD permission.

The bulk endpoints return 204 No Content when the operation succeeds. GitHub

This adds useful information without making the article much longer.

Bulk Delete Works the Same Way

The delete endpoint uses the same basic idea.

Instead of downloading the current target-user list, removing selected users locally, rebuilding the file, and uploading it again, developers can pass the IDs that should be removed.

{
  "user_ids": [
    "123456789012345678",
    "234567890123456789"
  ]
}

This makes small changes much easier to automate.

Why This Matters

Imagine an invite is currently restricted to 5,000 users and you need to add 50 more.

Previously, a workflow based around replacing the complete target-user file could require developers to:

Download → modify → rebuild → re-upload

Now the workflow can simply become:

Select users → send their IDs → update the invite

The same applies when removing users.

Target Users + Invite Access

Discord's newer Invite API functionality allows developers to use target_users_file to restrict an invite to specific users. Discord also introduced endpoints to get and update these target users. Discord

This can be useful for:

• Private events
• Reward programs
• Closed beta access
• Community campaigns
• Game testing
• Invite-based promotions
• Controlled server onboarding

These endpoints don't mean an application can arbitrarily add people to Discord or a server.

Discord's Developer Policy requires applications to obtain appropriate user permission before adding a user's account to a server or otherwise modifying their account access. Discord Support

The new endpoints are about managing an invite's target-user list, not bypassing Discord's consent and privacy requirements.

Quick Comparison

The Target User API expansion makes restricted Discord invites much easier to maintain. Bulk-Add Target Users and Bulk-Delete Target Users give developers a cleaner way to make incremental changes using arrays of user snowflakes instead of repeatedly rebuilding the complete target-user file.