discordrpc is a Discord Rich Presence Client written in PowerShell that allows you to change your presence to let people know that you're playing with PowerShell.
discordrpc works on PowerShell Core. This means that you can run all commands on Windows, Linux and macOS.
After seeing the Discord Presence plugin for VS Code, I was inspired to do something similar with PowerShell.
I made discordrpc as flexible as possible, so you can make your presence all your own, even changing the icons that show up. A wrapper command, Start-DSClient, has also been included to make getting started easy.
Ensure that Discord is running and that "Game Activity" enabled in your settings.
Run the following to install discordrpc from the PowerShell Gallery:
Install-Module discordrpc -Scope CurrentUserdiscordrpc loads fast enough to add to your profile so everyone can always see when you're hanging out in PowerShell. Type notepad $profile then add these params and call the command.
$params = @{
Details = "Version $($PSVersionTable.PSVersion.Major).$($PSVersionTable.PSVersion.Minor)"
State = (Split-Path -Path $pwd -Leaf)
Start = "Now"
UpdateScript = {
# show the directory you are in. you can do anything here.
Update-DSRichPresence -State (Split-Path -Path $pwd -Leaf)
}
}
Start-DSClient @paramsThat will show results similar to the image above.
The following images are available to use within your configuration. If you'd like me to add any more, let me know.
| Image | Key |
|---|---|
 |
avatar |
 |
icon |
- You don't just have to show up as Playing PowerShell, you can also select from a variety of apps within
Start-DSClient. You can see a list usingGet-DSTemplate. Use theTemplateparameter within Start-DSClient to select the app you'd like to appear as. - If you don't find an application that matches your needs, you can create your own application and use your own title and "assets" or icons/images
- You can use the wrapper command for ease or use the underlying commands individually for granular control
Here's a sample for Twitch using my other module tvbot.
$stream = Get-TvStream
$username = $stream.UserName
$params = @{
Template = "Twitch"
Details = $stream.Title
State = "$($stream.ViewerCount) Viewers"
Start = $stream.StartedAt
Label = "Watch Stream"
Url = "https://twitch.tv/$username"
TimerRefresh = 30
UpdateScript = {
if (-not (Get-TvStream)) {
Stop-DSClient
}
}
}
Start-DSClient @paramsIf I'm livestreaming, it'll appear like this..
Here's a sample for Plex using the community module PSPlex.
This script will update your presence every 60 seconds, updating as you watch new media on Plex.
# needs to be global for the timer update
function global:Get-CurrentlyWatching {
Import-PlexConfiguration
$session = Get-PlexSession | Where-Object { $psitem.player.state -in "playing", "paused" } | Select -First 1
$xml = [xml]($session).OuterXml
$media = $xml.Video
switch ($media.type) {
"episode" {
$title = $media.grandparentTitle
$state = $media.title
}
default {
$title = $media.title
$state = $media.year
}
}
[pscustomobject]@{
Title = $title
State = $state
End = [int]$media.duration - [int]$media.viewOffset
Label = "Watch $title"
Url = $media.guid
Player = $media.player
}
}
$watching = Get-CurrentlyWatching
$params = @{
Template = "Plex"
Details = $watching.Title
State = $watching.State
End = $watching.End
Label = $watching.Label
Url = $watching.Url
TimerRefresh = 60
UpdateScript = {
$watching = global:Get-CurrentlyWatching
if (-not $watching) {
Stop-DSClient
}
if ($watching.Player.state -eq "paused") {
$timestamp = New-DSTimestamp
} else {
$timestamp = New-DSTimestamp -End $watching.End
}
$button = New-DSButton -Label $watching.Label -Url $watching.Url
$params = @{
Buttons = $button
Details = $watching.Title
State = $watching.State
Timestamp = $timestamp
}
Update-DSRichPresence @params
}
}
Start-DSClient @paramsIf I'm playing Bob's Burgers, it'll appear like this..
If you'd like to control all of the exact outcome, you can use the sample code below.
In the command below, you can use a custom application ID, customize your timer, see info messages and more.
$params = @{
ApplicationID = "824593663883214948"
LargeImageKey = "avatar"
LargeImageText = "Summoners Rift"
SmallImageKey = "icon"
SmallImageText = "Lvl 7"
Label = "Potato 🥔"
Url = "https://github.com/potatoqualitee/discordrpc"
Details = "Version $($PSVersionTable.PSVersion.Major).$($PSVersionTable.PSVersion.Minor)"
State = (Split-Path -Path $pwd -Leaf)
LoggerType = "ConsoleLogger"
LoggerLevel = "Info"
TimerRefresh = 10
Start = "Now"
UpdateScript = {
Update-DSAsset -LargeImageText "Timer worked!" -SmallImageText "Lvl 10"
Update-DSRichPresence -State (Split-Path -Path $pwd -Leaf)
}
}
Start-DSClient @paramsThis setup will show logs in the console, which is inconvenient unless you are debugging something.
Here's the code I used while testing the module. You can use this to see how different settings can change the presence.
$assets = New-DSAsset -LargeImageKey avatar -LargeImageText "Summoners Rift" -SmallImageKey icon -SmallImageText "Lvl 7"
$timestamp = New-DSTimestamp -Start (Get-Date).AddMinutes(-3) -End (Get-Date).AddMinutes(3)
$button = New-DSButton -Label "Potato 🥔" -Url https://github.com/potatoqualitee/discordrpc
$party = New-DSParty -Size 10 -Privacy Public -Max 100
$presence = New-DSRichPresence -Asset $assets -State "presence.ps1" -Details "Some details" -Timestamp $timestamp -Buttons $button -Party $party
$logger = New-DSLogger -Type ConsoleLogger -Level Info
$client = New-DSClient -ApplicationID 824593663883214948 -Presence $presence -Logger $loggerGet-Command -Module discordrpcA lot of help has been included. If you want to know more about a command such as New-DSLogger run the following:
Get-Help New-DSLogger
Get-Help New-DSLogger -ExamplesDiscord RPC is a library for interfacing your game with a locally running Discord desktop client. This PowerShell module wraps Lachee's C# library, discord-rpc-csharp
You can visit the Discord Developer Portal to learn more or create your own assets to set your own app name and icons. You'll need to change the ApplicationID to the client key you are provided.
When searching for a list of Client IDs already available on Discord, I found the PreMiD app, which is a mature product to show a bunch of rich presences (though not PowerShell). If you'd like to create your own Rich Presence for an app, the code in their repo may provide good strategies. Or really, if you like this rich presence functionality and don't want to use PowerShell, premid.app is awesome and just works.