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Discord Activities

Discord Activities are interactive web applications that run directly inside Discord. They load within an embedded panel (iframe) in voice channels, text channels, and DMs, giving users a shared experience without leaving the app. Under the hood, activities are standard web apps built with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript — connected to Discord through the Embedded App SDK.

Robo.js brings a streamlined developer experience to activity development. Instead of wiring up separate frontend and backend projects, you get a unified project structure where your React (or vanilla) UI and API routes live side by side.

Built-in Cloudflare Tunnels (a secure connection that lets Discord reach your local computer) give you an HTTPS URL for testing instantly, and the @robojs/patch plugin handles Discord's proxy requirements automatically — no manual network patching needed.

The mental model is straightforward: your activity has a frontend (Vite — a fast build tool for web projects — powered UI in src/app/), a backend (file-based API routes in src/api/), and the Discord SDK connecting them to the platform. Robo.js ties these pieces together, adds a plugin ecosystem for features like real-time multiplayer and authentication, and handles the build tooling so you can focus on your app.

A Discord voice channel with an embedded activity running inside the panel, showing a custom web application rendered alongside the voice call participants

FocusThe activity running inside Discord's voice channel panel as an embedded iframeZoom100%NotesCapture Discord's desktop client with a voice channel open. An activity should be visible in the embedded panel showing a simple web app. At least one voice participant visible.

Quick Start

Create a new activity project:

npx create-robo@next my-activity

Select the activity kit when prompted. The CLI generates a project with frontend, backend, and Vite preconfigured.

Terminal output showing a new Robo.js activity project being created with the create-robo CLI, displaying scaffolding prompts and file generation

FocusThe create-robo CLI running in a terminal with the activity kit selectedZoom100%NotesShow terminal running 'npx create-robo my-activity' with the activity kit prompt visible or already selected. Dark terminal theme.

What Robo.js Provides

FeatureDescription
Unified projectFrontend and backend in a single project
Vite integrationPreconfigured Vite for fast development and builds
Built-in tunnelsFree Cloudflare tunnels for local testing
Proxy patching@robojs/patch handles Discord's proxy requirements
Authentication helpersOAuth2 token exchange with minimal setup
API routesFile-based HTTP endpoints via @robojs/server
Real-time syncMultiplayer state synchronization with @robojs/sync
TypeScript supportTypeScript works out of the box
Plugin ecosystemExtend functionality with installable plugins
  1. Quick Start — Create and run your first activity
  2. Credentials — Set up environment variables
  3. Developer Portal — Configure your Discord application
  4. Tunnels — Understand how tunnels connect Discord to your machine
  5. Frontend — Build the UI
  6. Backend — Add server-side logic and API routes
  7. SDK — Interact with Discord APIs from your activity
  8. Multiplayer — Add real-time features

Next Steps

Quick Start

Create and run your first activity.

Credentials

Set up environment variables for authentication.

Developer Portal

Configure your application in Discord.

Frontend

Build the UI for your activity.

Quick Start

Create and run your first Discord Activity

On this page

Quick Start
What Robo.js Provides
Recommended Learning Path
Next Steps