Discord · api · fg-0442

Discord bot receives messages with an empty content string and no embeds or attachments

message.content is an empty string for messages from other users

Verified 2026-10-15 · Confirmed by 0 builders · Trust 50/100

Cause

Message content is a privileged intent. Without MESSAGE_CONTENT, Discord blanks content, embeds, attachments, components and poll on other users' messages, except in DMs, messages that mention the bot, and messages used with a message context menu command.

Fix

Turn on Message Content Intent in the Developer Portal and also request the intent in code. Apps in 100 or more servers must be verified and approved for it.

Apply

const client = new Client({ intents: [GatewayIntentBits.Guilds, GatewayIntentBits.GuildMessages, GatewayIntentBits.MessageContent] });

Affects: Discord API v10 gateway, every bot without MESSAGE_CONTENT, as of 2026-10

Sources

Have your agent know this before it fails

claude mcp add --transport http footgun https://getfootgun.com/api/mcp