How to Add Discord Presence to Your GitHub Profile README

The lanyard-profile-readme widget connects to Lanyard — an open-source service that exposes your Discord presence via a public API. When you join the Lanyard Discord server, your status, currently playing game, and Spotify activity become available through the API. The GitHub widget then displays this data as a live badge on your profile README.

The widget shows: your current online/idle/do-not-disturb/offline status, the game or application you are currently using, and your Spotify track if Discord is detecting it. The badge updates in real time each time your profile is loaded, giving visitors a true snapshot of your current activity.

Follow these steps:

1. Join the Lanyard Discord server at discord.gg/lanyard. This is required — Lanyard only tracks members of its server.
2. In your Discord settings, ensure your activity status is visible (not hidden in privacy settings).
3. Find your Discord user ID: in Discord, enable Developer Mode under Settings → Advanced, then right-click your username and 'Copy ID'.
4. Add to your README:

[![Discord Presence](https://lanyard.cnrad.dev/api/YOUR_DISCORD_USER_ID)](https://discord.com/users/YOUR_DISCORD_USER_ID)

Replace YOUR_DISCORD_USER_ID with your numeric Discord user ID (18-digit number). The badge updates automatically — no GitHub Action or periodic job needed.

The lanyard-profile-readme service supports URL parameters for customization:

• theme: dark or light
• hideDiscrim: Set to true to hide the discriminator (#XXXX portion) if your account uses a legacy username format
• borderRadius: Set a pixel value (e.g., 10px) to control card corner rounding
• bg: Background color hex (without #)
• animated: Set to false to disable the pulsing animation on the status indicator
• showDisplayName: Set to true to show your display name instead of username
• idleMessage: Custom message shown when you are offline (e.g., idleMessage=Not+Online+Right+Now)

Link the badge to your Discord profile URL so visitors can add you or see your server memberships.

If the badge shows 'User not found' or fails to load, verify that you have joined the Lanyard Discord server — this is a hard requirement. Lanyard only tracks Discord presence for members of its own server. If you left the server, the API stops returning your data.

If the badge shows as offline even when you are online, check your Discord privacy settings under Settings → Privacy & Safety → Activity Status. If 'Display current activity as a status message' is disabled, Lanyard cannot detect your presence.

If the badge renders but the Discord user ID appears incorrect, re-copy your ID from Discord with Developer Mode enabled. Discord user IDs are 17-19 digit numbers; any shorter number is wrong.