Update role based on server tags updation

[saimarshadsaim31]

I have a usecase in which i would want to add or remove user's role if the server tag changes. On searching i found this discussion #10954 (comment) which mentions this:

This feature is not documented by Discord. It currently exists in the API, however. It will be added to discord.js once documented.

Just wanted to know if this is available in discord.js now in Jan-2026 because the date on this is July-2025?

[HaskaZuki]

As of January 2026, this is unfortunately still not possible for real-time detection.

While the Server Tag feature exists in the client, the Discord API currently does not send a Gateway Event when a user changes their Server Tag. This means that even though the data exists, Discord does not "notify" the bot when a change happens. Without this specific event trigger, discord.js (or any other library) cannot listen for the change to automatically add or remove roles in real-time.

The only possible workaround right now is polling (fetching the member data repeatedly on a loop), but this is highly inefficient and not recommended as it will quickly hit API rate limits.

[almostSouji]

I have no idea where @HaskaZuki got that information from, but it's wrong and sounds like LLM garbage.
This information is available in the userUpdate event in discord.js and GUILD_MEMBER_UPDATE on the Discord gateway. ¹

To confirm this, i tested with the below code in discord.js version 14.25.1 and received the attached log.

client.on(Events.UserUpdate, (pU, nU) => {
	console.log({ pU: pU?.primaryGuild, nU: nU?.primaryGuild });
});

application-1  | {
application-1  |   pU: {
application-1  |     identityGuildId: '481152229378621443',
application-1  |     identityEnabled: true,
application-1  |     tag: 'RATS',
application-1  |     badge: '310d9b669d687de773b5f3b5310ca1f3'
application-1  |   },
application-1  |   nU: {
application-1  |     identityGuildId: '676852108552830976',
application-1  |     identityEnabled: true,
application-1  |     tag: 'ᓚᘏᗢ',
application-1  |     badge: '226250a3dcd3c30f66f7649b4521f14e'
application-1  |   }
application-1  | }

Footnotes

1. (discord.js emits the GUILD_MEMBER_UPDATE event as userUpdate, if the inner user changed, while the gateway just emits USER_UPDATE, if the logged in (bot) user changes) ↩

[almostSouji]

Sidenote: since Discord does not send the "old" user, it has to be retrieved from cache. If the previous user is not cached there is no way to know what the user's previous state was. You can opt into partials, however you will not be able to determine what exactly the update was (username change, tag change, ...). You can still determine the "now" state and see if the user (still or newly, indistinguishable) represents a specific guild.

More on partials: https://discordjs.guide/legacy/popular-topics/partials

[HaskaZuki]

Thanks for the correction @almostSouji

My previous assumption was based on the fact that this feature remained undocumented for so long. I was under the impression that the Server Tag change was still a 'silent' client-side update that didn't trigger a Gateway event, which is why I thought real-time detection wasn't possible yet. I clearly missed the latest update on how "primaryGuild" is being handled in the recent versions.

I incorrectly assumed that for a bot to see a Server Tag change, it would still require polling (manual fetching) rather than a reactive event listener. I just tested it, and it turns out it works in Djs version 14.25.1

[saimarshadsaim31]

thanks @almostSouji . Now that i look closely on the orignal reply and the latest reply from @HaskaZuki it does sound like LLM Talk. Anyways thanks for the help you two! appreciated.